Are meal times a struggle in your house? They can be in mine! With eight kids ranging from baby to teen, there’s always a ton of action. Getting everyone gathered around the dinner table can be a challenge. That’s why I was so excited to read Sit Down & Eat: Fun Ideas for Making Mealtimes Memorable by Jennifer Flanders. Published by Prescott Publishing, this book was easy to read and full of ideas for calming the mealtime chaos.

This paperback book contains 163 pages. It’s also available on the Kindle. Each version is $9.95. The book is divided into 17 sections. Each section has several corresponding chapters. These chapters are each one-page long and contain an actionable idea for you to implement in your own home. Because of the single-page chapter format, it’s a quick read. The sections make it easy to find specific ideas to help you in a specific area.

Every sized family, whether they homeschool or not, will be able to find ideas in this book. There are tips for simplifying meal planning, dozens of family friendly recipes, and suggestions for making meal time fun with themes, discussions, and costumes.

One section focuses on holiday celebrations. There are so many fun suggestions for bringing family fun into the kitchen on Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, and April Fool’s Day, along with the more major holidays like Easter and Christmas.

I read through this book and marked several ideas I wanted to try. I wrote these on a list and shared them with my children. I let each of them take turns selecting one to try. It was a fun way to involve the family a bit more with the mealtime routine building.

My kids really enjoyed the activities we selected. They learned how to properly set a table, and the older ones took turns doing so, willingly. They thought dressing up in costumes for dinner was a blast, and everyone enjoyed having more meaningful discussions at the table. They liked it when I asked some of the recommended open-ended questions and let everyone take a turn answering. It was a fun way to get a peek inside the minds of my family.

They also liked eating together again. I’d become fairly lax with having a family meal time, and this book reminded me of the importance of it. Dinner doesn’t have to be fancy or perfect to be special and memorable.

The recipes were simple, and most used common ingredients, which I appreciated. My kids thought decorating their own Teddy Bear Toasts (p. 83) was a cool way to start the day. The broccoli/cauliflower salad (p. 111) was delicious, and everyone gobbled up the alternative recipe for rice crispy treats (p. 152).

There are so many great ideas in this book. I highly recommend it if you’re looking for simple ways to make mealtime more enjoyable.

-Product review by Lisa Tanner, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, March, 2018