Oh, Honestly!

Real Life for Real Moms

Cutting the Chaos of Dinner Time With Kids

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Not long ago I found a bunch of stock photos of families at dinner time and I’ve got to tell you, they looked NOTHING like our family dinners.
Everyone was in their seat. Everyone was smiling. Kids were grabbing second helpings of vegetables. No one had food on their face or shirt.

These photos were remarkable. They were peaceful. They were perfect. They were ridiculously fake.

You want to know the word I would choose to describe dinner time with three young kids?

Chaotic.

Not perfect. Not peaceful. Chaotic.

Dinner time with kids can be chaotic. Spilled drinks, complaining, no one in their seat. But it doesn't have to be a total wash. Here's how one family makes it less chaotic so that they can enjoy their time together. Includes a free Conversation Starters printable.

Cutting the Chaos of Dinner Time With Kids

Here’s a little snapshot (with actual snapshots included) of how our dinners often go. Can you relate?

Dinner is ready, but it takes 10 minutes to get everyone to come to the table. As soon as they arrive, the complaining starts.

“What?? We’re having this?”

“Ugh!”

“I don’t liiiiike thaaaat.”

As soon as we get everyone to sit down, the requests start: A glass of water, ketchup, some milk, a spoon instead of a fork. In the midst of our back and forth, the youngest slips under the table in an effort to avoid eating.

dinner time 5

We issue some minor threats involving an early bedtime and she reluctantly climbs back into her chair.

Someone spills their water.

While we clean it up, our best eater cleans his plate. He’d like to be excused, but we tell him he has to wait until everyone is finished. Unfortunately for him, it could be a while. He does his best to wait patiently, but falls out of his chair, then turns around to look out the window, even though it’s gotten pitch black since we first sat.

family dinner time

I take my third bite since sitting down only to discover that it’s cold, then scarf it all down in less than five minutes so I can start clearing the table.

Each night takes a slightly different form of the above scenario, but there is rarely a night when our kids stay still the whole time with smiles plastered on their faces, taking extra helpings of the healthy stuff. And by rarely I mean never.

Even so, dinner time at our house is something that we enjoy and find important. We’ve seen the studies that link family dinners to improved grades and lowered chances of a child making poor life choices, and we know that making this a habit now will make it a lot easier when the kids get older.

But does that mean we just have to deal with the chaos now so that our kids will reap the rewards later?

I’d say yes and no.

Part of the chaos is just the stage of life we’re in. Our kids are at ages where someone always needs something, it’s hard to sit still, and manners are constantly being learned and practiced. We don’t expect them to be perfectly behaved at dinner time (or really any other time for that matter. They are kids after all.)

On the other hand, there are things we can do to at least lessen the chaos:

Make a plan

First of all, having a meal plan is huge for my own stress levels. When I plan ahead for the week, I don’t have to scramble to come up with what to make at the last minute.

Having a plan also lets me look at what meals I’ve scheduled back-to-back so that I can make sure that they’re varied and that there aren’t too many in a row that the kids will dislike.

Make meals everyone likes

While I don’t cater to my kids or make separate meals for them, I do want to make sure that we have some meals that I know they’ll enjoy.

One way I do this, which also makes meal planning a little easier, is to have Pizza Night every single week. The kids will tell you that Pizza Night is their favorite night of the week, and I have to admit, it’s mine too. I mean, who doesn’t love pizza?

dinner time 1

Sometimes I make homemade (the kids love to help!) and sometimes, especially if I’m short on time or just don’t feel like cooking, we have RED BARON® pizza. I loved the RED BARON® Singles as a kid and now I love the Classic Crust that has just the right crunch.

Pizza Night means I only have to tell everyone to come to the table once, it means there isn’t any complaining about what’s on the menu, and it means that everyone pretty much stays in their seat because they’re too busy eating to get up and move around.

family dinner time

Get a conversation going

One of the best reasons to have family dinners is because it’s a great opportunity to talk to each other, but often we’re so caught up in getting everyone settled that most of the dinnertime conversation consists of commands from the parents. Plus, it’s common knowledge that the question “How was your day?” rarely prompts much more than a quick, “Fine,” before you’re back to Square One.

If you want to get a quality conversation started, one that gets everyone thinking and sharing while also giving you a peek into your children’s minds and hearts, be purposeful about it.

We’ve started asking a specific question at dinner time that each of the kids (and Dad and Mom) can answer as we eat. Not only does it get everyone interacting, but it has the added bonus of keeping everyone in their seats.

dinner time 2

“If you could be an animal, what would you be?” I guess this particular question comes with a round of charades.

I’ve created a printable PDF that has an entire month’s worth of conversation starters for dinner time. Just click on the picture below to go to the full sized version, print it off, and you’ll be ready to go.

