“I participated in a Blogger Activation on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for the J.M. Smucker Company. I received product samples to facilitate my review as well as a to thank me for my participation.”
I sure love springtime, but I am ready for the hustle and bustle of extra curricular activities and school projects to come to an end. Between everything the kids have going on and my extra travel for work, I feel like I hardly see or talk to my kids anymore! Then when the kids are home I often feel like I am competing with one electronic or another. This season has been particularly rough for quality family time, so I have to work extra hard to make sure it happens. Some days the only way we can connect is at the dinner table. Even there it can be a challenge! I will admit that being the only adult at home, I am guilty of allowing myself to become too distracted by my phone during dinnertime. Without adult companionship or conversation it can be difficult for me to put the phone away and solely concentrate on my children. It doesn’t help that my line of work (and social media) never sleeps.
I think that as technology continues to become predominant in our lives, it will be increasingly more difficult to connect with those around us, in meaningful ways. Just think about how texting has taken away from people actually picking up the phone and calling one another. Sure it can be nice and easy to send a quick text, but when entire conversations go on via text, some things can get lost in translation, as well as a personal connection. As this continues to happen and increase, it will be more important to make the time to disconnect from technology, and reconnect with one another.
I decided to join the Disconnect to Reconnect movement where their efforts are to get families to unplug at the table. Power of Family Meals is encouraging families to put away their phones, TVs, iPads, handheld devices and other electronic devices, as they gather around the table for meals without screens. The goal is to have a meal without screens at least at one meal, once a week, more often than not. The ask really isn’t much, yet I am sure many of us still struggle with this. Your children and you deserve this, so I am going to ask you to join me in taking the “Disconnect to Reconnect” pledge!
Because my kids love breakfast for dinner, I decided to go all out and create a nice “breakfast” dinner for the family, and get everyone to disconnect to reconnect. I even tried out a new recipe for Syrniki, which I adapted from wikiHow. It was a big hit and we will definitely be enjoying it again soon. No video games or TV – just conversation with my family. Granted we didn’t have a lot of time between homework and baseball games, but we made it happen and that’s what counts. Smucker’s sent us some great breakfast supplies including a Family Talk game to inspire fun conversation. One of the questions asked was, “If you could pick any parents (or family) you know, to live with, who would you pick?” My kids all picked me, which made me one happy momma! Some of the questions were thought provoking or funny, and we had a great time.
Take the pledge today and share with me your experiences with disconnecting to reconnect! Before you do, be sure to print off this yummy recipe for Syrniki. I think of it as a cross between a pancake and a cheese-filled crepe, but tastier!
Syrniki
Ingredients
- 1 Tbs canola oil
- 1 egg
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 4 Tbs flour
- 3 Tbs sugar
- 1/2 tsp of vanilla
- dash of salt
- powdered sugar jam, apple sauce or honey
Instructions
- Preheat 1 Tbs of oil in a large skillet on medium high heat.
- In a medium mixing bowl, beat egg and stir in cheese, flour, sugar, vanilla and salt. Stir until consistency of pancake batter.
- Drop spoonfuls of batter into the heated skillet, about 3-inches in diameter. Cook for 2 minutes on each side, until light golden brown.
- Remove Syrniki from skillet and immediately sprinkle powdered sugar over the top. Serve with desired topping.
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