Recently we learned about an eighth grade assignment at The Potomac School in McLean Virginia where each student was asked to write an essay similar to the popular NPR This I Believe essay collection. The NPR program is “based on a 1950s radio program of the same name, Americans from all walks of life share the personal philosophies and core values that guide their daily lives”. The eighth graders were asked to write about a core value – something they believe in.

It’s no surprise that the students chose topics including achieving world peace, feeding and sheltering the homeless, living with high moral standards, and always giving 100 percent. However, one essay about the importance of the family routine was brought to our attention and was particularly meaningful to us at Let’s Dish!

The student’s essay entitled “I Believe in Family Dinner” really hit home for many of us. At Let’s Dish!, we’ve referenced studies about the importance of family dinner from the adult point of view. (http://thedishblog.com/2008/01/08/introducing-family-matters-the-importance-of-family-dinner/) We discuss the fact that children of families that eat dinner together regularly are less likely to have problems with alcohol and substance abuse. We have learned that children who eat dinner with their families are less like to develop eating disorders and we know that these same children score higher on standardized tests. However, this is the first time we have heard the child’s point of view about the importance of family dinner.

The student wrote about how she enjoys coming together at the end of the day because it makes her family more aware of each other’s schedules, achievements and stresses. She wrote that the time at the dinner table makes her family closer because of shared anecdotes and laughter. Most importantly, she wrote that over time she has come to learn that the dinner table is a safe place to raise her fears and concerns about absolutely anything. She wrote:

     I also believe that because I have been having dinner with my family most nights since I was young, it has become a safe place for me.  It is where we go to celebrate the happy things in life such as birthdays, victories, or good grades, but it also is where we are all together during the hard times.  It has become a place where we can comfort each other by just being there.  I feel comfortable when my family is sitting around the kitchen table because I know that no matter what I say, they are all there for me.  Whenever someone in my family is feeling down, the dinner table is where they feel loved and their sadness goes away. 

Wow! What amazing insight from a 13-year-old. We love this story and we really love knowing that Let’s Dish! is a part of so many family dinners in the area.

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If you’ve never attended one of our parent/kid sessions, here’s what you need to know:

Kids are welcome at any Let’s Dish! session (not just parent/kid sessions), provided they follow the guidelines listed below. We do encourage you to consider bringing your child along to daytime sessions as they tend to be less crowded, or a Second Sunday where we gear the session towards a younger crowd.

• Children must be 8 years old (no, we don’t check i.d. )
• For safety reasons, children must be able to reach the food prep stations without using a crate or stool.
• Children must be well-behaved and mature enough to handle basic food safety procedures (hand washing, etc)
• Children must be accompanied by a parent at the food stations while dishing
• One child per disher, please

Hours for this event vary by location; check your local store’s calendar.

Looking forward to seeing you and your little disher soon!

Cheers,

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If you are one of the first 50, we’ll email you by Monday, June 20th and you’ll be able to pick up your two tickets at either our Baltimore or Columbia stores. We’ll do our best to accommodate on preferred show times, but they will be given out on a first come, first serve basis.

Make sure to share the sign-up form with your friends and to stop by the Let’s Dish! table at the event for tasty samples and giveaways!

For more information about the event and the Kratt Brothers, visit the Maryland Zoo website or see below.

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“Wanna be our featured disher for May? Post why you love Let’s Dish! and you could be picked for all the fame, glory… and a $25 gift card!”

Our dishers are the best so we got a ton of fantastic responses.  One in particular stood out, however, and we knew she had to be featured in our May newsletter:

So, meet Carrie, super-mom, attorney, poet and our featured disher for May!

Name: Carrie Fogle

Kids:  Sarah, Cora, & Sami

Occupation: I am a civilian attorney with the US Air Force, and my husband is active duty in the Air Force.

Favorite Let’s Dish! meals: oh so many…right now it’s the Savory Apricot Shrimp and Pasta Carbonara with Grilled Chicken and Bacon. And the chips….I could easily eat the entire bag of chips

Why do you dish?: For many reasons….I am on Weight Watchers and love that it’s so easy to calculate the points. The meals easily serve my family of 5 plus our babysitter who often eats with us, and we always have leftovers for either myself or my husband (or both) for lunch the next day. The kids have enjoyed every Let’s Dish! meal we’ve offered them. I love that I can bring my daughter; it’s honestly one of our favorite activities to do together,plus there is the added bonus that I get to help her learn math! She loves to sample the snacks and have a cup of tea when she needs a break and she always convinces me we need to add one more meal to our session As I said we are also very grateful for the military discount, there are always fantastic promotions, and the food is EXCELLENT! I love seeing what we make from start to finish so I can feel confident we’re eating fresh, healthy, *real* food.

Anytime saving tips to share?:
We are always trying to get more organized, and one of our huge time savers is using gmail and google calendars and syncing them (Carrie, we use these everyday at Let’s Dish! too - it’s a GREAT tool!). My husband, babysitter and I all share calendars so at a glance we can take a look and see exactly what’s going on during any given day, week, or month. We both travel for work so it’s important to know who is going to be where and when. We also have a whiteboard/corkboard/calendar station in our kitchen, where we write notes to each other, important information (”tomorrow is green shirt day at school!”), and plan our meals for the week.

For meal planning, we each claim 2 days a week and our sitter chooses the last one, and we write what we will be cooking. Or if we forget, freezer freedom saves the day!

Thanks so much for the great tips, Carrie!  And, of course, thanks for the poem!  It made us all smile and we’re framing it to hang in our Let’s Dish! corporate office.

PS: Wanna be our featured disher for June?  E-mail questions@letsdish.net and tell us why you love Let’s Dish!

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