Shared meals are good for the whole family

+ the travails of George Washington's mother US Edition - Today's top story: Family meals are good for the grown-ups, too, not just the kids [View in browser]( US Edition | 8 May 2021 [The Conversation]( Academic rigor, journalistic flair The stereotypical Mother’s Day begins with kids serving mom breakfast in bed. Mom might especially deserve that break from cooking duty this year. Speaking as head chef at my house, there have been an awful lot of breakfasts, lunches and dinners to plan, cook, serve and clean up since the coronavirus sent my family, like so many others, into a lockdown bubble. Psychologist Anne Fishel has some good news for parents burned out by the grind of getting dinner on the table. Gathering around a shared meal has [mental and physical benefits for everyone]( – adults and children alike. So consider holding on to the pandemic habit of family dinners. Remember, takeout counts! This week we also liked articles about the importance of children having a [quiet place of their own for schoolwork](, the massive scale of a [14th-century Khmer kingdom]( and why [traumatic events make some people more religious](. Maggie Villiger Senior Science + Technology Editor Moms and dads have better physical and mental health when they dine with their children – despite all the work of a family meal. Thomas Barwick/DigitalVision via Getty Images [Family meals are good for the grown-ups, too, not just the kids]( Anne Fishel, Harvard University All that planning, shopping, prepping, serving and cleaning can pay off with better physical and mental health for all members of the family. Mary Washington helped her son develop into the leader he became. While her son was the subject of several portrait artists, there is no record that Mary ever was. Stock Montage/Getty Images [Mary Ball Washington, George’s single mother, often gets overlooked – but she’s well worth saluting]( Martha Saxton, Amherst College Mary Washington raised George and his four siblings mainly alone, imbuing in George many of his best traits. George often ignored his mother's pleas for money, much as history has ignored her story. Most U.S. parents who take time off work to tend to newborns currently use unpaid leave. Whitney Curti/The Washington Post via Getty Images [82% of Americans want paid maternity leave – making it as popular as chocolate]( Chris Knoester, The Ohio State University; Richard J. Petts, Ball State University Polls have consistently found robust support for this benefit, with a growing share of the public approving of paid time off for dads. - [A metropolis arose in medieval Cambodia – new research shows how many people lived in the Angkor Empire over time]( Sarah Klassen, Leiden University; Alison Kyra Carter, University of Oregon Combining archaeological evidence, aerial scans and machine learning algorithms, researchers modeled how this medieval city grew over time. - [Kids with a desk and a quiet place to study do better in school, data shows]( David Rutkowski, Indiana University; Dirk Hastedt, Indiana University Students who have desks at home tend to do better academically. So why isn't more attention given to this issue, as it is to the digital divide? - [Popping toys, the latest fidget craze, might reduce stress for adults and children alike]( Katherine Isbister, University of California, Santa Cruz Though research is still ongoing, therapists' practical experience and adults' and kids' self-reflections suggest that fidget toys can be helpful for emotional and cognitive support. - [Nocturnal dinosaurs: Night vision and superb hearing in a small theropod suggest it was a moonlight predator]( - [Anti-transgender bills are latest version of conservatives’ longtime strategy to rally their base]( - [Do people become more religious in times of crisis?]( - [Why Facebook created its own ‘supreme court’ for judging content – 6 questions answered]( - [Police academies dedicate 3.21% of training hours to ethics and other public service topics – new research]( - [Faces of those America is leaving behind in Afghanistan]( - [Reducing methane is crucial for protecting climate and health, and it can pay for itself – so why aren’t more companies doing it?]( - [Why Trump is more likely to win in the GOP than to take his followers to a new third party]( You’re receiving this newsletter from [The Conversation](. Not interested anymore? [Unsubscribe](. 303 Wyman Street, Suite 300 Waltham, MA 02451