Experts are telling moms not to stress too much about having “perfect” family dinners. Motherhood is hard on its own, but mom may be putting a lot of pressure on herself that doesn’t exactly need to be there. They want everything to be perfect, and they want their child to have the perfect upbringing. This includes having the perfect toys for development, the right amount of family outings, and a nice, sit-down meal every night where the family can eat and share about their days. However, in this busy world we live in, mom may find that this is not happening as much as she would like it to.

According to Huffington Post and Daily Advent, experts are telling moms that it is OK to not have the perfect family dinner every night, and this comes as more and more families seem to be “rejecting” the idea of them.

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Dianne Neumark-Sztainer is a professor and division head of epidemiology and community health at the University of Minnesota, and she said that while there are benefits to having a family meal together, that is not the whole picture.

She stated that some families are aiming for that “perfect” mealtime, and that is just not achievable most of the time. That strive for protection is bringing too much stress to mothers and families, and that means that any benefits to be found in a family dinner are no longer there. She is stating that it is the quality of the family meal that matters, and not the quantity. If mom strives for that family meal every day and is stressed and there are arguments about the food being served, or who is eating what, there are no longer any benefits to that dinner together.

However, if mom strives for 1 or 2 sit-down family meals a week, it may prove to be more beneficial. If there are 2 days in the week that are scheduled to be family dinner nights, then mom can plan for these meals at a more relaxed pace, and everyone is bound to be happier at mealtime. This means that there is no fighting, bickering or tears at the dinner table and everyone can just talk to each other and enjoy each other’s company. Society places a lot of the burden on a mother’s shoulders and this constant feeling like families need to eat together could make more families eat fewer meals together.

Sources: Huffington Post, Daily Advent