Some of the questions are silly, like the one in the picture above, and some go a little deeper. They’re great for getting everyone thinking and then, depending on how your children respond, you can extend the conversation from there. family dinner time Even if you take all of these suggestions, you’ll still find that there are many nights when the kids complain, milk is spilled, and you can barely sit down because someone is constantly asking for something.

So I do have one more idea to cut the chaos and make dinner time just as perfect as those stock photos I like to laugh at.

Force your family into sweaters, make them sit outside on the patio on a cold winter day, and stage your own perfect family dinner time photo.

You’ll still know the truth about your imperfect family, but boy will that picture look good on Facebook! Betcha can’t figure out which one is the real stock photo and which is my family 😉

dinner time stock photo dinner time stock photo

Here’s wishing you many perfectly imperfect family dinners!  

Now for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card, tell me in the comments below, how do you spend your special family night? 

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About Lauren

If you enjoy picture-perfect home decor, perfectly prepared recipes, and perfectly behaved children, you've come to the wrong place. Meet Lauren. She isn't perfect, but she's perfectly real.

Comments

  1. Alison says

    Pizza night is the best.
    Love the conversation starters – I’m always stuck for conversation, and it would be nice to talk about something other than, “Stop poking your brother in the head!” “Do NOT pour that glass of water on the table!”

  2. Christine says

    Love this. Embrace the chaos, it’s where the memories are made, and it doesn’t last forever. My kids are teens now, and dinner resembles the pictures more now, but I miss the antics.

    • Lauren says

      Yes! I know it’s mostly just the season we’re in, which has really made every phase of parenting easier (and more bittersweet!).

  3. Kelly Suellentrop says

    We are SO not the stock photo family at dinner time! I do find my kids are more “civilized” when we’re having something they like (count pizza on that list!). And we always ask them to tell us at least one thing they learned that day, whether at school or not. That usually gets some good conversation going.

  4. Herchel S says

    We have new rule that makes family dinners even more fun. Whenever my son acts up, tips his chair, tears into food with his hands etc, he is sent away from the table for a minute or two to “collect himself.” It’s fun.

    We spend our family nights playing Monopoly and having pizza. It’s fun despite the tears and attempts at cheating!

  5. Whitney says

    Pizza night is the best ending to a crazy week. With three school aged kids, we have stuff going on all the time during the week. I love Friday when we can sit down as a family, but who wants to spend the whole time cleaning up. Instead, we toss a pizza in and enjoy each other’s company. Sometimes we watch TV sometimes we play a game, and sometimes we sit and talk and laugh.

  6. Esther says

    We ALWAYS do pizza night on Friday nights. It’s the best way to wind down the week. We curl up on the couch (or my daughter sprawls or crawls, etc) and we watch a movie while enjoying our pizza 😉

  8. Jen W says

    We share a two-family house with my brother (and his wife) and he is a game board fanatic so we play games after dinner a lot. My younger one is still too little to join but she loves to steal the cards/place markers/dice, etc. 😉

  9. Megan says

    Oh man, I loved this…we value family dinner time too and it’s also stressful and chaotic 😜 Trying to teach our kids gratitude in regards to dinner bc most nights are full of complaining…we always ask about our feelings of the day “what made you happy/sad/mad, etc today?” and it’s pretty sweet to watch them get into it. Almost makes the complaining and whining and chaos worth it! 😉

  11. Kristen says

    Such a GREAT post! And I love your faux dinner time picture! What a great giveaway too! We always need conversation starters too. One way we curb the “ick I don’t want this” comments is by meal planning and posting so everyone can see what we are having on a daily basis.

  14. Jeffrey says

    My kids love to help in the kitchen so many nights be will make some type of treat like brownies, cookies or bars.

  16. Shann says

    Ha! Love your “stock” photo. Dinner at our house is just as chaotic. 3-year-old twins just do not sit still. Ever. They do all love pizza, though. It’s the one meal everyone will actually eat.

  17. Karen Johnson says

    We do weekly pizza nights too! It is a treat for them and us. I don’t have to cook and we all feel like we get the night off from all the rules. I often don’t make them drink milk that night (they prefer water) or we might let the movie stay on the TV, etc. It feels good to kick our feet up and let it all go once in a while. And we have had many a Red Baron in our freezer! Ha!

  21. Tamara says

    Dinner time can be a hot mess around here, but I welcome it. My kids are fed, we are together as a family.

  26. Natalie says

    My family loves to spend family nights playing card games and dice games together. We also like to watch movies together or binge-watch shows on Netflix!!

  28. Robin Masshole Mommy says

    I live for that dinner time chaos. It is when we are all together whether it’s talking, spilling stuff or crying because the kids hate what I made for dinner. I love it all.

