The days leading to an important party are often a flurry of activity: cleaning up, planning for the dinner menu, buying ingredients, even minor redecorating of the dining and living rooms. Also, taking out the nice china and silverware consumes our time because we have to wash everything prior to using and the table settings have to be perfect. With just the entertaining alone, we are often too frazzled to enjoy the big event when it comes.

Contrast this with the usual family supper. With just your hubby and the kids, the usual is warmed leftovers, takeout, or warmed leftover takeout. Often, the only preparation involves opening some cans and dumping the sorry contents into plates. The mess in the living room gets ignored too as you reason out that nobody else will see it.

Even if every family member accepts this as normal, you should still exert some effort into making everything spic and span. Even if you are so spent balancing career, family, and housework, at least devote some time to make them feel special. Devote a single night wherein hubby and the kids will be your guests and that you will prepare a special dinner for them.
The following are just some ideas to get this new family tradition going:

– Clean up. Your house should be free of clutter year round – not just when you are expecting guests. It is easier to clean up and pick up the mess as you go. It is too draining to do it all in a few hours. Make a habit of this so that dirt and all the scattered toys and mismatched socks will not even get a chance to build up.

– Make their favorite. Even if it is as complicated as a three-course dinner or as simple as some Sloppy Joe, the aim here is to make them feel special. For many people, eating their favorite food surrounded by loved ones will give untold happiness.

– Stray from the usual way of decorating your dinner table. Give the tired fruit bowl a break and use something totally different. You could use seasonal decor ideas too. The holidays are perfect for this as you can let your imagination run wild with Christmas ornaments. A dried flower table arrangement is a good choice as it requires less maintenance than fresh cut flowers yet still offer the same romantic message.

– Use soft music to set the mood. Use whatever your “guests” like. Tone down the volume as you would still need to hear each other over it. The aim here is to lend a soothing ambiance, not drown out the conversation.

The practice of putting so much energy into pleasing others should stop as this sends the wrong message to your spouse and children. Making your family happy is infinitely more important and gratifying. The above ideas are meant to help you set your priorities straight and to get the most amount of quality time when you are home together. Simple gestures mean a lot when they come from the heart.

Author Bio: Cassia loves organizing classy dinners, however, she was not certain how to make her table settings as tasteful as she would want it to be. At last, she positioned table chargers on the two ends of the actual long dinner table to create a graceful, old-world appearance.

Category: Home Management
Keywords: table setting decor,making table decor,home decor,