In the past we used our kitchen table to dump mail, to park containers of cat food, even a clothes hamper. Once I set G on there when he was asleep (don’t worry I was sitting right next to him). Basically it was used for anything other than dining.
Until G appeared. Yes, it took a second child for us to all eat together at the kitchen table.
And even though we eat together, most of the time our meal conversations consist of this…
We ask E “What did you do that was fun today?”
His response is “Play.”
“With whom,” we ask.
“Friends.”
It’s totally only one word answers. Once he even told me to stop talking because he was just tired of answering my questions. OUCH!
So our meal conversation is nothing to blog about (oh, wait I’m doing it right now) Ugh…
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Breakfast is even worse…because no one (including myself) is awake and we are ALWAYS running late.
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Anyway, while the majority of conversations are mind numbing, once in a while we will have one of those priceless moments where we will just break out in song and dance.
And then I realize THIS is why we eat together everyday.
Every Thursday, we come together to share the harvest of intentional living by capturing a glimpse of the bigger picture through a simple moment. Found yours? Join us!
>Family dinner is so important. My kids came to realize this in high school. One of their English teachers has them discuss their family's dinner habits and write a paper on what they gain ( or miss out on) from their family's habit. My daughter was one of three in a class of 24 whose family ate together.
Keep it up. You will find out so much great stuff even if sometimes he gets tired of answering your questions!
>….also, I love it….dinner and a show!
>We're not as good as we should be about consistently eating together at the table, but every time we do, I feel so GOOD about it. There's something so cathartic, yes, in just being there with one another, whether you're eating in silence or being serenaded 🙂
>The nice thing about this is that if you start when they are young, they do it willingly when their peers don't want to. We make dinners together a standard rule. We might have pancakes, or eggs, or a great dinner (like Taco Casserole) or we might keep it simple, but when we do it together everyone benefits.
>With my husband in medical school, and our life all levels of crazy, we absolutely cherish meal times–dinner, that is. It is wonderful to sit down and really engage with each other. A reminder of family togetherness.
Ahh and the singing and dancing? A perfect way to make meal times more exciting.
P.S I LOVE that picture.
>So cute! I love eating together as a family…it's so great that you have started doing it, too! I have some friends who don't, but I just think it's a valuable part of the day…even when the conversation IS mind numbing!
>SO CUTE!
We have dinner at the table together every night, but generally ONE of my children is wailing through the meal. Which makes conversation kind of tricky!
>Oh MY WORD! The cuteness! Oh! Also, it is so true in our house that it took having a second born before we began really doing "family" things … like using the dining room table for meals. 🙂