  29. Brenda says

    The good old days, that’s what we call them now and many times wish we could do it again. We kind of do get to do it again with grand kids and when they come here they usually do get pizza, never any complaints.

  33. Jeannette says

    Dinner at your house sounds like dinner at my house. I think having kids is just chaos in general and add food and drinks to it and things get really crazy. I’ve accepted it but try to keep things as calm as possible.

  36. Jeni Hawkins says

    I like that you try to make something everyone will enjoy. I grew up in a house of seven – and we pretty much got what we wanted only on our birthdays!

  37. Jessie C. says

    For our family nights, we love to have pizza, movie and games.
    tcarolinep at gmail dot com

  39. Alyssa @ The Plucky Introvert says

    Its just my husband and I at home, so we tend to get into a bad habit of watching tv with dinner while sitting on the couch. Lately, we’ve started having a game night with dinner once a week, usually on Saturday, where we make something super simple and play a board game with dinner. Its been great!

  40. Ann Bacciaglia says

    When my kids were younger it was always a challenge to keep the kids at the table. We always managed to get threw it but keeping them focused was always hard.

  41. Elizabeth Lampman says

    This is such a true post. I often see the stock photos for family’s and they always look so fake. They need to get some real family photos.

    • Pam says

      It’s so true. Our family dinners never look that happy or peaceful! The stock photos just aren’t realistic at all.

  42. Amy Desrosiers says

    Dinner time with my kids is pretty much when I get years shaved off of my life. My kids are terrible and they make me want to never cook again most nights.

  43. Pam says

    Our kids always liked pizza night! Dinner time can be a great time to bond as a family but it can be pretty hectic and stressful as well.

  44. Travel Blogger says

    Yep! We have the same chaotic dinner experiences, but it is so important to spend that time as a family. And a little planning does help. Thanks for the chance for a great giveaway! I could use $100!

  45. Liz Mays says

    Having a conversation or a game that everyone is interested in helped us out a lot. I like the idea of thinking of questions to ask.

  47. ricci says

    Stock photos make me feel like such a failure sometimes. Life is not that perfect! I love your real life dinner photos!

  48. Michelle says

    Thank you for the candid posts about what family dinners are usually like. Thank you for the list of Conversation starters as I think these will keep everyone in their seats!

  54. coolchillmom says

    Wait did you come for dinner at our house and it was so crazy I forgot you were there? I am definitely using your tips and that great printable!

  57. Jeanine says

    We eat dinner as a family every night, and some nights we chill out and watch movies together or play games. It’s fun, chaotic and I wouldn’t change it! Yours sound like loads of fun.

  64. Echo says

    I have one kid that loved pizza and one kid that does not, lol! However, we still enjoy pizza night. Eating dinner together, as a family, is something that I have always pushed for and held on to.

  65. Steve Weber says

    We spend it playing games, eating pizza and watching movies

    groogruxking40 @ gmail dot com

  67. Becca Wilson says

    Yes, dinner time with three kids is crazy in this house. I swear I spend half my time telling them to stop doing something and eat. I am always the last one eating because of this and my husband just thinks I’m a slow eater lol

  69. Shonee says

    Dinner time can be chaotic! We have kids throwing food on a regular basis. Thanks for the tips on keeping dinner more peaceful and successful!
    -Shonee

  71. michelle jones mcdowell says

    Yeah, feeding a bunch of kids at a meal can be a real pain, most of the time. Sometimes you need to really plan ahead. I was at a friend’s for dinner, her three kids and mine. I think a lot of the hassle could have been prevented if she had separated the chicken (kids and adults) before she put the sauce on rather than trying to convince two of the kids to just scrape it off – an argument she lost.

  75. Eugenia says

    Pizza night seems like a real great idea! Who doesn’t like pizza? Spending quality family time together is essential! We try to schedule one evening every week for special family activities!

  78. Kathy Kenny Ngo says

    Maybe its just our household but we’ve always had an orderly dinner. My Mom would never tolerate disorderliness and there’s four of us. I guess it may be an Asian thing. I wish you more order and hopefully you’d have more of those imperfectly perfect dinners.

  81. Elizabeth O. says

    I feel you. It’s only a picture perfect dinner when the kids like the food. Other than that, well, expect the same chaos you go through every night. There are times where I give up and just eat my dinner, lol.

  82. Margaret Smith says

    Usually we spend family nights either watching movies or playing games. We’ll make special snacks like popcorn or pizza. Thanks so much.

  84. Tiffany says

    We are temporarily living in such a small apartment and our kitchen is a joke. We have a mini stove with only about a pizza pans space worth of counter top… since living here I have come to dread cooking supper… this makes me so sad cuz I love cooking 🙁

  87. Ron Leyba says

    Lauren, thanks for the amazing tips. They will really come in handy.

