POD CAST: The Disappearing Family Meal
Parents often worry about whether they are providing enough opportunities for their children to succeed, scheduling them in multiple extracurricular activities to give them an advantage in life. Well, funny thing-research shows that the single most important activity for children's success is the simplest activity of all-the family meal. Yes, sitting down together at the table and talking with one another. Both young children and teens do better in every area of life when their families eat together regularly. Extracurricular activities are great for kids, as long as they are balanced with plenty of family time. Listen in to my podcast where I talk about a national initiative that you can be a part of to reclaim dinnertime as quality time with your family and ways that Panera Bread is helping in this effort. 
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William J. Doherty PhD is a leading national expert on overscheduled
kids and underconnected families. Doherty is a professor of Family
Social Science at the University of Minnesota and author of Putting
Family First (with Barbara Z. Carlson), The Intentional Family and Take
Back Your Kids. He has advised family time initiatives across the
country and was co-founder of the first of its kind: Putting Family
First, in Wayzata, Minnesota. Doherty is also a board member of Take
Back Your Time, a national initiative addressing the issues of overwork,
over-scheduling and time poverty.