With our modern-day lives getting shorter by the minute and our work lives taking over most of our free time, most of us look forward to having dinner with our families because that is the only time we get to sit together as a family and share our lives with each other. However, this family-meal time becomes unpleasant if there is stress and exhaustion doing the rounds. Therefore, it is very important to make sure that you have a stress-free Family Meal regularly so as to strengthen the family ties.

Now you must be thinking, how can you contribute towards making your Family meal a stress-free event. Well, help is at hand. Just follow the given steps and you can be on your way to organizing the most stress-free family meal that you dreamt of:

1) What you’ll need: Well even before you start dreaming of that perfect family lunch or dinner, make sure you possess a weekly meal plan as well as a stocked pantry because both are very important towards preparing, serving and enjoying a stress-free family meal.
2) Plan in advance: While thinking of a stress-free family meal, it is always important to plan in advance. To be on the safe side, plan the meals for your family a week in advance. This will not only save you enough time, but will also give you an opportunity to incorporate last minute changes as well as stock up you pantry. That, we are sure, means a lot of stress reduced.
3) Shop for everything you need: Once you have planned your meals in advance, you should hit the supermarket or the neighborhood grocery store and purchase your ingredients. This holds true most of the time because you have canned ingredients available for almost every conceivable dish that you can store inside your pantry and refrigerator. This way, you can even manage to rustle up everybody’s favorite dinner even at a short notice. See, some more stress is gone!
4) Take care of the kids first: Kids are usually the most fussy eaters because of their age. So, the first thing you want to do at a family dinner is hold the attention of your kids so that they do not end up playing with the food on their plates. To do so, you might consider spending some time alone with them during the day or right before dinner, or may be give them a snack or two before the dinner starts. This will not only keep them calm but also help them to tide over their hunger pangs till the dinner is served.
5) Involve kids in cooking: Another sureshot way of getting your kids to stay within their limits is by involving them in the cooking process for the dinner and delegating them responsibilities according to their age and maturity levels. The activities where kids can contribute range from setting the table to shredding lettuce or just keeping an eye on a cauldron of soup. Besides, while cleaning up the table after the meal, enlist the help from every member of the family. This will make sure that the bonding formed over the meal continues well past it.
6) Keep the discussion/conversation light: Avoid discussing serious family matters over lunch or dinner because then, the attention is diverted from whats on the plate to whats on the mind. This is one way to induce stress in the family meals and you don’t want that, right? So keep your discussion light and fun and take up a topic where everyone, even your 3-yr-old can have something to say, for instance what happened during the day or what games you liked to play in your childhood.
7) Avoid distractions: Try not to pick up the phone while having meal with your family. This will not only help you to concentrate on what you are eating but also help you to have a stress-free family meal. Some tips: TV is a strict no-no; instead put on some light music that could run in the background; don’t keep telephone close to the dining table or in dining room; if possible avoid taking any calls during meals.

Besides following the above steps, you can also bring some changes like instead of having your meals on the table, spread out a picnic in the middle of the room or play out the role of a restaurateur with your family, allowing them to choose from a small menu.

Remember, having at least one meal together daily is proven to increase family bonding. So, with help from this blog, organize a stress-free family meal and bring back camaraderie and pleasantness in your family life. (Photo courtesy: momsmealconnection.com, google)