    By the way, I subscribe to your newsletter, I need some encouragement right now.

  88. Diana says

    Amen Sister! With four kids dinnertime is always a bit of chaos! Great conversation starters and I am dying over your staged photo at the end…looks totally legit!

  90. Kati says

    I don’t have children yet, but I can imagine it’s never like in the stock photos! 😀 But even with all the chaos, family dinners are precious moments, plus your tips are great and I’m sure they will help me in the future.

  91. Natasha Mairs says

    I hate it when dinner is on the table and I shout everyone and my eldest, eleven, takes a good ten minutes to come down, because he is talking to his friends on skype. then when he does come down, he moans that he doesn’t like it, even though he ate it the time before!

  93. Dana says

    Our dinners are forever chaotic. One day I gave in and embraced it – the stress went away! We quiz the boys in math (by their request) and spark up conversation about the day, etc.

  98. Rosey says

    My kids are all older, except the youngest so our special family night is just when they can all come home to visit and eat. We usually end up doing barbeque on the patio. 🙂

  101. Kristin Goodson says

    We spend a special family night by cooking a yummy dinner. Sometimes we even make our own pizza and add fun toppings. We always have a dessert in the house and we watch a movie together or go out and find something to do around town.

  103. Rachel Jenkins says

    @3024_jenkins tweeted!!!
    We love to make homemade stew and play games ❤️❤️❤️

  104. Jacquie says

    I have a two y/o daughter and lately I’ve started letting her help me make dinner. Mostly pouring ingredients, but I’ve moved her closer to where I’m working on dinner and narrating a little more. She really enjoys it and samples veggies etc as we go. She seems really proud to help me!

    Also, one tip I picked up on…. for impatient little ones, put their dish in the freezer a few minutes before plating food. That way it cools much faster and they can eat when they sit down.

  105. Anastasia Falling says

    For family night, I love getting a chance to eat together and do something fun! Like play games or watch a movie! Spend some time together and relax after a long week of work 🙂

  107. Elle says

    We like to play board games together and if it’s in the spring/summer, spend time in the backyard or go bike riding.

  109. Heather says

    This is such a great idea. It’s like pulling teeth getting information from the kids and most of our meals involve talking about how we don’t like the food.

  110. Alli Smith says

    I always try to take the conversation in a direction that the kids will be interested in. Engaging them in conversation takes their minds off of whining – usually.

  112. Tori Gabriel says

    I hate stock photos for this very reason. The Mum always seems to be wearing white as well. Seriously? What’s that about?!

    I loved your conversation starters too.

  113. Jenn @ EngineerMommy says

    I love a family pizza night. It’s a fun tradition that everyone enjoys. Thanks for sharing these tips to streamline dinners with kids. It’s often hectic at our house, too!

  114. Kita says

    I remember those days of chaotic meal times. My kids are a bit older now so things have settled down even though still have a million and one requests.

  115. Jenny says

    Our dinners can be really crazy. I don’t think we will ever have a picture-perfect dinner but I love the craziness of our house.

  116. Mimi Green says

    I’ve slowly gotten the hang of meal planning and it is making a difference. Now I need to work on us eating together. We’ generally don’t but I need to make that a priority.

  118. Brandy says

    I have two boys and one teen girl – dinner is sometimes crazy especially with my youngest who is the comedian and non-stop moving. Love these ideas!

  119. Jennifer says

    Dinnertime is always hectic at our house. We have three kids – all of which have four legs – so there’s no getting rid of the chaos for us. 😉

  120. Jeanette says

    Dinner time at our house is usually not that bad. I have my son set the table I will put clean dishes away and get food on the table once it’s ready. I love your post that makes me crack up.

  121. Chantal says

    If only life was as perfect as the stock photos we come across! These are great tips for a family dinner, and it would be even better wining the gift card!

  122. Heather @ Kraus House Mom says

    My kids get upset if we don’t have a family dinner. We ask what the best part of their day was, or something funny that happened. Our dinners are anything but calm and relaxing. Someone is always up, laughing, yelling making a mess, you name it. My kids do like to have family game night.

  124. Melissa Lawler says

    The chaos does end! My kids are all grown up now. Family time means good food, great conversation and zombies! Zombie night is family night in the Lawler household.

  125. Heather S-G says

    Ha – love that staged photo! So true, meal time was always a comedy of errors when my kids were young. I think powering through it did make a difference, though. Fun post (and we have a weekly pizza night). 🙂

  126. Amy Kuhn says

    Since our tastes and likes of foods is often different and we have one picky eater (i.e. only likes chicken nuggest, hot dogs, nachos and a few other things), we take turns picking what we want for dinner each week. And if all else fails, we put dinner ideas in a hat and pick from there!

