They’re everywhere, like a scene out of a bad sci-fi horror flick. Under beds, behind couches, wedged between seats of SUVs. No, I’m not talking about invading aliens. I’m talking about Polly Pocket, G.I. Joe and the rest of the fast-food toy family! So rampant, in fact, are these plastic playthings that studies show one in three toys received by an American child is delivered via a drive-thru window.

Unfortunately, the preponderance of Happy Meals in modern kids’ lives represents far more than an onslaught of cheap imported action figures. It represents the demise of the old-fashioned family dinner.

Just how close to brontosaurus status is the family dinner? So close that in 2001, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) and Coca-Cola teamed up to launch an annual “Family Day,” designed to encourage families to sit down and eat dinner together on the fourth Monday in September.