Keeping the family together one dinner at a time

An article written by Jennifer Hahn titled, "The Family that Eats Together, Stays Together," discusses the results of a study done on adolescents' to test the relation between family connection, self-esteem, substance abuse, and other things in relation to the frequency that a family eats their meals together. The study found that both boys and girls who frequently eat meals with their families are shown to have less problems with substance use and less depression.

I can attest to these results, as my family would always have six o'clock dinner. If you weren't there, it was your loss, but it really was the only time our family could all sit together and talk about anything going on in our lives. You never knew what was going to come up at family dinner, (especially when my very vulgar and inappropriate brother was present).

We need to talk

In interviewing for my article about the surprise of a child into a family, the most fun I had was listening to people's anticipation for the news (i.e. being told "we need to discuss something") and the reaction of people when they found out. People immediately think the worst. For instance, when my mom said "we have to talk" to my dad, he thought she was going to say something like, "I want a divorce." When I heard "we have to talk" I thought I was grounded for life. Next time you talk to a pregnant woman, ask others how they found out and what they were thinking could have been the "need for discussion."