  127. Dawn Lopez says

    Is there any family on earth with kids that doesn’t think Family Pizza Night is the best meal of the week? LOL! I know we do love our pizza night. I like your conversation starter questions. Nice!

  128. Stacey says

    We try to have family dinners as much as possible. However they take forever to make because my 3-year old daughter loves to help, so I am always trying to find things that she can do and not get burned or cut. I usually also realize that I need to use the sink halfway through, so I am usually unloading and reloading the dishwasher in the midst of everything. Yes…it is complete chaos, but looking at it, even though I get frustrated at times, I wouldn’t change a thing.

    I have taken a meal-planning class, so I am hoping to utilize that to keep the level of dinnertime chaos to a minimum as much as possible.

  130. Christine Egan says

    I love the question ideas to get dinner conversation going! My littlest is not yet two and my oldest is 8, so dinner conversations don’t go too far. I need to try some of these though.

    Our family night involves pizza and a movie. We all look forward to it!

  131. Naomi Jensen says

    I love the conversation starters! Having a meal plan is great and so helpful but I don’t feel like I can get it together for every dinner. Quick but healthy food that is already prepped (such as pre-grilled and sliced chicken) is a huge help and sort of a guilty pleasure. My mom taught her kids to make everything from scratch but I am a modern girl and I love a quick solution! Always enjoy your blog! Thanks, Lauren!

  132. Samantha Greer says

    Saturday breakfast is actually our special meal of the week. We try to have a hot breakfast that everyone likes. As far as week nights, It’s mostly just serve, eat quickly, then get ready for bed time. I can’t wait for my baby and toddler to be older kids who enjoy their food, and normal conversation, lol.

  133. Melissa Clark says

    We usually do an easy recipe of meatball soup with chickpeas, diced tomatoes and spinach. The kids love it (amazingly) and it takes less than thirty minutes with frozen meatballs. Later we have stove top popcorn and a short movie.

  134. Aimee Smith says

    Ha ha that last picture is my favorite! Our dinners look exactly like yours, I love the conversation starter idea. We have a cold cereal night once a week and my kids ADORE it!

  135. Shauna Torres says

    Ha, ha, ha… I love those silly faces. I tell you, I try really hard to come up with ideas everyone would like. Pizza is one of them 🙂 Thanks for sharing these tips

  136. Crystal says

    There’s no Normal Rockwell painting depicting our chaotic family dinners either. But that’s why it’s so great when everyone can agree on a meal and sit down and have a nice conversation. It’s rare, but I love it when it happens.

  137. Jeni HAwkins says

    We always had a game as a family that we played at dinner. “Going Around The Table.” We would each talk about something happy that happened to us that day!

  138. Danielle says

    I feel you on this one. My family dinners look nothing like those stock photos either. Usually here, the four year old is crying because he doesn’t want to eat what I’ve cooked. The baby is whining because she’s hungry and mommy nurses so I’m the only one who can feed her and then end up eating a cold meal (starting solid foods now, thankfully). At least daddy usually gets a nice hot meal, haha.

  139. Adrienne says

    Haha, this is great! As chaotic as it is, I’m sure there are so many super special moments that you’ll treasure forever. Thanks for sharing!

  140. Kathy says

    I love having pizza night for those days when you just don’t feel like cooking. We actually really love making homemade pizza too. I can definitely relate to the chaos during dinner time. There is always something my daughters are not going to like.

  141. Cheryll P says

    Meal planning is my never-ending quest. Going to have to remember pizza counts as a meal!!! Momma needs a soft ball now and then!

  142. Adelina Priddis says

    I love this! We need more REAL in our lives. Our dinners…oi vey. lol. Your kids sure are adorable though, even if they are under the table or making silly faces

  143. Janis says

    Great ideas for those in the thick of it. But my four kids recently left for college so I’m kinda missing all the chaos at dinner now that our house is silent 24/7. Crazy to say I know, but those kids are growing up fast and you’ll miss this “special” time of day soon enough.

  145. Ryan Escat says

    Night snack and conversation with family are still the best. It’s so great when kids telling and sharing some stories to you.

  146. Dawn gibson-thigpen says

    hehe. my friends always complain about this. i am gonna share this post with them because it is wonderful. lol. some of the stories they share with me are hilarious. ha

  147. SHELLEY R ZUREK says

    I love the idea of all those different conversation starters. It’s almost like you’d like to film them as can you imagine who cute they would be in later years?

  148. Kiwi says

    Is it that bad to get kids to settle down for dinner? Wow I dont have kids I didnt know but its all about discipline. I wont lie I grew up eating dinner with my mom and brother but we had a TV to distract us during dinner most times.

