Family Day – A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children™  is a national movement that reminds parents about the importance of parental engagement in their children’s lives and encourages parents to have frequent family dinners with their kids as an effective way to prevent their kids from abusing substances.   The initiative serves to remind parents that what your kids really want at the dinner table is YOU!   

Family Day was launched in 2001 by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) after their research consistently found that the more children and teens eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use drugs.  This year Family Day is Monday, September 28.   (www.casafamilyday.org).  

Several Birmingham and Bloomfield area restaurants are offering Family Day Discounts to families that dine in their establishments on September 28.    At Sandella’s in Birmingham, diners on September 28 will receive a free kid’s meal with a dinner purchase.  Big Boy in Bloomfield Township will be celebrating by offering 10% your entire dinner bill.  For a complete list of restaurants offering Family Day discounts click here.

There will be a special Family Day kids’ craft at the Birmingham Farmers Market on Sunday, September 27.  The Birmingham Bloomfield Community Coalition will host the craft table at the Birmingham Farmers Market on from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.   Please stop by and make a special Family Day craft!

Birmingham Bloomfield Community Coalition executive director, Carol Mastroianni says, "I love this initiative because it is a great reminder of what is really, truly important -- our family. And, how parents have one of the most powerful prevention tools right at their fingertips but may not realize it; that of talking, listening and sharing during a meal together with their kids. I know this can be tough with busy schedules but carving out the time to make it work is well worth it.”