After nine months of our lives revolving around the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing has turned all of us into homebodies who’ve nearly forgotten the many wonderful rituals that come with the daily schedule we used to take for granted. Sure, we gladly gave up our daily commutes to offices and schools for a chance keep safe and work at a leisurely pace from home (YAY!). But now that it’s all gone on for so long, we can barely be bothered to eat at a table or put on real pants. (OH NO.)
There’s no telling how long it will be before we can return to normal daily lives with our families and, when that time comes, will we even remember how?
Scheduling Family Togetherness
At the very beginning of pandemic lock-downs, lifestyle gurus and social media influencers shared their endless advice about how to maintain a sense of normalcy for our families. Many of those suggestions encouraged helping our families by maintaining routines. So… all of us who bailed on routines months ago, should consider slowly transitioning our families back towards scheduled lifestyles.
For kids especially, there’s comfort in knowing what’s coming and when it’s coming. Setting mealtimes again is an easy excuse for asking everyone to come together and enjoy each other’s company.
Family mealtime doesn’t have to feel formal and stressful. Gourmet chef skills are not required. Ready-to-eat dishes and frozen pizza can be shared at the table just as easily as multi-course meals. If you feel there’s a need to re-energize the concept of set mealtimes with your family, consider updating your home with a new dining room set. Modern dining room furniture doesn’t have to be fussy and outrageously expensive. Today’s on-trend dining sets often include rustic, casual, or farm style tables with traditional seating for four or more, plus a padded bench! It’s just the right kind of thing to elevate your space enough that wearing pants at dinner will feel appropriate again.