  149. Cassie Bosley says

    With 5 kiddos age 7 and under… Plus a picky mama, our favorite dinners when everyone is happy are pizza nights, Chinese, or grilling and eating on the screened in porch! (Yay for spring being here!) All of which are less work and cleanup for me 😉

    Though my kids are all for movie nights, we have the most fun on game nights… Parcheesi and trouble are their current faves. (And when we hang out with the extended family, game nights are so much more fun!)

    Thanks for sharing the conversation starter ideas too!

    (And we have a box of red Baron singles in the freezer for nights we can’t decide or don’t have the energy to figure out dinner for us… But hubby and I don’t like to share those with the kids! 😉

  153. Brooke at Silver Lining says

    Love that list of conversation starters! Right now it’s just my toddler who doesn’t really join in on real conversation, and my husband, who I sometimes run out of topics with, especially if we’ve been chatting since he got home from work. Pinning for later!

  154. Susan Smith says

    We spend out special family night by bringing in a pizza and playing games and watching a movie.

  158. Jenny @ Unremarkable Files says

    Our best family night is sitting down to a meal and starting a game of “2 truths and a lie.” Every member of the family takes a turn telling 2 things about their day and one thing that didn’t really happen today, and then we all try to guess the lie. Everybody else listens (because they want to guess right) and then we have some information about their day to have a conversation. (We’re really trying to teach our kids that dinner is for conversation, rather than potty humor and seeing who can make the dumbest noise the loudest!)

    • Lauren says

      That’s such a great idea! My kids would love it (although I bet their lies would be easy to spot… “Today I had math. I ate lunch. And… a bird swooped down while I was on the playground, picked me up, and carried me to McDonalds where I got a second lunch.”

  160. Allison Swain says

    We have a family game or movie night together.

    Thank you for the chance to win!

  162. Tia says

    Since my son only spends summers with us, we’re pretty big on family dinners. (Pretty much all time is spent together since we get such a small window of time.) Pizza night is also a big hit here, though we rarely do pre-made because I’m allergic to tomatoes 🙁 But we love making individual make-your-own pizzas and coming up with fun combinations. The Kiddo’s favorite is his version of meat lovers: pepperoni, salami, chicken, and bacon crumbles. With extra cheese. If not pizza, our other family favorite is fondue. We go all out and set up a picnic in the living room. We pick a movie to watch together and stuff ourselves haha! Favorite dippers include: broccoli and cauliflower, lil Smokies, chicken breast chunks, sourdough bread, asparagus, mushrooms, and carrots 🙂
    Loved your conversation tips! Since the kiddo is now a teen, they will come in handy to draw him in and away from technology.

  163. Lisa says

    Family dinners are SO important. So here is a new trick I have used. The boys used to want to sit in a different chair every night or move seats during the meal. I bought these cool button on chair bags. They are small bags where they can put things and helps identify THEIR seat. They love them and not a single issue with who sits where or musical chairs during dinner. Also, we started a rule that if you want another drink during dinner you can get up and get some water from the water dispenser on the fridge door, but mommy and daddy will not be getting up to refill drinks during dinner. We fill their cup before and after but not during. We also do the questions that everyone answers. We always start with “tell me about your day” or “how was your day?” The boys have actually started asking us before we ask them. I love it. We religiously do Taco Tuesday.

  166. Starla B says

    This is so awesome and so, so important for families- in my opinion. We spend special family nights by rotating who picks what our plans will be. We do often go out and do fun things like put-put, movies, and festivals.. but we also have fun nights at home. We love to all help each other plan and cook dinner and we usually end our nights by watching movies and playing games together. These are the moments I cherish the most!

  168. Allison Swain says

    We have a build your own pizza night or taco night with movies and/or games 🙂

    Thanks for the lovely giveaway!

  170. Tina W says

    We like to do a theme night: like pasta dinner, then watch a movie that is based in Italy.

  175. latoya says

    On our family dinner nights, we will cook a casserole and while its baking we’ll do something like play dominoes or a board game.

  180. allyson tice says

    When we have family night, we usually have dinner, go for a walk with our pup and then watch a movie, usually Captain America!

  183. MaryAnn says

    When my son was little, he was my first, I always thought he had to sit at the table for every meal to be this perfect family that was expected but as we have grown as a family I have learned that the best family nights for us are when we are all sprawled out eating around the coffee table with pizza or sandwiches. That is when this kids are most relaxed and want to talk to us about their days.

  188. Donna L says

    We would either have homemade pizza or other take -out food and play games or watch a movie. We would take weekly turns on who decides what we are going to do.

  190. Tammy Woodall says

    Our family night is usually on Sunday and all of my brothers and sisters go to our Mom’s house. We have a potluck lunch/dinner. We do one of several things on family day/night; we either watch a Sports event on TV or watch a New Release DVD.

