The "Family Dinner" question.

[CassandGunnar]

Where do you and your family eat the evening meal? It just seems like, more and more, families aren't together for a meal very often, and if they are, everyone is sitting in front of the TV.
As a child, we ate "supper" at the table and the TV was not even turned on. We had conversations with each other and talked about our day. I cannot even begin to relate how much I learned from my parents, and other adults, while seated around the dinner table and just listening.
On a special occasion, we might be allowed to eat in the living room and watch TV. (The main times I remember were at Easter, during the 10 Commandments and maybe for The Super Bowl)
Of course, I grew up in the era of rotary phones, NO remote control for the TV and the morning and evening newspaper.

Just thinking that some of the kids that have been banned from eateries might benefit from eating a meal, at a table, with the rest of their family and actually being subjected to a conversation and face to face encounters, as opposed to a series of text messages.

[gsdraven]

Well, I haven't lived at home in over 7 years but as a kid, we ate dinner most nights at the table with the TV off and it was usually a home cooked meal.

We were all very active in sports so sometimes it didn't work but even today when we get together for birthday or holiday dinners, we sit at the kitchen table which doesn't really fit us all anymore... I have 3 sisters, 2 brothers, a niece and a nephew.

Oh, and homework was done before dinner and the kids had kitchen duty after.

At home with the furkids, I eat dinner sitting on my couch

[ozzymama]

Where we can, meals are eaten at the table. Dh can work like today a 20 hour day, in which case it's me and the baby, I aim for a 6pm supper and eat with her, well while feeding her, sorta, my salad while she has her "food" and my other stuff while she's having dessert - rice rusks. I still try and even between husbands and single, to have a proper Sunday dinner, bit earlier in the day and something signifigant and special and a dessert. I have my breakfast at the table with the baby and don't eat lunch.

[Klamari]

When I was younger (until maybe 10 years old), we did eat at the table as a family much more often. Then once all the kids (there are 4 of us) started getting really involved in sports, that hardly ever happened. And now, even though I'll still be living at home for a while, I'm lucky if I even SEE all the other 5 people that live in this house on a daily basis. So family dinner with everyone there doesn't hardly ever happen.

Plus the TV is on WAY too much in our house, so that doesn't help.

[Jax08]

Unfortunately, we've never eaten as a family. I worked 2nd shift for years and now I'm the last one home at about 6pm. Everyone else has already eaten and gone their way. I really feel we've missed out on something special.

[Whiteshepherds]

We've never had a lot of "rules" but eating meals every night as a family was always one of them. Now that both kids are out on their own DH and I still eat dinner together at the table most of the time.

[Josh's mom]

We try to eat at the table as much as possible, with the girls getting older (18 and 14 now) and when school is in session, it's not that easy. We sometimes have the TV on but we usually talk over it. I work on the week-ends, 12 hr shifts, so dh is in charge of meals, I usually pick something up on the way home.

I remember rotary phones too, my grandma had one, we had the corded "princess"
phone. No VCR, no cable till I was in high school. We didn't have remotes either, I was the remote.

[Klamari]

Kinda off topic here, but I heard a commercial the other day on the radio. It was something like,

"If you want those special family gatherings that turn into 2 hour screaming matches, then Direct TV is not for you. If you like having dinner with your family, that end in you calling your brother names that would make a biker dude blush, then Direct TV is not for you. etc
But if you like harmonious, peaceful family moments, then Direct TV is right for you"

.............And I was like, that's my family, maybe that's why we like the TV in my house

[Whiteshepherds]

Originally Posted by CassandGunnar

On a special occasion, we might be allowed to eat in the living room and watch TV. (The main times I remember were at Easter, during the 10 Commandments and maybe for The Super Bowl)
Of course, I grew up in the era of rotary phones, NO remote control for the TV and the morning and evening newspaper.

As a kid, on Sundays we had homemade pizza while we watched the Ed Sullivan Show. If we were bad, we had to eat in the kitchen and miss part of the show. If we were really bad my mother wouldn't make the pizza. LOL...sounds so stupid now but it was a big deal back then!!

[CassandGunnar]

Originally Posted by Whiteshepherds

As a kid, on Sundays we had homemade pizza while we watched the Ed Sullivan Show. If we were bad, we had to eat in the kitchen and miss part of the show. If we were really bad my mother wouldn't make the pizza. LOL...sounds so stupid now but it was a big deal back then!!

We always ate early on Sunday so we could watch Ed Sullivan.