{"id":10784,"date":"2022-09-14T16:41:50","date_gmt":"2022-09-14T20:41:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp2.dinnertime.com\/content\/?p=10784"},"modified":"2022-09-14T20:56:25","modified_gmt":"2022-09-15T00:56:25","slug":"impact-at-the-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp2.dinnertime.com\/content\/2022\/09\/14\/impact-at-the-table\/","title":{"rendered":"Impact At The Table"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sometimes a small change can make a big impact. For example, I now hang my keys in the same place when I enter the house. By making that one small tweak to my routine, I saved myself time and angst from the dreaded daily \u201cwhere are my keys?\u201d panic.<\/p>\n

We decided to make a small change to our dinner conversation. <\/em><\/h3>\n

We now ask everyone in the family to say one thing they\u2019re grateful for. The first day , our daughter said that she was grateful that she saw her friend laugh so hard that chocolate milk spurted out of her mouth. And our son was grateful that I packed a different kind of sandwich for once! Another day, I kid you not, the responses were \u201cI\u2019m grateful my hair looked good today\u201d and \u201cI\u2019m grateful I got to cut a frog open\u201d . But we are getting better about identifying and expressing our gratitude.\u00a0 We try to encourage further exploration and discussion. We\u2019re learning to practice gratitude.<\/p>\n

Sometimes the discussions are funny and sometimes serious, like when I was grateful I had landed a big client. We talked about how hard this particular client had been to secure, what kind of preparation work I had to do and how persistent I had to be. By the end of the meal, I was grateful that my family celebrated my achievement and understood better my hard work and commitment to my job. The kids are learning to see me as more than \u201cMom\u201d. We are finding that we\u2019re all focusing more on figuring out what we\u2019re grateful for throughout the day. We\u2019re learning what being grateful means and reaping the benefits.<\/p>\n

\"\"Studies show<\/a> those who practice gratitude are more likely to feel happier and eat healthier. They have less stress and better social interactions and relationships. Practicing gratitude builds resilience to meet the inevitable challenges of life. These are lasting benefits<\/a>. That\u2019s the kind of impact I want our dinner conversations to have for our family.<\/p>\n