Dinner swap story by Rb
I should have expected it. But unfortunately, I didn’t. When my husband and I moved from Malaysia to the States after staying there for almost 8 years, I had already gotten used to the slow paced life there.I had time to work yet I still had plenty of time for my family. I was also used to cooking meals for them everyday and it was not something that stressed me out or anything; it was part of the culture there. Then, when my husband was reassigned to the United States, I thought that it would be the same. But, of course, it wasn’t. The kids got busy with adjusting in a new country, my husband got busy, and teaching in a new school stressed me out. I only cooked for them once a week and usually it was Chinese or this and that take-out or TV dinners. I could sense that I was starting to become less of the mother that I should be and that saddened me. During a faculty meeting, a co-teacher of mine asked me if I belonged to any dinner group. I didn’t even know what that was that time and I told her that. She told me about dinner groups and invited me to one of their monthly sessions where they planned for the month’s menu. They asked me to join them since that time there were only 5 of them. I was hesitant at first, thinking that I couldn’t handle cooking for such a big group but eventually I decided to join. I didn’t know that it would bring such an impact in my life and I haven’t regretted that decision ever since. Admittedly, it was a challenge for me to cook and buy by the bulk at first. But I’ve gotten used to it. My family gets to taste really delicious and healthy food everyday and not just on weekdays. We had more time together. My husband looked less stressed. The kids also made new friends with the other kids in our dinner group. My dinner group has helped a lot in putting things into perspective and in changing the atmosphere in my family. If you are hesitant in joining or forming a dinner group, I encourage you not to. Do this for your family. Do this for yourself. And do it because Chinese take out gets tiring too.
