Originally Posted By debtee We eat dinner together every night! We always sit at the table and talk with each other about our day or plan the weekend etc and other things. We don't have the TV on during dinner, it's not a hard rule or anything, it's just we only ever turn the telly on if we are going to watch a certain program so it just doesn't get switched on. We always have music on in the background from my ipod which is docked into speakers. Sometimes we will jump up in the middle of dinner and both dive for the ipod remote to see who gets it first, as then they can then choose the "playlist" as we have very different tastes in music! It's fun! LOL
Originally Posted By MomofPrincess Well we used to all eat in front of the t.v. regularly (*blush*) until I got all new livingroom furniture a few weeks ago. Now everyone HAS to eat at the table together... and that's a good thing.
Originally Posted By momof4boys Every night we are home- but that is happening less often than I would like. Like tonight, my DS14 has a football game about 90 miles away. My husband went with him. They won't get home until 11:00 pm which is way too late for the others. Plus DS10&11 have football practice. So I will pick them up in a bit and the 5 of us will eat together. Several nights DS 14 has football practice until 6:00pm and band practice from 6:15pm-8:30 pm. We can't wait dinner for him because the others will be getting ready for bed-plus he would be starved by then. So I meet him at practice with dinner and visit with him in the car while he eats. I miss family dinners every night. Football takes TOOOO much time.
Originally Posted By hopemax Well, DH and I eat together every night except every other Friday, while he is out playing strategy games. But we don't eat at a table, it is on TV trays in front of the TV. We have a small table in our apartment and it really isn't functional. We only use it for Thanksgiving, Easter, and Christmas (if we are home). Growing up, we usually had dinner together. At a table. In 4th and 5th grade I had gymnastics twice a week, so those nights I would eat my dinner first, then go to practice, and my parents would eat while I was gone.
Originally Posted By TALL Disney Guy <After most of us are well on our...say 75% finished, each child is required to give three pieces of information to the table. 1.) What is something interesting you did today? 2.) What is something you learned today? 3.) What mistake did you make and how did you correct it, or if no mistake, what was something you are proud of that you did or that occurred today?> Boy, a family meal at DVC_Dad's house is like a job interview. ;-) <We eat dinner together every night! We always sit at the table and talk with each other about our day or plan the weekend etc and other things.> Wow debtee...your boys Woody and Toby are *very* talented---nice to see them so involved too! ;-) This post was brought to you by ";-)"
Originally Posted By debtee <Wow debtee...your boys Woody and Toby are *very* talented---nice to see them so involved too!> HAHA. They would sit on a chair at the table if we would let them, they do think they are human! lol
Originally Posted By avromark #10 = thank you so much for taking my answer. However at my parents house their is a TV in the breakfast nook / kitchen, but during their dinner it's always at the formal dining room table, no exceptions. (2 still at home)
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost We always had dinner together and we always ate the same meal. No special orders. My wife and I tried to always have something that everyone liked but if they didn't, oh, well, it was a long ways until breakfast. Eat or be hungry. As I read that it sounds a little mean but that was never the intention. They understood that and we had some great discussions at the dinner table.
Originally Posted By RAM1984 >>But the answer, even at 17, will still be no.<< Keep it up. It is worth it! When our kids were growing up we all ate together every night. As they grew older sometimes activities and p/t jobs got in the way but whoever was home ate at the table with everyone else. Even when my youngest was 17 and my husband was working nights I fixed a complete meal and we sat down together at the table. Now that it is just me and hubby we eat at the dinner table whenever we can see it. My favorite days are the few each year when I have all 5 adult kids, their kids and assorted spouses and friends all crowded around the dining table. (I do not believe in a "children's" table.) We do whatever has to be done to make the table big enough.
