Between school, extracurricular activities, homework, and the very popular “yeah, it was fine” response, getting some precious intel about your kid’s day can make a parent feel like an interrogation agent. Thankfully, JoAnna Garcia Swisher hasn’t needed to use any fancy FBI techniques. While the Sweet Magnolias actress admits she’ll take “any chance” she can get to hear about her daughters’ days, she’s found that even a quick dinner together helps her family connect.

“[Dinnertime] is definitely our time,” Garcia Swisher tells Romper. “I do find that I hear a lot about the day in that little zone. Any chance that I can get to get details of my kids’ day, I’ll take it.”

Garcia Swisher’s daughters with husband, former baseball player Nick Swisher, have plenty to report. Her oldest daughter, Emerson, 10, is an equestrian and “can just get lost at the barn” for hours. Her younger daughter, Sailor, 7, is a dancer. “She’s very much the performer in our family, loves to act and dance. She spends most of her day in a cartwheel.” On top of all that, both of her girls are also in the school play. Indeed, there’s a lot to discuss.

“I like all of my little chicks back in the nest by dinnertime so we can sit down and, even if it’s 20 minutes, have a little time to connect,” she says.

The Reba star has always valued family time. It’s something her late parents, Jay and Loraine Garcia, prioritized in her own childhood. Garcia Swisher spoke to Romper about those family values, growing up in a Latin household, her recent partnership with McCormick, and her go-to taco night recipe with the brand’s original taco seasoning mix packets that miraculously keeps everyone in the family happy.

Read full interview at romper.com