After Dinner, We Used to Watch TV. Now We Have a Better Ritual.

This is One Thing, a column with tips on how to live.

For a decade, my homebody husband and I would typically settle into the couch after dinner, looking at our phones and watching a TV series or movie. Our dog would cuddle in close, having already been walked and fed. We were in for the night. But this May, we had a baby girl, and everything about our schedule changed. So much about new parenthood is chaotic, but one routine we’ve adopted is something I wish I had done sooner, and I recommend it to anyone.

One evening when our daughter was 2 months old, in an attempt to comfort her, we all went for a walk, hoping to ease her into sleep. During that 15-minute outing, the sky was beginning to turn a darker shade, and it ushered in a breeze, which shook the trees. Only a sliver of light remained. My husband, the baby, our 7-year-old golden doodle, and I sauntered through the neighborhood at a leisurely pace. We cooed at our daughter, my husband’s arm draped over my shoulder, enjoying the lack of background noise (other than a passing siren—we do live in a city). I’d grown up, raised by a single mother, in the same community complex where we now lived. Yet as well as I knew the area, I’d never experienced it in this way before.

By the time we got home, the baby was fast asleep. Our usual TV time began, and everyone—the grown-ups, the dog too—had melted into a state of full relaxation. “Wow, we should do this every night,” I suggested. And we did.

Scientists agree on the benefits of the walk. Even a brief stroll can promote better mental health, and taking one after a meal benefits physical health. After a person eats, their blood-sugar levels typically spike for up to an hour. According to a 2023 study, even a five-minute walk after food consumption (versus remaining sedentary) can lower those glucose levels—a practice that when done regularly can ultimately decrease the long-term risk of diabetes and heart disease.

But the purpose is also more simple than that: The postdinner walk is a glimmer in my life, a small thing that triggers joy. I always look forward to it. It’s the one time a day we’re all together, being fully present and connected to one another.

Our ritual will change as the weather cools down and daylight saving time turns the evening darker earlier. But we’ll still make time for an abbreviated nightly stroll. The best part of this routine is, there’s no destination—the journey is in the wandering. It’s not goal-oriented or laced with intention other than to all be together before we settle back into our apartment.