Dinner Rebellion

My husband and I make a concsious effort to have a family meal most nights of the week. A tried and true, homemade meal with all of us around the table, the tv off and the phone silenced. "Studies" say it's supposed to help nurture your relationship with your children and the communication between spouses and in the years to come, bring everyone together at least once a day when the world starts spinning.

So far, all it's doing for my is giving me a mental breakdown. Here's how it goes most days: After working all day, I pick the kids up from daycare, come home and make supper, set the table and have it all ready when my husband arrives (it's a 30 minute window usually, so it's tricky). We sit down and then all hell breaks loose. Our son complains because it's not what he likes or wants to eat, my daughter cries because the placemat isn't the one she wanted, then she wants to sit on my lap which makes my son want to sit on my husband's lap. My daughter will eat almost anything, but while she's eating, she usually spills her drink or tips over her plate, which then brings the dog out of hiding. The dog then starts lapping up the scraps on the floor and the kids start screaming because the dog is eating their dinner. By this time, the food on my plate hasn't been touched, it's cold and I'm in tears. My husband is trying to maintain order without losing his temper and the kids are a wreck. By the time we clean everyone up and throw the dishes in the sink (which I then load into the dishwasher either after the kids are in bed or in the am before work), an hour has gone by and it's bathtime, then books, then bedtime. About 10:00, my husband and I realize that we haven't had supper yet. So a bowl of cereal it is.

I announced a dinner rebellion a couple of weeks ago - I vowed to not make supper for a week. That's not to say anyone went hungry - we just didn't have home cooked, sit down meals. And I stuck to it. But I felt bad, so I sifted through my cookbooks, found recipes and made a grocery list for the next week. One night went pretty well. But last night we were back to our old traditions. I don't know if our expectations are too high or we're trying too hard or what. But we are definitely not the control group when it comes to studies about family meals.

So I'm going to try to loosen up a bit and if dinner gets made, great. If not, then I'm thinkin' Arby's.