Today we’re going to talk about celebrating life – the small things in life, and not having to wait for the occasions. Celebration meals are always special and fun for a family, and they don’t need a calendar event to happen. We can make them meaningful by celebrating the small things, and just celebrating life – being together and enjoying each other. Some of the best celebrations come from ordinary days when you decide to do something special. So, let’s talk about some solid reasons to celebrate, and reasons to have celebration meals at various times that aren’t linked to a specific occasion.
Good Reasons to Have Celebration Meals
A good reason is to mark the passage of time. Time passes so quickly. Our children grow up so quickly. Life can blur into just work, sleep, and routines, and it’s so important to celebrate life in between those things. Yes, we need to work hard and we need to get good sleep, but we also need to do things that are fun together; things that spring good fellowship times, that bond us, and that create memories as a family, as friends, or as a couple.
Sitting down to a special meal, whether it’s a homemade feast, or takeout from your favorite place, creates a mark in your memory. It turns a random, routine Tuesday into something a bit more special. It gives our nervous systems a chance to reset and relax, to stop “doing” for a little bit, and to be present with each other. Marking time, changing up routines, and doing something spontaneous is a very good thing.
It also helps to reinforce gratitude in us and in our children. It’s so good to just stop and think about all the ways that God has blessed us in life, and how He gives us His common grace every day in everything we do. We don’t have to have a milestone to acknowledge that we’re blessed, and that even though things are hard, they’re still special in a lot of ways. A celebration meal can be like a deliberate pause to appreciate life, even if it’s small.
Another good reason is to strengthen relationships. We’re so blessed to have relationships with spouses, children, moms and dads, extended family, people from church, brothers and sisters, and friends. Relationships bless us so much in life. It’s always special to invite someone over, or just celebrate with the people you live with, showing that you appreciate them, you need them, and that they’re a blessing to you. Inviting someone over “just because” doesn’t mean it has to be a formal occasion, but it can lead to a genuine connection. It can help you to reset and relax, and to strengthen that relationship.
It also helps to break the monotony – similar to what I said earlier. Routines are good, but they can also drain you and sometimes rob you of a bit of joy and excitement. A spontaneous celebration meal will disrupt that autopilot. It adds a sense of novelty – something fresh, something new, something exciting; something to look forward to, and you don’t need a big reason.
Celebration meals bring joy. A lot of people feel that we have to earn celebrations by working until a certain point, or that we have to wait till an occasion. Choosing to celebrate without an occasion helps you to rewire that mindset. You’re allowed to enjoy your life without meeting some external benchmark. You’re allowed to let go and relax. You’re allowed to have joy. You’re allowed to do nothing except enjoy each other. You don’t always have to be busy. You don’t always have to be working towards your goals. You can pause, and when you come back to them, you’ll have that much more energy.
Another good reason to do this is to create family traditions. Maybe it’s the “first-Friday-of-the-month feast”, or the “we-survived-the-week dinner”, or you have a special meal on the middle Tuesday. Use anything that’s a good excuse. You can do a celebration meal that involves some fun. For example, we like to do fun fairs and food fairs where each family member creates a little game for everyone to play, and we have prizes and things. Sometimes we just have meals where we slow down and do something different.
These small rituals can become anchors in your life; something to look forward to. Of course, it boosts your mood and your wellbeing to be looking forward to something enjoyable, and some kind of connection. It can be simple, but it’s good for reducing stress and breaking out of the mundaneness of the days. When you’re waiting for a big occasion, then you’re skipping dozens of chances to make your life richer.
How To Easily Make Meals Special
You don’t need to have holidays or birthdays to turn your meals into something meaningful. What’s more important is how you do it, and that you do do it at all! You need to do it in a way that’s low pressure, that’s practical, and that’s not too stressful or complicated. Special meals can be very easy.
Also, it’s important when we’re celebrating life to use the things that we have. Often you have special crockery, special glasses, napkins, tablecloths, or any kind of decor, and then we hardly ever use them. We think they’re too special, or they might break, or we just don’t remember to use them. We should do this though, because they’re very good at enhancing the meal’s specialness. Put out your special glasses, bring out your special napkins. Use the plates, use the under plates, use the candles; use all your things that you value to enhance your special meal.
Here are some ideas of special meals that you can do as a celebration of life. You could decide to have one specific special meal a week, like Sunday lunch, or Friday dinner, and then consistently give it a distinct feel. Maybe that’ll be the time when you really go all-out with the table setting and decor. You can light candles and play music. Somehow, the predictability of that makes it feel special.
