By: Marcy Jefferson
For toddlers, family mealtimes provide an opportunity for young eaters to learn to use cutlery and to eat a wider range of foods. They even learn mealtime etiquette, such as an understanding that they don’t need to be the center of attention.
Meals with your spouse or partner, on the other hand, are equally important. A shared meal offers an opportunity to relax and reconnect at the end of the day. But when family mealtimes aren’t possible, how do you choose?
I’m the mommy in the middle… My toddler goes to bed at 7 p.m.; most nights, my husband arrives home around 6:45—in time for the bedtime story.
So what’s a family to do? How do you cover those all-important bases without sacrificing too much?
- Decide whether dinner is the best time for your family to eat together. Do you get up early? Maybe breakfast is a better time to share a family meal.
- Plan to eat your meal with your spouse—but eat a snack during your child’s dinner time. This way, you still have an opportunity to model positive eating behaviors for your child.
- Eat your meal with your child—but be careful to sit down with your spouse while she eats. Drink a cup of tea or have a dessert. The emphasis here is on the time spent together, not on the action of eating.
- Make it a priority to eat family meals together on the weekend. Eating family meals together once or twice a week is better than nothing.
Whatever you choose, make sure it works for you. Every family’s situation is different. And remember that as your toddler grows older and his bedtime shifts, family meals may become easier.
