Let's Revive: Sunday Dinner

One of my favorite childhood family traditions growing up was Sunday Dinner.  I loved having all of my family gathered around the table and sharing a home cooked meal. What meant the most to me were the stories shared, the laughs, and the memories created. Since I enjoy meal planning and love to cook we are restoring a valued family tradition of Sunday family dinners.  We always ask two questions: "What was the best part of your day?" and "What was the hardest part of your day?" We avoid the word worst because it infers defeat and our main goal here is to get our children talking.  


Some of you call it Sunday supper, some dinner, but whichever you call it, it was considered the main meal of the day on Sunday, most often served earlier than the usual weeknight dinner, usually between 1 and 3 in the afternoon. 

Even in the south though, it appears that Sunday dinner has taken the back seat to the busyness of life, but I am praying for a revival.  Even in the age of modern technology, we all need to unplug and reconnect with other human beings, face to face.... not on Facebook, email or texting but real live conversation.  We recently went out to dinner and I was astonished at the number of people whose phones were right under their nose, so that they could read and respond to every text or Facebook post.
Seriously why are these parents not engaging in conversations with their children? More importantly, what are they teaching their children?  If you can't be away from technology long enough to sit down and enjoy each other's company and your meal, then, well you might just be addicted. So my challenge to each of you is to put all technology away for an hour or so, and enjoy each other's company.  Let's revive not only Sunday dinners but our families as well.

What are some of your favorite memories of your family Sunday dinners? Do you have a favorite Sunday dinner meal?

Book Review : I Love My Hair!

Title: I Love My Hair

Author: Natasha Anastasia Tarpley

Illustrator: E.B. Lewis

Every night before she goes to bed, Keyana sits down between her mother's knees to have her hair combed. But no matter how gently Mama pulls, it still hurts sometimes! Keyana doesn't feel lucky to have such a head of hair, but Mama says she is because she can wear it any way she chooses. "I can spin your hair into a fine, soft yarn, just like our grandmothers did at their spinning wheels," she tells her. "Or I can part your hair into strait lines and plant rows of braids along your scalp, the way we plant seeds in our garden." Soon Keyana, too, finds reasons to love her hair, and she wears it any way she chooses with pride.

In my opinion, this book "I Love My Hair" truly brought back so many memories of my Mama and Big Mama doing my hair.   I remember those Saturdays sitting in the kitchen with that dreaded hot comb.  I was so tender headed and literally cried for hours and begged Mama to stop.   It never failed that no matter how hard I tried to keep from getting burned each week it was either my neck or my ear.  About five years ago I made the decision to embrace my natural hair in an effort to inspire my daughter Kourtney to do the same. But this book really focuses on loving yourself. Loving your hair, loving your style and your heritage. We are all beautiful in our own way.  I highly recommend this book for the ages 4-8.  As a parent it was important for my daughter to have some books with characters with features similar to her. 

I absolutely loved this book and have added it to my daughter's personal library.  It currently is her favorite book at bedtime.  Here is a picture of her embracing her natural hair...