Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Still Life, February 6, 2008

The toddler, who stayed home, half sick, with a sitter yesterday, seemed fine this morning, so we took her to daycare. The fever returned, so I picked her up a bit early (4:00), and the big girl, too. So, tonight, my husband is working late and by 6:20, the toddler was bathed and asleep in bed. The older girl sat on her beanbag chair, eating pizza in front on the television. I sat in the dining room, just feet away, drinking a glass of cheap red and having my own slice, listening to NPR and breathing a sigh of relief. Meanwhile, on WNYC,

You’ve heard that family dinners are great for your family’s health, right? That families who eat together are thinner and healthier, running a lower risk of diabetes and heart attack? Well, tomorrow on Morning Edition, you’ll hear from a doctor on the crucial emotional and psychological benefits of the family dinner.

Sigh.

3 comments:

Anne Camille said...

Don't sigh. Sometimes you need those quiet downtime evenings -- and so do the kids. It's dinner every night in the back seat of the van, out of a fastfood bag, running from one overscheduled event to the next that is killer.

Anonymous said...

One thing I remember from my childhood is that one needs a break from family dinners too.

Sam Grossman said...

hi anne:

i heard a subsequent npr piece on research on the "family dinner." turns out what's useful, according to this study, for kids about the "family dinner" is the back-and-forth talk that some "family dinners" might encourage, but that is of course available in other moments. the kind of critical thinking that you describe #1 already demonstrating ("MY memory is WIDER"). or, as in what lizzie told lewis yesterday, describing his parenting style (and when would i have ever tried THAT?), "rules, rules, rules."

love
lisa