Back-to-School at Your Table

Whether your family’s summer was joyful and satisfying or chaotic—or a little of both!—a new season is upon us. Backpacks are on sale, start-of-school emails have begun to arrive, and families are gearing up for new schedules and new demands. Along with lots of other details, there is this question: what could your family table look like in the new school year? 

Here are just a few suggestions from Come to the Table: 

• Look at your family’s calendar for the fall and decide when you will try for regular family meals. Maybe Tuesdays are the only day that everyone is home for dinner and so you want to prioritize those? Remember that any regular plans count! If your weekday evenings are growing full, you may want to prioritize a Saturday brunch or an old-fashioned midday meal on Sundays? 
• Consider whether this fall is an opportunity to start (or re-start) particular habits at your table. Maybe you want to give each family member an opportunity to include a prayer request in your table blessing. Maybe you want to include a specific question for conversation at each meal or a Scripture passage to discuss. A change of season can be an ideal time to consider new possibilities.  
• For many families, shorter days and earlier bedtimes means an earlier dinner hour. A number of strategies can help you to have a meal ready, even if your day is a busy one. Maybe one or more of these would work for you? 
  • Slow cooker meals: recipes are very easy to find! 
  • Sheet-pan meals: here, too, you can easily find recipes that suit your family’s tastes 
  • Quick & easy meals on the stovetop: these would include things like breakfast-for-dinner and grilled-cheese sandwiches 
  • Semi-homemade meals: starting with frozen items like meatballs or ravioli can make a meal come together very quickly. Add diced chicken and / or beans to a chopped salad kit for an instant, light meal. 
• Will your start to fall family dinners start with a special celebration or just move into a new rhythm in a laidback way? There are advantages to each. A planned “back-to-school” meal can help to bring closure to your summer, set new patterns for the school year, and allow you to connect intentionally around the transition. (Questions for the table might include: What is your favorite memory from this summer? What was the craziest thing that happened this summer? What are you looking forward to most this fall? Is there anything you wish were different about this fall?) A more gradual approach can be more forgiving and allow you to do-what-you-can-when-you-can. You can just quietly put in place your intentions for meal times and practices and then begin to move toward those. 

Whatever your plan, you may want to look for an opportunity to include this prayer at your table as a way to begin this school year connected to one another and the Lord. 

Heavenly Father, 
We pray for___ (and ____) (and ____) as they begin a new school year. 
Help them to know that they are surrounded by Your love and their family’s love. 
Give them minds that are eager to learn, courage to ask good questions, and the discipline to focus and study.  
Please bless their friendships in and out of school, and help them know how to show love to all those around them. 
We give thanks for all the good things that are to come this year. Where there is any worry or anxiety, we ask You to give strength and wisdom. 
We pray for all teachers and school administrators (especially ___, if this applies to a family member(s)). Thank you for their hard work. Please bless them as they step into a new year and give them energy, creativity, and compassion. 
We ask You to be present in our classrooms and school communities. Make them places where the gifts of the Holy Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control—flourish. 
In the name of Christ, our greatest teacher, 
Amen. 
St. Thomas Aquinas (patron of learning), pray for us. 
Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, pray for us.