The author shares her personal story about her struggle to make family dinner, despite the benefits of family dinner. Anne Fishel, a Harvard professor and co-founder of The Family Dinner Project, believes that family dinner can boost vocabulary in young children, improve academic performance in older children and lower risk of smoking, binge drinking, marijuana use, violence, school problems, eating disorders and sexual activity in children. However, she admits that making dinner for her family is draining, especially when they struggle with overscheduled, kidcentric weeknights. The author also shares her own personal struggles to manage her life and manages to eat well-balanced meals without spending time in a car. A study by North Carolina State University found that many families struggle to produce a home-cooked meal.