Your Dinner Table Might Be
the Key to a Happier Family
Call All Hands on Deck Mom or Dad shouldn’t be expected to cook by themselves for every meal. This is family time, after all, so call in the kids! Make sure their tasks are age-appropriate — leave sautéing vegetables to the high schooler and let your first-grader set out the cups instead. This is the perfect opportunity to teach kids valuable kitchen skills and to take some of the burden off your plate. Plus, if your kids are picky eaters, inviting them to be part of the cooking process can make them more inclined to try the finished product. Don’t Stress Yourself Out It’s okay if you’re too busy on a Monday to cook dinner. There’s always Tuesday. Or you can take a trip to your favorite family restaurant. Family meals should be fun, and that can’t happen if you’re stressed. Don’t feel pressured to make each meal perfect or to prepare a three- course dinner every night. Chicken and rice can get the job done as long as you’re all sitting around the table as a family.
The family dinner is a staple of years gone by. These days, the only time you see a family sit together and break bread seems to be at Thanksgiving. This is a shame, because regular family dinners are incredibly important! It’s a time to bond with your loved ones that can have a positive impact on your kids’ lives. A study published in the journal Pediatrics found that kids who regularly partake in family meals are less likely to experience depression or engage in drug use. Furthermore, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University determined that kids who eat family meals five to seven times a week bring home better report cards. Even when schedules are busy, you can make family dinners fit into your agenda with these tips. Be Flexible About Mealtimes Dinner doesn’t have to be at 6 p.m. on the dot. If Kamala has a karate tournament in the evening or Peter needs to stay late at school for art club, why not break out the healthy snacks and make dinner happen a little later or earlier? Plus, the meal you share as a family doesn’t have to be at dinnertime. If there’s time in the mornings, sit down for breakfast. If you have the opportunity on weekends or during a school break, grab lunch together.
No matter how hectic your schedule may be, making family meals a priority is always worth the investment. Who’s in the mood for meatloaf?
Electric or Manual? You know brushing your teeth for two minutes twice a day is essential to maintaining your oral health. What’s open to more debate, though, is which tool is better at cleaning your teeth: manual or mechanical brushes? This feature takes out the guesswork and makes it easy to brush your teeth for the recommended time. For children who try to get out of brushing at every chance, the timer can turn brushing into more of a game and less of a chore. More Comfort Perks f a Powered Toothbrush
If you’re looking for an electric brush, you’ll find a wide range of options, from SoniCare and Oral B’s standard products to Quip’s sleek, stylish subscription-based model. Oral-B’s Oscillating-Rotating- Pulsating Power Toothbrush line recently became the first electric toothbrush to receive the ADA Seal of Acceptance. Most electric toothbrushes are rechargeable and have removable tops that you can change every few months as the bristles start to wear. So, what’s the bottom line? If an electric toothbrush gets you to brush
The American Dental Association (ADA) states that both manual and powered toothbrushes are effective at removing plaque. But other clinical trials suggest positive results for people who switched to electric brushes. When the ADA surveyed 16,000 patients who’d replaced their manual with mechanical brushes, over 80 percent reported improved oral cleanliness. While the debate has yet to be settled, you might personally enjoy some of the added features of an electric toothbrush. Timed Brushing Most electric toothbrushes have timers, which encourage you to brush for a set amount of time, usually two minutes. When you press the power button, the toothbrush begins to vibrate and will continue to vibrate for two minutes.
If you have arthritis or dexterity difficulties, an electric toothbrush’s ability to vibrate on its own removes some of the pressure from your hands, making brushing a more comfortable
and manageable experience. Improved Efficiency
An electric toothbrush can move much more quickly and precisely than your hand alone, so you’ll be able to cover more surface area in the same amount of time and potentially remove more plaque. An electric toothbrush also discourages brushing too hard — the extra pressure on the brush will make the vibrations noisy and uncomfortable.
more often and more effectively, it’s the right tool for you.
2 · www.briarfielddentalcare.com · 419-866-6985
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