This post brought to you by Dixie. The content and opinions expressed below are that of Cozy Country Living.
Last week I shared my pledge to Go #DarkForDinner with you all in hopes that you would join the movement too! I hope you did! Sitting down for dinner with your family and having no distractions from your phone, television, etc. can be the most important part of your day, and the part you can look forward to the most. I think that we don’t even realize we’re are distracted. We’re so used to carrying our phone with us everywhere we go for emails, social media and calls that it has become second nature to bring it along to the dinner table with us too and that’s not good. Not only are we missing out on quality time and conversation with our families, but we’re also not giving ourselves a well needed break from the day. Let’s let it go… 🙂
When I made plans to Go #DarkForDinner, I let my family know well in advance. We planned a cookout and my children were really excited! Who doesn’t love a cookout?! My kiddos think it’s really special when we eat outside and they asked me everyday until Sunday if today was the day we were having our special dinner. The skies were rainy and then sunny on and off all day long, but I was so happy that the second round of rain held off until after dinner!
My older children helped me prepare the Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, Fresh Fruit Salad, Creamy Tuna Macaroni Salad, Lemonade and Strawberry & Basil Shortcakes. We even cut some of the fresh flowers from around our home to make a lovely centerpiece for the table. My younger children helped to set the table, which we made really easy with Dixie’s colorful plates and bowls. I love having an easy cleanup!
Since parts of the day on Sunday were sunny, after we prepared the food, we did some work outside, around the house and in my garden. Ending the day cooking on the grill, enjoying the breeze while having our planned cookout for our Sunday Dinner worked out great. Everyone was really hungry and couldn’t wait to dig in!
I really enjoyed not using my camera or checking my phone throughout our whole dinner. I think sometimes I just take out my phone and look at it because it’s a habit. It’s not like I need to that often, and it does get to be a distraction. While we enjoyed our #DarkForDinner meal, we went around the table and asked everyone what their plans were for summer and what ideas everyone had for a few family fun activities we could do. Sleeping in, playing basketball, playing outside and picking fruit and vegetables from our garden were the most popular ideas. I loved their simple ideas!
Sometimes things don’t have to be complicated – they are just that simple and that’s great. I don’t like over scheduling our children because you can easily lose track of the small things that are so important in their childhood and it’s not going to last forever.
After dinner, of course there was a lot of goofing around, because, well…my kids are goofy!
Quality family time is priceless!
They burned off a little more energy riding their bikes and shooting some hoops, but then we all had to go in. More rain was on it’s way, it was a getting a little buggy and it was a school night! Only 2 more weeks of school and then it’s summer vacation! They can’t wait!
Did you miss this Sunday’s #DarkForDinner? Don’t worry! Do it next Sunday or any day (or even every day) that works for you. Get your family and friends involved and make your dinner an event everyone looks forward to. Your family will love it!
