Max DePree, in Leadership Is an Art, tells of a Nigerian tribe that gathered together every night to listen to tribal storytellers. With the introduction of the electric light bulb people began to stay in their huts and lost connection with each other.

DePree concludes, “Every family, every college, every corporation, every institution needs tribal storytellers. The penalty for failing to listen is to lose one’s history, one’s historical context, one’s binding values. Like the Nigerian tribe, without the continuity brought by custom, any group of people will begin to forget who they are.”

All families need customs. Eating dinner together gives everyone a chance to share the happenings of the day and for parents to teach life’s important values. Set aside time for family dinner—it is a custom that will reconnect your family.