How many of you, eat dinner nightly at the table as a family? I suppose it does not pertain to those of you that are single and live alone...but think back to when you lived at home or with a partner...
I don't recall eating "family" dinners as a child other than Holidays or big events. When I met T I was SHOCKED that his family ALWAYS sat at the dinner table to eat dinner and share in conversation. And dinners in that household where not just chew and screw, they lasted hours upon hours. Just regular old day to day meals. I loved it.
When T and I moved into together initially we did this too, however I didn't cook much then (I was 17 when we got our 1st apt) so we migrated our way to the couch, eventually chucking the table to make room for the fish tanks...
In our 2nd apt we tried this a little more often, however it was an eat in kitchen, and I hated it in there, bright white cabinets, dirty white floors, fluorescent lights....yuck. We ate approx 3 meals a week in there, all others where eaten in the living room or T's room (he had his own "man cave" in our 2nd apt).
In our house....I love my kitchen, I love my dining room, I love all my rooms! We have moved back to the eat dinner at the table tradition. One that I hope to instill in our child. We dim the lights low, set the table nice, eat a hearty meal and then sit and talk. We don't talk for hours, but a good 20-30 mins after we eat we are still talking. It has been a great way for me to unwind lately, I've needed this time tremendously and he knows it.
Anyway....this was all leading somewhere..I usually whip together pretty basic meals during the week since I don't normally get home from work till around 7pm and really want to eat by 7:30 if at all possible, but on Sunday's I have been trying to make something a bit more substantial....something with a little heart. Especially as the weather gets colder and we are inside more..
Last weekend I made an AWESOME eggplant parm, chicken cutlets and Linguine with Pesto sauce.....
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This past Sunday I made a Stuffed Roasted Chicken, carrots, potatoes and green beans....(sorry no pic of the chicken completely cooked looking succulent)
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After dinner this Sunday night I made some GREAT cookies, Oatmeal, Cranberries and Chocolate chips....I was thinking a lot about Orly yesterday..not sure why, just was. And he always loved when I made those cookies...so I made him a batch and with every bite I thought of him more. I am trying to cherish these meal times of just the two of us right now...I highly recommend this tradition in your own homes...
3 comments:
When I was growing up, we always ate together (and being the oldest of 8 kids, that was a happenin' dinner table!). We also always drank milk with dinner. (None of us broken any bones when we were young!)
Nowadays, all but me of my siblings are still living at home but b/c of crazy schedules (work, school, sports), I don't think they ever eat together.
When Mr. C moved into my apartment, it wasn't big enough for a dining table, so we ate on the couch watching TV (I have a lift-top table). Now that we DO have a dining table, we still normally eat in front of the TV in the living room. If/When we have kids, I definitely want to instill the 'everyone eats dinner together'. I think it's important.
My family ALWAYS ate dinner together at the dining room table. It was family time. And like Jenn, we always had MILK with dinner (no soda, no juice). The only exception to the table rule was a treat here and there on a Friday or Saturday night we got to eat on tv trays while watching a movie. It made it special!
Unfortunately, Daryl and I do not eat at the table--but not becuz we don't want to! Our kitchen is tiny and the table is always covered w/mail and crap so it makes it hard.We always end up at the coffee table or on tv trays in front of the tv. But once our kitchen is done over I hope to change this bad habit! I want family time at the table...and ESPECIALLY when we have a child in the house! It's important, valuable time as a family!
Youngest of 5 kids and our dinner table was a MADHOUSE growing up. You'd better be the funniest, the smartest or the one with the best grades at the dinner table or you didn't get a word in edgewise.
Once David and I got married, I found out that not every family did this. His family ate at teh table.... but the table had a TV ON IT. Not kidding.
It took me years of training him, but DAvid finally understands that dinner table time is family time. We have two kids, and I can say that we eat together at least 6 nights a week at the table..... maybe one night is a quickie meal or a meal on the go.
Just a thought, but our tradition at the dinner table is:
Favorite
Funniest
Saddest
Grumpiest
Each person has to tell about their funniest part of the day, thier favorite part of the day, etc. It's a way of getting the kids to open up about their day and tell us how it really was. If conversation lags, try asking those four questions and you may be surprised at what you learn.
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