Dinner Swap story from Grace
Being a single mom isn’t an excuse not to join a dinner group. That’s what Gina believes, anyway. Just like most single moms, she had double jobs, hardly had time to grab a sandwich for breakfast, let alone cook dinner for her kids. But she had to slow down and rethink her priorities when her son was suspended from middle school. She realized that she had to fulfill her responsibilities as a mother first. She quit her graveyard job first and decided to spend more time with her sons. Their bonding consisted of eating microwave dinners in front of the TV. Then, her son’s guidance counselor told her about the benefits of eating together and suggested that she join a dinner group. Fortunately, our next door neighbor heard about Gina’s problem and decided to help her. She organized a dinner group and I was one of the members. Gina had a hard time getting used to cooking for a lot of people but she got the hang of it eventually. It was actually helping her a lot since she had to cook only once a week and opt to do something different on weekends. She cut short her kids’ TV time and they actually enjoyed eating together every night as a family and she even had time to go back to her second job. Her kid performed better in school after suspension and didn’t get into anymore trouble. As for me, being able to help out my neighbor was a delight. And in the process I also helped myself. So for single working moms out there, having a dinner group might actually be the solution to a lot of your problems. You’ll have more time on your hands. Time that can be spent in strengthening your relationship as a family. And if you ask Gina what she got from joining our dinner group she would say that it was something that actually changed her life and her son’s future as well and helped her realize the value of her community.
