Family Day: The Family that Eats Together Stays off Drugs

Uninspired

I'm not inspired to write at this moment. I and my two spirited monkeys a.k.a Darling Boys just returned from a trip to Texas to visit my family. The return flights were delayed, and then took extra long en route due to having to fly around bad weather, which means we arrived home quite late, much later than the Darling's bedtime. Each of us had a few moments of getting close to losing it throughout the day. Once home, I scurried around to prepare for Darling 2's birthday celebration on Sunday. So, now I'm tired, I feel like I'm coming down with something (probably from the bazillion germs I encountered in the airports and airplanes) and I have a work deadline (you know, the kind of work that actually pays me money).

Never-ending To-dos

I know I'm preaching to the choir. What parent doesn't feel like this 99% of the time: a million things to get done, running on very little sleep and no chance of getting a break to take a nap, leisurely read through a magazine or drink a whole cup of coffee without having to microwave it a time or two because you keep forgetting about it because you are too busy to sit and drink it. Whew, that was a mouth full, but you know what I'm talking about.

With so much to do, sometimes the important things get left off a list. Things like playing cars or building rocket ships with blocks, reading that favorite book 4 times in a row or just sitting and really listening to what those interesting little creatures have to say about the world around them. I certainly need to be reminded every once in a while to unwind, refuse to get too wrapped up in my to-do list and just be with my kids.

Family Dinners

Right now, we eat dinner as a family just about every night with a few exceptions (Girls' Night Out nights are one exception. Mama still needs that break sometimes!). But as the Darling Boys get older, are in school and are more involved in activities it will be more difficult to regularly sit down for a family meal. And sitting down for a family meal is important. Or at least the statistics indicate that regular family meals are key to raising healthy, happy, drug-free kids.

Family Day

Today, Monday, September 27^th, 2010, happens to be Family Day – A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children™. According to The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA), Family Day is a national movement to inform parents that the parental engagement fostered during frequent family dinners is an effective tool to help keep America's kids substance free. This year, CASA has partnered with Stouffer’s to celebrate Family Day.

Just how important are family meals? According to CASA, their research has repeatedly shown that the more often kids eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use drugs. I like this because it's something easy that I can manage to do on a regular basis that could greatly impact my children's well-being.

The Numbers

Some interesting statistics from CASA:

The CASA family dinners report reveals that nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of teens think that eating dinner frequently with their parents is very or fairly important. Compared to teens who have frequent family dinners, those who have infrequent family dinners are:

Twice as likely to have used tobacco;
Almost twice as likely to have used alcohol; and
One and half times likelier to have used marijuana.

Compared to teens who have five to seven family dinners per week, those who have fewer than three family dinners per week are:

More than one and a half times likelier to have friends who drink regularly and use marijuana;
One and half times likelier to have friends who abuse prescription drugs (to get high); and
One and a quarter times more likely to have friends who use illegal drugs like acid, ecstasy, cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin.

Source: CASA Press Release, September 22, 2010

Websites

For more information, check out these Websites:

http://www.letsfixdinner.com/Fact.aspx

http://www.casacolumbia.org/templates/Home.aspx?articleid=287&zoneid=32

http://casafamilyday.org/familyday/about-family-day/

The Scoop

While CASA specifically talks about family dinners, I know some families make a point of sitting down together for a regular family breakfast due to busy evening schedules. I would imagine this would have the same impact. The point is to sit down together, chat about things going on in each other's worlds and connect with one another.

How often do you eat a meal together as a family? Do you think it's important? How do you manage to fit it in with everyone's busy schedules, especially when kids are older? Please share your thoughts and tips.

Now I realize this is not a regular Monday post since there is no law involved here, but I'm doing something a little different this week since I'm so tired and without much inspiration. Maybe I'll post on a legal issue on Wednesday. Over and out…

Anna

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment

Posted by: |

This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.

Your comment could not be posted. Error type:

Your comment has been posted. Post another comment

The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.

As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.