Originally Posted By chickendumpling When I was growing up we had dinner together as a family every night. Ever watch Seinfeld? Okay, it was like Festivus. LOL. Okay, kidding. Kinda. As the "mom" now it is really important to me to have dinner with DH and the kids and we are able to do that pretty much every night. We have some of the best times and greatest conversations then but I get the skinny from the kids on the drive home. LOL. We don't formally do the Q & A but I do always try to ask the kids to tell us about something fun or funny that happened to them that day, something they learned and what was a good thing and a bad thing (and then we brainstorm and problem solve about it if they want). We even sing camp songs and tell jokes and stuff some times if we are having a long, leisurely dinner. It's the best! That probably sounds kooky to you guys but it is WAY fun and usually way funny and it is a great thing for us. I have a friend who has like 8 brothers and sisters and they had dinner together every single night. Period. They had to hold hands, say the Rosary, the Pledge of Allegiance and then grace. In contrast, my great aunt had 13 kids. It was total chaos. LOL! Like Ma and Pa Kettle.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<After most of us are well on our...say 75% finished, each child is required to give three pieces of information to the table. 1.) What is something interesting you did today? 2.) What is something you learned today? 3.) What mistake did you make and how did you correct it, or if no mistake, what was something you are proud of that you did or that occurred today?>> And with all the kids DVC_dad has, it's usually time for bed when they finish! ;-) We kind of do our own thing at breakfast and lunch, but have always had dinner together. Now that our 23 year old daughter is living at home again so she can save for graduate school, we all eat dinner together most nights. We rarely eat in our dining room... that is pretty much for holidays and dinners where we have a lot of people. With just the three of us we usually eat at our kitchen peninsula which has an overhang on the dining room side so we can use it with stools as a casual eating place. We have three stools there, so it works great for us. Back when our son was in high school he went through a few years where he was pretty darned sullen. But we still all ate dinner together. We maybe couldn't get two words out of him the whole meal, but if he wanted to eat that night he ate with the family. We had some years where our relationship with our son was rather tense, but for the past 5 years or so (he’s 29 now) we've gotten along really well. He finally matured enough (and had enough things happen to him) that he realizes we maybe knew what we were talking about after all. I really think the fact that we didn't give up on family dinners even during the sullen days helped keep some connection with our son going so that we are now able to have a good relationship with him.
Originally Posted By 4Disnee We eat at the dinner table every night as a family. I feel that it is a very important time to be together. Its very cute our DS has always asked to be excused from the table and when he was little he would say ( May I please be excused yes I may ) LOL It was so darn funny.
Originally Posted By t1lersm0m I have to be honest, in our old house we never ate together. I hated the house...it was small, it was hard to keep clean because of how old it was and the high traffic on the street, not to meantion we had a dirt basement floor. I hated cooking in that house. The table was always a mess. We've been in our new house since July 16th, and we've had dinner together just about every night. We don't eat in any room other than the kitchen, at least until we get a dining room set. I love cooking now. Our home has really improved our way of life, not just in the financial sense, but also the time we spend together. We have a real wood burning fireplace, and it's been chilly at night, so we have a fire every night.
Originally Posted By sun-n-fun CD, not silly at all. I think it sounds great!!!!! I really believe that these are the things that kids remember. (well, that and those WDW trips) Keep up the good work.
Originally Posted By DAR Well it used to be everynight. But now since my sister is 29 and I'm 32. But my family has had a tradition of going out to dinner either Friday or Saturday. Usually I'm over for dinner every Sunday at the folks.
Originally Posted By DlandJB We make it about 5 out of 7 nights a week, although with our 15 year old's schedule, we lose her more than we would like. We all are committed to it though. We always say grace before meals - even in restaurants.
Originally Posted By alexbook I can't say that my cat and I eat together very often. ;-P When I was a sullen teenager, we sort of split the difference between eating in front of the TV and eating together at the dinner table: We all ate together at the table in the dining room, but the TV was usually on in the next room and depending on where you were sitting you could sort of watch it. Usually, we'd have the news on during dinner, with lots of conversations around the table taking off from whatever the reporters had to say.
Originally Posted By RAM1984 ^^Watching the news while eating!??! That sounds like a sure fire recipe for indigestion.
Originally Posted By mamacita We eat dinner at the table every night that we eat dinner at home. It's a good time to chat and unwind and find about the little things that happened during everyone's day.
Originally Posted By peeaanuut It has been great reading all of your responses. As a kid growing up I do not remember ever sitting down and eating as a family. I remember meals, but they were usually eaten in seperate rooms or at different times. Mainly because of my dads work schedule. Now as an adult, it is the same thing here at the house. Even if dinner is made, noone sits together. Not sure if I really am missing anything or not, but its a possibility.
