Lately I’ve written quite a bit about the role of traditions and rituals in the lives of adoptive families. One that I’ve not discussed yet in any depth is the family dinner table.

Though my husband has a flexible schedule, and the kids probably see him more than most children are able to see their fathers during the day, we still look forward to the dinner table as the time when we can all be together to discuss our day.

Manners Training: The family table is a great place to practice and model manners.

Teamwork: Setting and clearing the table are great chores for children to help them feel the contributions they can make to the family.

School: Yeah, that’s a weird one, I know. Those of you who read the blog regularly know that I homeschool. I have to say that the family dinner table has been one of the greatest and most effective learning tools I’ve ever had. One time, there was only one piece of something left. Everyone wanted some of it. My oldest son suggested cutting it “into fifths” (we’ve barely begun fractions, and the little we did do was months ago!). I explored this with him a bit, and he rattled off that his younger brother would get one-fifth, his sister’s portion would make two-fifths … and so on. We’ve talked about what we’ve done at school that day, to get Dad up to speed with what’s going on, and that re-capping of events helps to reinforce what they’ve learned. More often than not, they want to make up math problems to solve in front of their dad, or be the one to recite all the books of the Bible.

Sharing: One of our favorite rituals is to go around the table and ask each person to tell us about their favorite and least favorite parts of the day. Hands down, nine times out of ten, everyone will state that having dinner together is their favorite!

For more on the subject:

Benefits of the Dinner Table


Returning to Our Family Dinner Table:

The Importance of the Family Dinner Table


The Family Dinner Table

Families With Full Plates

The Family Table @ TV Land