The whole family gathers around the family meal - Illustration photo: NGUYEN CONG THANH
For many families today, having a meal with all family members present is already difficult, and gathering the entire extended family is even more challenging.
They haven't eaten a meal together for a whole month.
Ms. TKT (42 years old, residing in Thu Duc City) candidly shared that having a meal with all family members present is currently a "luxury" for her.
Ms. T. said that because it had been a long time since her family had a family meal together. Looking back, she realized that her family members seemed to be constantly busy, even though none of them were singers or actors!
Her husband is a department head in a state-owned company. He only occasionally has to travel for work, but he entertains clients and socializes quite a lot outside the home every week. She has two daughters, one in 9th grade and the other in 12th grade. Their schedules for extra classes are packed, even on weekends.
Every morning, the children go to school and stop by the canteen for breakfast. At lunchtime, they eat their school lunch. After school, they quickly grab something to eat and then take a motorbike taxi to their extra classes. Seeing that her husband and children rarely eat at home, Ms. T. often orders dinner from outside to save herself the trouble of cooking.
On weekends, the couple often have breakfast together because their two children usually sleep in until 9 or 10 a.m. The children say they've had a hard week of school and want to sleep in comfortably on weekends.
At lunchtime, Ms. T. cooked rice for the whole family, but because the children ate breakfast late, by the time she and her husband had lunch, their two children still hadn't eaten.
The children usually have lunch around 2-3 pm, then rest and get ready for extra classes. Sometimes, for an entire month, my sister's family doesn't have a single meal together.
Similarly, Ms. NTH (36 years old, residing in Binh Thanh District) shared that she and her husband have two young children. One is in 6th grade, and the other is in 3rd grade. Every week, both children have two evenings of extra English lessons at a center. In addition, the older child takes science classes at a center two evenings a week, martial arts classes two evenings a week, and the younger child has two piano lessons at a teacher's house...
The couple takes turns taking their children to school. The husband is in charge of the older child, and the wife is in charge of the younger one, both of whom eat outside. In the mornings, Ms. H. usually buys a meal for her children to take to school. The children eat lunch at school. Only on weekends do they cook and have a family meal together.
It's already difficult for families to have a meal together with all members present, but arranging for the extended family to get together for a meal, or even to attend a family member's birthday, is even more challenging.
Ms. BBA (46 years old, residing in District 4) said that she has three brothers. All three are married, and each has three children.
Every time a child's birthday comes around, the whole family has to carefully consider which day to celebrate so that all members of the extended family can be present, which is quite a challenge.
It's often impossible to celebrate children's birthdays on their actual day because adults are busy with work on weekdays, and the children have school schedules. While a celebration might be possible on a weekend, it's not always possible to have all family members together.
Mr. PTD (48 years old, residing in District 7) said that he and his siblings all live in Ho Chi Minh City. They also want to occasionally arrange opportunities for their children and grandchildren to meet and have fun, but it's very difficult to schedule. The siblings all have their own companies and are very busy, and the children are also busy with school, so they usually only get to see each other and have fun during Tet (Lunar New Year).
Prioritize family dinners.
Arranging family life to include a daily family meal seems like a difficult task. Meanwhile, family meals offer numerous benefits.
According to psychologist Nguyen Thi My Dung, eating together helps children develop motor and language skills. Conversations during dinner can be even more important, as children learn more words during mealtimes.
In addition, family meals can help promote healthier eating habits and better nutrition. Older children and teenagers who regularly eat dinner with their families tend to eat more fruits and vegetables. These children also tend to eat fewer fried foods and sugary drinks each week and are less likely to be overweight.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ngo Xuan Diep, from the psychology department of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, said that families who rarely eat meals together have fewer opportunities to connect and understand each other.
Family meals together strengthen bonds, represent a sense of "family tradition," and are a place where many memories are created.
Dr. Diep also emphasized that family meals are only meaningful for happy families. Because then, all family members will feel happy and warm when eating together. Conversely, if that family is a "cold nest," with a constantly tense and unpleasant atmosphere, children will only want to take their bowl of rice somewhere else to eat or eat alone in another place...
Prioritizing family dinners means parents will have to do a few things. This might require planning ahead, even putting it in each family member's diary. Parents might even have to rearrange other obligations to have more time for family.
Source
Comment (0)