  193. Dominique Cloutier says

    We like to spend our special family nights playing board games. It’s something that I did with my parents and I love passing on the same tradition to my children! It’s a blast!

  196. Cami Valenzuela says

    We spend family night usually outside playing or watering plants and making a fun learning experience. As for dinner there is always something going on. I tend to laugh off some of the little stuff gonna kids will be kids. And one day it will just be me and my husband eating a lonely dinner.

  198. Lauryn R says

    I love having Family Movie Night, especially when we do a theme! 🙂 It’s a great way to bond and spend time together.

  200. Lisa Aliperti says

    Since my daughters are now adults, our special family nights are when we can all get together (along with one daughter’s husband) a few times a year. We like to cook the meal together. Each has their specialty an we do take a long time eating, laughing, and telling stories from “back when”.

  202. Liz N says

    We like food everyone can customize (like tacos or pizza) and games that help us interact and laugh (like Apples to Apples)!

  207. Ally says

    Dessert isn’t a nightly occurrence, so that’s something that happens on special family nights!

  208. Lorena Keech says

    No little ones currently at our house. But we used to pick a topic and we’d discuss it during dinner. Someone would usually go get the encyclopedia (dating me some?) or the dictionary to answer a question or prove a point. It would get heated sometimes but we always laughed a lot and always cleared our plates too.

  209. Jenny Scheldberg says

    I love a good family night spent in. Now that it’s getting to be warm outside we like to grill on the patio and maybe have a bonfire. If it’s raining we opt for a good movie.

  212. Jolene Johnson says

    We love to order pizza because everyone likes it, and afterward watch a movie on the couch with popcorn and candy. 🙂

  213. Gina M says

    We usually eat pizza and rent a redbox movie or play a board game!

    Thanks for the chance to win!
    wildorchid985 at gmail dot com

  217. Elizabeth says

    We have homework club with my nieces sometimes and they come over with my Mom for imaginative play, snack and homework!

  219. Christina says

    As my daughter (4 years old) and I are making dinner she often eats raw veggies as we are cooking. Thus no fight at the table to sit and eat your veggies. Anyway we had guests over and she loudly says I’M READY FOR YOU TO BRING ME MY SECOND DINNER like she is Thor 😂

  220. Wendy Pesce says

    I try to get the kids to help me plan and make dinner, usually results in a happy to eat dinner, which makes for a happier family. Promising ice cream for dessert helps too!

  225. Maggie Smith says

    I’m fortunate enough to work from home so my kids always have a nice, homemade dinner every night. We always share about our day!

  227. Elizabeth pergande says

    We love to spend our family night with pizza and a game. Fun times! truckredford(at)gmail(D0t)Com

  229. Melissa L. says

    For our family nights we enjoy watching a movie together, or playing a game. It’s a great way to spend time all together.

  230. Shaylin S. says

    On family night we all sit down and watch our favorite movies and eat popcorn or ice cream!

  231. Kelsie says

    We got out of the habit of everyone sitting around the table for dinner while I was pregnant and was always nauseous. I didn’t feel like cooking or eating so we had Little Ceasars a lot because everyone would eat it and it required no effort on my part. Those nights I was so nauseous it was easy to make my 2 year old a sandwich or a bowl of cereal and my husband was on his own and I would have toast. I love the idea of having every night be a theme, like pizza night, breakfast for dinner night etc… It also makes meal planning easier.

  234. Ashley c says

    We spend special family nights playing games, watching movies are having something “different” for dinner like roasting hot dogs and marshmallows outside!

  235. Kristie says

    For family night we eat pasta, veggies, rolls and Jello. Then we watch some television. Lately we are watching Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot. We have so much fun. kristiedonelson(at)gmail(dot)com Thank you.

  239. Nichole Mc says

    OUr family nights always start with pizza followed with a big family game night it’s always best when our older kids are home from college to participate

  241. Kat says

    Family night and pizza go together perfectly! We like to watch old episodes of Bugs Bunny after we eat our pizza.

  243. angie says

    If the weather permits, we love to take a country drive in our Prius with the windows down going slow in mostly electric mode so that we can hear the birds and frog songs. It is so romantic and relaxing.

  246. Emily Benzing says

    My special family night just includes being a kid again – building a fort of blankets and pillows on the floor, ordering food & watching movies and tv shows. It’s just nice to be able to do something we all enjoy. We have fun, relax & it’s something we try to do a couple times a month

  247. Joy Wilkins says

    We spend our special family nights by watching a family friendly movie (or finding something on Netflix) and have popcorn! I realize how lame that is now. LOL! Here you are having awesomeness with your family. But I’m pretty sure it’s our favorite thing to do as a family because we’re all lazy once evening rolls around. HA!
    thanks for this opportunity!

