We’re so busy running around, who has time for family meals? Maybe one night it’s takeout on the go, another night everyone eats alone in different rooms.

That’s got to stop, says Janet Giles, a Princeton mom who is spearheading Princeton Family Dinner Week April 15 to 22. The week, which Giles hopes will become an annual event, is an initiative of Corner House and Princeton Alcohol and Drug Alliance.

The week will be a way to promote healthy eating habits and family communication while deterring self-destructive behaviors.

Family dinners need not be complicated, or, in fact, dinner, Giles said.

“If you and your kids have crazy day or crazy dinner, it can be a touching base: brunch, breakfast, lunch, wherever you find the opportunity,” said Giles, who is a member of both Corner House Foundation and PADA.

The idea is to sit down and talk to each other. If a day is particularly busy, getting takeout is fine, so long as the family sits down together to eat.

Oh, and no electronics should be allowed at the table.

“You need to say ‘turn off the texts,’” Giles said. “No cell phone, no TV, no computer screen. I have a rule in my house: 'If you bring tech to the table, I take it.'”

There will always be distractions from dinner: athletic practice, games, band, friends, etc. That’s not news to Giles, mother of four children ages 18, 16, 14 and 11.

“You need to start talking about how you can do family dinners in the midst of all that’s going on,” she said.

Princeton may be an upper-middle class community, but it is not immune to self-destructive behaviors including drug and alcohol problems. Giles said community volunteers from Corner House and PADA and others spend countless hours in the community doing outreach.

“The recognition of the fact that it happens (here) helps address and combat the problem and provide resources and education for our community,” Giles said.

Family dinners used to be traditional in nearly all homes. But as the pace of life has accelerated to what seems like warp speed, food is now easily prepared and served. And most families have two parents who work, so there’s even less time for food preparation, Giles said.  

According to a report from the The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University teens who have fewer than three family dinners per week are nearly four times as likely to smoke, twice as likely to drink alcohol and more than twice as likely to use marijuana than teens who have at least five family dinners a week. 

Family dinners have a been a tradition for Giles for nearly two decades, ever since her husband worked long hours in New York and Giles had dinner with her newborn daughter, Cameron, at the table.

Cameron, now 18, is now a student Cornell University.

“When she came home at Christmas, she was so desirous of being part of that rhythm,” Giles said. “It was lovely, you could see that she had an appreciation of that life and routine.

Here's a list of some of the events already planned during Princeton Family Dinner Week:

• Princeton students will create a “my place at the table,” placemat to take home, and have classroom discussion about family dinners and traditions.
• A town-wide scavenger hunt for elementary schoolchildren.
• A community potluck dinner at the Princeton Public Library on April 16 at 7 p.m. (food donations from local restaurants, residents will bring dessert)
• Family dinner menus and discount from Jack Morrison, owner of Nassau Street Seafood and Produce, Witherspoon Grill and Blue Point Grill Restaurant (a percentage of the proceeds will go to PADA).
• Ten percent discount on those who preorder pizzas from Naked Pizza (a percentage of the proceeds will go to PDA.

Interested in being involved or being an event sponsor? Contact Janet Giles at c4mamabear@hotmail.com or visit the Princeton Family Dinner Week Facebook page here.