Family meals

It turns out that family meals are the cure for almost everything that ails American families.  Kids who eat meals with their families eat better and have better eating habits. They are less likely to be drug and alcohol dependent, smoke. They're less likely to be depressed and suicidal. (Some of this is documented in an article in ChildTrends Data Bank, http://www.childtrensdatabank.org/indicators/96FamilyMeals.cfm)..

 A new study by the University of Minesotta shows that teenage girls are less likely to have eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia. http://www.ahc.umn.edu/news/releases/meals110904.

This is great news for those of us who are toiling away at the stove each night cooking meals for our families and insisting that everyone sit down to dinner and talk to each other. I'm sure this gets more difficult as kids get older and have more activities. But the benefits far outweigh the costs. See my column at nj.com/times/features on Feb. 19.

Rude child in school

I received an email from my younger son W's teacher this week. It seems he's been very rude to her over the past week or two. He had to stay in during recess recently and then last week he suggested that a student "peg" a foam dice at the teacher.

I was very apologetic to the teacher and we had a talk with W.   We realized that his desire to be the class clown and amuse everyone was probably leading to him being rude.  We told him to stop trying to be funny and be more respectful. We took away his video games for a week and we made him write a letter. Having to write the letter was what made him cry, especially when we made him write a few drafts. "Dear Miss W., I'm sorry I said to peg the dice at you. I was trying to be funny. Now I realize it's not funny. I like your class. Love, W."  It was actually a pretty nice letter. 

We told W. that he's a nice boy but that when he behaves like that no one will be able to tell that he's a nice boy. We also told him that being disrespectful to teachers is not a smart thing to do since they are the ones who give you grades.  If you talked like that at work, what do you think would happen? we asked.  "You'd get fired," he said. I guess he knows about this.

I wonder if our bickering leads to this bad behavior. I don't want to think that that's it and I don't think it's the primary factor although we do seem to have a hostile sense of humor in our household. Sigh.  It's always something with these kids.