The Best Book for Dinner Time

I graduated with a degree in psychology almost 12 years ago now, wow that made me feel old, and while I still remember the overall idea of the things I learned many of the little facts are gone.  However, there are a few things I remember.   I remember that Skinner put his kid in a box in the pursuit of pure behavioral science, I remember that Freud seemed pretty obsessed with one *ahem* thing, and the importance of family dinners.

In a meta-analysis study (fancy words for taking lots of studies already done and putting their results together) the ONLY consistent factor in all of the studies that correlated with teens getting better grades,   being less likely to take drugs or alcohol, and generally stay out of trouble is having family dinner.

It obviously isn't just the dinner itself but the fact that the families are spending time together consistently, probably talking, involved in each other's lives-- but dinner it is.

So when Tina Bushman asked if I would be willing to review she and her husband John's new book Table Talk: Hundreds of questions and quotes to start great family discussions on patriotism, values, fun and faith I was more than happy to do so as I remember how important family dinner is.

The book has 200 questions that can be asked at dinner.  It is simple things like: "What is the strangest or most exotic food you have ever eaten?" or "What is your worst experience with a bug"; to much deeper things like "What are the best ways to makes changes in the government and it's leaders"  and "Have you ever stuck up for someone who was being picked on? Why?"

I loved that along with each question there are quotes from famous people in history, sometimes even biblical passages.   There is also a list of the questions by topic in the back- so easy to find a specific one if there is a current problem in your family.

The idea of the book is not to be a lecture time for parents, but a time for the parents to step back and let their kids express what they truly may think or feel and ultimately to get families talking about what really matters.

While some of the questions are a little too deep for my kids current ages, there are tons of questions that are perfect and I am excited to add as part of our family meal time.

You can order your own copy here on Amazon and learn more about the book here.

What do you do to make dinner time special?

**************
I was not compensated for this review; but did receive a copy of Table Talk to review.