The lovely people at Center Parcs have recently launched a great competition, encouraging family meal times. This is a subject close to my heart. Growing up I don’t remember many family meal times where my parents and I sat down together and had a meal. I loved visiting friend and family and having dinner together, the chatting and sharing made me feel warm and fuzzy. Before I had children I knew that I wanted to make sure we sat together every evening and had our dinner together, chat, catch up on our day and enjoy your time together. However, working means that it’s not feasible every night.
In a recent post by Female First, it’s claimed that eating dinner together as a family five nights a week helps to build and maintain relationships and can even help your children perform better in school. Even the Prime Minister is a fan. Just last year, David Cameron wanted to use family meal times as a national measure of happiness in the Office of National Statistics’ Wellbeing Report. It is not always doable.
I don’t get in from work until 6:30, by this time the kids are too tired, so they eat before we get home. On my days off, I make sure we eat together. And even more so at the weekends. But remember, mealtimes aren’t just for dinner, they are for breakfast, lunch, dinner and popcorn. These meal times are just as important, they can be as special, catch up and make you feel all warm and fuzzy. What is your favourite meal time?
Sometimes it’s fun to mix it up a little and have a picnic. We like to get into the great outdoors and enjoy a lunch together on a mat. It’s fun and it’s what memories are made of.
And when the weather isn’t so great, we like to have a little indoor picnic. Have you ever had an indoor picnic?
No matter what the meal time, being together and talking as a family is important. It brings you together and it really is true a family that eats together, stays together. A point of communication is opened and if you keep that line open, it will set you all in good stead for years to come. Meal times are important to me and since we can’t do it everyday, we make the most of those day we can. Remember, it doesn’t have to be dinner, breakfast is a meal time too.
The Competition
Center Parcs are challenging you to share your family meal time moments with them. It could be breakfast, lunch, dinner, a snack or a picnic like the ones we shared above. Which meal would you choose?
Share your family meal time photo and you could be in with a chance of winning a fantastic family bundle worth £300. Each bundle includes cinema tickets, restaurant vouchers, games and much more, giving your family the chance to spend a great night in and a great night out together.
How to enter:-
If you want to win a family bundle worth £300, all you need to do is post of photo of your family meal time onto Centre Parcs Facebook or Twitter using #CPfamilytime. Make sure you check out the Terms and conditions.
1. Hold smartphone in selfie position
2. Turn camera on
3. Turn phone 180˚ away from you
4. Take photo of the scene around you
5. Upload to Facebook or Twitter using #CPfamilytime
Entries must be made my midnight on Monday 26th October 2015.
Will you be entering? How do you feel about family meal times?
Disclosure: Written in collaboration with Center Parcs & meal times really are important to me
I enjoy family mealtimes but personally think we always need to question the motives of the person behind research reports etc. We rarely sat as a family at a table and ate off trays on our knees watching telly and somehow I managed to escape becoming a violent criminal. Weird that! Mum was a cook and table meals were for special occasions when the table would heave with dressed salmon, vol-au-vents and colourful indulgent puddings. You have set me off on a nostalgia trip so perhaps table meals are more important than I think. Great competition
We always eat dinner together. Shame my OH ban phones on table. Might need to tell him it is a comp.
oh we try and have family meal times sometimes my son is smash and grab as he is studying hard