You could choose a theme for the night. It could be a specific cuisine, or a color – something like an Italian night, a comfort food night, or childhood favorites. It doesn’t need to be elaborate, but small touches help a lot. If you feel like it though, you can go all-out. You could even order from a restaurant, or try to copy food from a restaurant.
Along those lines, you could cook together instead of just eating together. It makes this easier if you do it bit by bit. First you cook the appetizer together, then you cook the main course together, and then the dessert, and you eat in between as you go. There can be lots of chatting in the kitchen as well as at the table. It naturally creates conversation, and even the younger kids can help with small tasks.
You can also add something like sorbet as your palate cleanser in between two courses. That gives the meal a fun little extra. You could add a moment of reflection. Going around the table, share one good thing from the week – something you’re grateful for, something that challenged you, something you enjoyed, or something you found hard. That can deepen connection without making it feel overly formal.
It’s great fun to really break meals into courses. I’ve talked about this before, but it’s a very simple way to elevate your meal. Have your vegetables as an appetizer, then have a palate cleanser, or a specific type of conversation, and then have your main course. You could create a signature family tradition like Friday pizza night, build-your-own-taco night, or dessert night where the kids get to help make the dessert once a month. These are something to look forward to.
Then you can invite storytelling into the mealtime, using conversation starters like “What’s a funny memory from your childhood?” “What would your perfect day look like?” Think of questions to ask each other, or do a fun quiz in between eating anything that brings conversation and laughter. Sometimes it takes a while to warm up, so don’t worry if your kids don’t talk much at first. The more relaxed you are, the more relaxed the whole conversation and meal will be. Just ask questions and share from your own experiences, and then they’ll join in.
Ending the meal with a small ritual is also special. It could even be a toast with juice. It could be a little Bible reading – one person could read a verse from the Bible. You could play a quick game, maybe a dice game like Tenzee. The closing moment reinforces that it wasn’t just dinner, but it was a time of connection.
How to Elevate A Simple Meal
Occasionally, try to make your meal fancier and more special at a time when it’s not overwhelming, and when you’re happy to put in a little extra effort. Take your normal meal, and then elevate either one element or the whole thing. You can do a special table setting. Everybody can dress a little smarter. You can put some soft music on. The lighting can be soft, helping everybody to start to relax, and to know that it’s going to be a treat that they can enjoy.
We don’t want it to be overwhelming, but we want it to feel different. It should feel intentional, but not be exhausting. We’re just trying to shift the mood a little bit; turn up the dial. A hero upgrade means that you pick a single element to elevate. If you try to upgrade everything, it might become stressful. Instead of just having an ordinary weeknight pasta, you could add some fresh herbs at the table. Have some grated Parmigiano Reggiano in a bowl at the table, or have a grater there for people to grate it on themselves. Do something that feels restaurant-like. Change the presentation sometimes, not just the food. Think about plating in advance, and plan with your kids how to do a special plating. Use nicer plates, and then plan how each element will look on the plate.
You could add a treat like a favorite dessert or a drink. Drinks are great to elevate a meal. You can do mixed cocktails using things like cordial – lime cordial or passion fruit cordial. You can mix that with sparkling water, and add some herbs or berries. You can make fruit punch with grape juice and sparkling water with chopped grapes and strawberries in it, in a nice punch bowl on the table. Everybody can get their own drink there. Use fancy glasses.
The Whole Point Plus a Few Extra Tips
Dim the lights, play the music, and relax. Slowing down together is the most important thing – sitting down together at the same time, pausing between courses to have a bit of conversation, lingering at the table after eating, and ending with something significant. Then the meal takes care of itself. Everybody’s relaxed and sinks into the meal.
A good way to make the table look extra special is to use charger plates or under plates. Fold your napkins in a special way, like into a rose, or a holder for your knife and fork and spoon on the plate. On our YouTube channel, FamilyFoodforMoms, we have quite a few shorts on how to fold napkins in specific ways so that you can learn how to do that.
So, just remember to celebrate life in any way that makes you feel good, that makes your family feel close, and that creates memories. Remember, it’s not about doing things that are stressful, but just thinking of ways to make it special for your family – especially when you feel like you need a break from life. Plan something fun.
Recently we did an airplane meal where we set up the lounge as an airplane, with everybody having their own seat and their own ticket. Then we put on some videos of flying in an airplane, and of Russia, which we were “visiting”. We had some beef stroganoff, and we did all the airplane meals on trays. Everybody got their own tray with a little juice, all the different little elements, and a closed hot meal. It was lots of fun, also so relaxing. Once the food is ready, you can just sit there and eat, and enjoy the time. So, whatever makes you happy and relaxed is what you’re aiming for.
