My Year of 100 Family Dinners Week 51: Dinners 133-139

Seven Dinners, Seven Days, and the Gift of Being Together

This week began with a long drive.

Seven hundred miles. Normally about eleven hours. This time? Thirteen and a half.

Holiday traffic stretched the drive longer than we expected, and by the end we were all exhausted. But I don’t totally hate those car days with my kids. There is something sacred about being strapped into the same space for that long.

We sing songs.We listen to musicals.I bring a deck of Friends trivia cards, and my daughter reads them out loud while my son and I laugh and compete to answer.We pack snacks and treats.Halfway through, we always stop for something special: Starbucks, frozen yogurt, or ice cream to break up the drive.

It was long. It was tiring.

But it was ours.

Arriving Home to Where I Grew Up

Pulling into my mom’s driveway felt like exhaling.

Christmas lights glowing.Warm blankets folded on the couch.Christmas books stacked on every surface.The smell of familiar food in the kitchen.

There are traditions in that house that have been in place since I was a child. And even though we’ve built our own traditions as a family of three, stepping back into hers feels grounding.

We made Christmas cookies and decorated them. We had a large Christmas Eve dinner. Presents in the morning. And then she dragged the kids outside to play pickleball in the driveway. We bought a simple starter set on Amazon, and suddenly pickleball became the theme of the week.

Seven Dinners

Seven days at my mom’s house. Seven dinners together. When you are in someone else’s home, eating together isn’t something you schedule or fight for, it just happens. Dinner is expected. Everyone gathers.

Many of those dinners included my baby brother, his son and my sister-in-law and her two children. My brother (her husband) passed away the day after Christmas nine years ago, and being together during the holidays matters deeply because of that. The space around the table holds memory. It holds love.

We talked about doing big outings this week. We considered events and attractions and plans. But in the end, we decided to just stay home.

Walks around the neighborhood.Movies in the evenings.Video games.Pickleball tournaments in the driveway.

Time together was the event.

Why Extended Family Connection Matters

Research consistently shows that strong extended family relationships: grandparents, aunts, cousins, act as protective factors for kids. Studies from the Search Institute and child development research on “developmental assets” highlight that children who have multiple caring adults in their lives show:

• Greater resilience

• Stronger emotional regulation

• Better social skills

• Higher long-term well-being

Grandparents especially play a powerful role. Their presence creates continuity. Stability. A sense of identity and belonging.

Watching my kids with their cousins FaceTiming, playing games, sharing jokes that only they understand, reminds me how valuable those relationships are. Technology lets them stay connected even when we live 700 miles apart.

An important phrase in my family has always been: “Friends are the family you choose.”

This week held both: the family we were born into and the family we’ve chosen over the years.

The Heart of This Week

There was nothing flashy about this week.

No grand trips. No big productions. No elaborate adventures.

Just seven dinners. Seven evenings around a table. Seven nights of shared stories. Seven moments of anchoring ourselves to something steady.

When I started this journey of 100 family dinners, I don’t know that I understood how deeply it would root us: not just to each other, but to generations before us.

This week reminded me:

Sometimes the most meaningful thing you can give your kids is continuity.

Tradition. A seat at a table that has always been there.

Seven dinners felt impressive.

But what felt even more powerful was knowing that connection, across generations, is something my children will carry with them long after the road trips are over.

And that makes every mile worth it. 💛