These stories come from WIC parents. Feel free to to share your story in the comments! Your words may be featured in the future.
“I didn’t think family meals could work for us. Family meals when I was a kid were horrible. I did not want to repeat my childhood experience. I decided to start slowly. I chose one meal, our favorite, Friday night pizza. Instead of watching TV while we ate, we sat outside under a tree. I was surprised by how well it went. Once Friday night became family meal night, I added a second meal.” -Juanita, mother of 4
“I work double shifts, so my family is never together for supper. I figured if we couldn’t eat supper together, why eat any meal together. Then I talked with a friend who has a work schedule like mine. He told me that instead of family suppers, his family eats family breakfasts and snacks together. Soon my family was sharing snack time!” -Drake, father of 3
“I had no idea even how to start having family meals.
I didn’t grow up with family mealtime, so we never ate together. Often, I would feed the kids separately while cleaning up the house and then putting them to bed. After they were in bed, I would eat something by myself. One day, my son was playing at a friend’s house. He told me that his friend’s family had an after-school snack together. I saw how much they enjoyed sharing their family mealtime. It made me wonder if it could work for us too. Now we have snacks together on Tuesdays after school. It’s working so well I want to try and add another family mealtime soon.” - Karla, mom of 2
“My family does not have a table. I thought there was no way we could have family meals together if we did not have a table. One day, on our way home from school, we stopped and picked up take out. When we got home, instead of getting out, I turned in my seat. We ate together in the car. It was comfortable and convenient. And, there were no distractions. It went so well! Now, we do this about once every two weeks now.” - Tabitha, mom of 1
“My mom drives my kids to school on Tuesday mornings. She has started coming earlier in the morning to have breakfast with us. At first, I was annoyed at waking up earlier. Then we switched to easy breakfast foods. Often we have cereal and milk. We have come to enjoy these 15 or 20 minutes on Tuesday mornings.” - Brenden, dad of 3
“When my husband and I had our first child, everything changed.
He felt like we did not have time to eat together anymore. The baby was keeping us up at night. We were really tired. I was still home on maternity leave and breastfeeding. One day, I told him I missed having meals with him. We talked about it and came up with a simple plan. Our daughter is now 3 months old. We choose to share a snack during one of her feedings. We don’t plan it every time. If he sees me feed her, he just comes to sit with me and brings something easy to eat and a glass of water. Yesterday, he brought cheese and crackers. It makes feedings calmer for our daughter too.” - Sabrina, mom of 1