It has been said that the noblest way of giving back to society is by raising happy, healthy, and successful children. And if all parents took their parenting role to heart, that is the surest step to a better society, a better world. Through its advocacy, Kainang Pamilya Mahalaga, Lucky Me! aims to remind parents of their very critical role at the dining table.
“KAINANG PAMILYA MAHALAGA” (KPM) was launched in October 2007. It aims to encourage parents to eat dinner with their children every day and be involved in their lives.
Dinner is a perfect time to connect with your family on a daily basis. Asking your children about their day—and talking about yours—shows your kids that you love them and that you are there to listen to them. When you make it a habit to be engaged in your children’s lives and regularly communicate with them, your children will feel secure and confident about sharing with you the challenges they encounter on their way to adulthood.
Difficulties in school, peer pressure that could push them to experiment with alcohol, illegal drugs, and smoking, and unhealthy relationships that may lead to teenage sex . . . all these are realities in the world they live in.
However, regular and frequent family dinners, wherein a sense of belonging is established, will help ease your children through such potentially turbulent years. When parents provide emotional intimacy at the dinner table, children become better achievers, acquire fewer behavioral problems, enjoy healthier diets, and rarely succumb to smoking, alcohol and drug use, and early sexual behavior.
Never underestimate the healing power of family meals. Always make time to gather around the dinner table with your children and take this opportunity to feed their minds, bodies, and souls.
The KPM Advocacy’s dream is to leave an indelible mark in the heart of every Filipino parent and strengthen the family as a unit through the pleasure and intimacy of time spent together.
What do you do to make family meals a regular occasion?
Kainang Pamilya Mahalaga Day proclaimed
The importance of the Filipino family meal has not escaped the notice of President
Benigno Aquino III, “One of the meaningful traditions of Filipinos is the common family meal where all members of the family are present to signify their unity and thanksgiving for God’s abundant blessings.” He noted, “Having a common family meal encourages parents to stay connected with their children and understand the challenges they face.”
In timely fashion, he further underlined its significance with Presidential Proclamation 326 dated January 26, 2012, which declared the 4th Monday of September of every year as “Kainang Pamilya Mahalaga” day in conjunction with the annual celebration of Family Week.
The President issued the declaration “to highlight and celebrate the value of families sharing meals together as a national tradition that should be observed annually and sustained by all Filipino families.”
