Your Dinner Table Might Be the Key to a Happier 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 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. 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. Call All Hands on Deck
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.
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.
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?
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
CHEERLEADER HIGHLIGHT We would really like to highlight all of the girls who have been attending cheer clinics and working hard for the past several months in preparation for cheerleading tryouts this month. “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail,” — not these girls!
Robertsdale High School: Gillian Langham
Fairhope High School: Jenny Holmes Emma Grace Vannoy Kylee White
Spanish Fort High School:
Tiler Coley
Riley Trosclair
Anna Criswell
Emma Kate Langham
Daphne Middle School:
Fairhope Middle School:
Kamden Eady
Dacia Howard Hannah Greene Isabella Risser
Anne Darby Clark
Jameson Nelsen Madison Frasier Michelle Bossard
Joan Taylor
Zoie Pratt
Renie Kennedy Vivian Webster Murphy Creel Ella Traylor Molly Brown
Graceyn Boudin Ravenna Brandon Anna Grace Morgan Caitlyn Laughman
Kiersten Paul
Langlee Wallace
Gracelynn Mercante
Grace Ann Middleton Cooper Anderson
Morgan Hollingsworth
Ashland Stabler Kinleigh Dusek
Julie Mathews Cheney Pratt Brooke Stewart
Isabelle Martin
Isabella Mastin Skylar Spinks
Madison Bias
Sarah Claire Stejskal
Chloe Ellis
Townes Bowman Jenny Holmes
Kaylea Christmas Anna Cate Potts
Spanish Fort Middle School:
UMS Wright:
Central Baldwin Middle School:
Mikayla Gaffney
Mia Williams
Isabella Ferguson
Kaleigh Thomas
Mary Frances Wood
Aspen Hall
Kylie Brown
Landry Kostelecky
Anna Katherine Driver
Ally Dismukes
Sara Kauffung
Leslie Odom
Leeanna Burt
Kaylee Middleton
Anna Kate O’Connor
Briege Noonan
Kylee Ellis
Gabbi Glass Mia Todd
Austyn Ardoin McKenzie Elleard
All of our 8th-grade Spanish Fort Middle School and Fairhope Middle School cheerleaders graduating and trying out at their respective high schools.
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