{Tuesday's Tip} Family Bedtime Snack

Dinner is a very important time for the family but it is challenging for many families.  It may be extremely difficult to get your entire family around the dinner table at the same time because everyone is too busy.  Or maybe you get home late from work and your too exhausted for dinner.  Or maybe your younger children don't want to sit and cooperate.  Or maybe you have a picky eater (or a whole herd of picky eaters) in your home.  These are just a few of the challenges that families face and they can be very discouraging.

This week's dinner time challenge I am focusing on is:

"What if my spouse works late?"

When your spouse has a late shift it can be hard to have dinner together every night because you're both too hungry (and maybe tired or cranky) to wait until he/she gets home.  (Trust me, I've been there!)

One thing we did in our home for awhile when my husband was working late (he did not get home until 7:00 PM or later) is that we would have a family bedtime snack.  We planned healthy snacks, so we weren't eating anything to heavy or sugary right before bed.  I would Google online to find healthy bedtime snacks and found a wide variety of options, such as smoothies, yogurt, fruit, graham crackers, pudding, or apple sauce.  A very interesting tidbit I learned is that eating these healthy foods about an hour before bedtime can actually help children sleep easier. So, it was a win-win!

Even though we did not have dinner together, having a bedtime snack together still gave us a chance to gather at the table and talk.  It was also a great way for my husband to unwind after work and catch up on everything he missed while he was at work that day.  Most nights we would also play a little game while eating our snack.  It was a fun and a great way to end our day together.