  248. BarbaraMae says

    Much like pizza night at your house, I look forward to taco Tuesdays. We order from a restaurant across the street so there’s no dishes and no cleanup, just quality time and tasty tacos. I’ll be printing out your conversation starters because even with two adults there is less chaos having mean fil chats takes effort and intention.

  249. Samantha D says

    We spend our family nights doing a lot of activities. Board games, rent movies, netflix. In the summer we go to festivals, spending time in the yard grilling. Or going out for a long drive with ice cream as a reward.

  251. hannah says

    We do pizza night on Fridays too! We order delivery and watch our current tv series ( right now it’s Macgyver) It’s relaxing and a great way to start the weekend.

  253. Darcy Hoskins says

    With a 4-year-old and a 1-year-old, every meal is chaotic. Every. Single. One. But when we have special nights, I make sure to make something that the kids like the best, we have races to see who can beat mom and dad, and we race to finish so that we can play games or watch a movie together! Those nights, though still chaotic, are easier.

  254. Trisha Burgess says

    Our special family night is board games and pizza! Extra special and being good earns ice cream sundaes!

  255. Emily says

    Great time of year for this, with baseball season gearing up and the days getting longer, who wants to cook?

  258. LYDIA PISERELL says

    Because we 2 kids (ages 3 and 21 months), family dinner time goes like this….
    I am cooking, continously turning the TV down to normal volume, wiping up messes, saying “stop it” like 538 times, the hubs is shoveling food into the kids faces as fast as possible, I’m constantly kicking the dog away from the highchairs, there is a lot of yelling coming from everyone… so yeah… it’s wonderful…
    “eye twitching….” …. fake smile
    Xoxo

  259. Dana Matthews says

    Our special family night is usually centered around Taco Tuesday! This is our favorite meal and always makes for happy faces. Conversation is about school and the school day and each person gets their chance to talk. If the weather permits, we have a little time outside and I go with the kids to watch them play….if the weather is bad, we usually play a game or color. It’s not hard to please my crew, but they sure demand attention!

  261. Stephanie says

    It gets pretty tricky sometimes to fit in a family night, but it usually involves dinner together then going for a walk and making a cold treat like homemade Orange Julius when we get home. Followed by a movie together 😀

  265. Jackie Burton says

    We’re a little early for this ‘stage’ but will keep in the back of my mins! Thanks 🙂

  267. Patricia Mingozzi says

    We usually order a pizza or McDonald’s and play board games or we watch a movie together.

  270. lissa crane says

    We do a big pasta dinner and then a family game! We try to do this at least once a month or more!

  271. Tabathia B says

    We either watch a family movie with popcorn or play board games with pizza

    tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com

  277. Jo Ricker says

    We would have a fun dinner, followed by a family game or outdoor fun, and then movie, snacks and popcorn.

  278. Lisa says

    Family night for us usually consists of pizza or spaghetti followed by cookies or banana splits. And a movie. Always a movie!!

  283. Jerry Marquardt says

    I like to be able to spend a special family night by indulging in a nice dinner served up with a great dessert and maybe a movie.

  291. Tina says

    I love family night. we usually have game nights. Right now we are playing word games. But if we are too tired we have movie night with lots of popcorn and goodies.

  296. Sarah L says

    I live alone so don’t have a family night. When I was growing up we always ate dinner together.
    Thanks for the contest.

  298. LynneT says

    We spend it making tacos and then either watching a movie or playing a game like Monopoly.

  299. evans s says

    I make most of our meals from scratch and try to use veges from my garden with each dinner. My daughter likes to help out especially when I am making cupcakes. I try to look for a new recipe each week.

  300. Adrianne B says

    We spend our special family night talking at dinner, usually something homemade, around our tiny dinette in the kitchen. It’s really the best time to reconnect and find out about eachothers’ days, triumphs and struggles.

  302. Cheryl B. says

    Our special night consists of a pizza and movie night. We eat a great pizza, pop some popcorn and watch a movie together.

  306. shelly peterson says

    We like to have family game nights and family movie nights and cook up some pizza.
    cshell090869 at aol dot com

  308. Sue Hull says

    When my daughter was younger I let her pick where she wanted to go for dinner. Our family night was friday.In summer we would go grab subway or mcdonalds and we would go to the marina near where we lived. Its a beautiful place that has ducks, geese and a fishing pier. In winter we would go to IHOP or a mexican place. I was a single mom,still am. She’s grown now. Thank you for the chance 🙂

  310. MichelleS says

    We spend our family night making dinner together then playing board games and eating dessert.

  311. Karen Nadeau says

    We spend our family night by ordering Chinese food and playing a game or a family members choice. We take turns each week picking the game. I love family game night with my girls.