From Marianne: Matt Damon's Non-Negotiable Is the Same as Ours

The minute I saw the headline that Matt Damon has one "non-negotiable" with his family, I barely had to click. I knew exactly what it was.

Family dinner.

It instantly took me back to when our kids were growing up. It didn't matter if someone had theater rehearsal, basketball practice, homework, or came home late for any reason. We always found a way to eat together. Sometimes dinner was at 5:00. Sometimes it was at 9:00. But we waited until everyone got there.

It wasn't always some picture-perfect Norman Rockwell moment either. Sometimes someone was cranky, or everyone was. Sometimes there were arguments, bad grades, hurt feelings, or teenage drama. But we were all there.

It always surprised me to hear our kids talk about their friends. They couldn't believe some families never ate together and that dinner happened in the car on the way to practice. Or that everyone just grabbed something whenever they were hungry.

Life gets busy. I know it's not always possible. But it's not impossible every night.

Looking back, I don't think what was on the table mattered anywhere nearly as much as who was around it. Whether it was spaghetti, a Cuban meal or leftovers, nobody remembers the menu. But they remember the conversations and the stories and I especially remember the laughter. We knew that no matter what happened that day, we'd all come back together before it ended.

We didn't do everything right as parents. But making family dinner non-negotiable… that's one thing I'd never change.