Since October is National Eat Dinner Together Month, we have been focusing on ways to make meal time more successful. For some people, it is simply finding and making the time.

What helps me most is to look at the calendar once a week, evaluate everyone's schedule and plan our meals around it. Some days my time is limited for meal preparation so I plug in the crockpot. Other days I make sure there is a healthy snack after school, because we eat later, after everyone is home from the days activities.

Every week, I actually make a "menu", listing dinner time, the meal, and post it on the refrigerator. I then prepare my grocery list and shop for the week's menu. Some weeks I am not so organized and it shows by our fast food choices or the countless trips to the grocery store. I quickly realize all the time I have spent driving and waiting in the check out line, that I vow to be more prepared next time. It really works, but just like most things in life, taking some extra time to plan ahead is full of rewards.

Posted by Susan at 10/14/2003 06:07:30 AM | Link