Table food

[cazzz1975]

Do you still eat dinner around the table as a family?

[tiggerblue10]

I'd like to but the cats prefer to eat on the floor. Lol

[bensmum]

lol @ tigger!
I don't have a table cazzz and I am on my own anyway.
When the children were small we always sat at the table for meals though

[hol5]

absolutely YES. Its the best time of the day, every meal time is spent together around the table, with no tv, no radio, just us five TALKING about the day... cannot be beaten!

[annie0000]

Yes we do, most nights though on a Monday as the kids have swimming, I like them to have an earlier dinner so they will have theirs on their own and we will indulge ourselves and have ours on our knee in the living room later!

Have to say it has not improved our youngest's ability to make a mess at the table - he still spills something most nights and manages to get food everywhere. He is now 6 and a half and has been like this since he was a baby - we have managed to get him to stop eating soup with his fingers and putting his bowl upside down on his head when it is not quite empty, so there may be hope for him yet!

[sleepyj]

yes we always eat at table with our kids ...

[cazzz1975]

great to hear, I have started doing this because I live n a house big enough for us to sit together at a table, (my other place was like a postage stamp!)

I love this tradition!! beats sitting goggle eyed watching TV and eating

[Ice.Maiden]

I agree cazzz, and it somehow brings a semblence of order to mealtimes, even though my youngest has a habit of getting up to do other things, mid-way between eating!

[EngTeach]

It depends on what we each have going on. If we are all home then yes.

[captains log]

No way pedro we stuff food in our mouths from every direction.
Me neadtrithfull man cazz.

eek eek.

[andy-hughes]

I think a family meal when ever possible is important - it's such a shame that modern houses are being built without dining rooms, and the norm is fast food on trays in front of the TV.

As advised, it's a great time to simply be together and talk to ech other.

We have convened at my parents-in-law's house for tea once a week for the last twenty-plus years, and I really look forward to it. As many as can make it get there, and we swap our stories and opinions - it's a great bonding experience.

[daffidazey]

We always sit round the table to eat as a family. No tv and just discuss our day. It was like this when I was a kid and I have always done the same wih my kids. Daffi x

[Serendipity_]

Me and my boyfriend haven't got a dining table because we live in a flat, and to be honest, I like just lazing in front of the television eating my dinner! Then watching him wash up.. :0)

Growing up living at home, I was always made to sit at the dining table because I got food everywhere !

[Hellyon]

At home we always sit round the table and eat with our son (10) else he would eat on his own.

All our extended family are great ones for sitting round the table and eating and all my nieces and nephews (all under 12) are great conversationalists.

We also take him out to eat when we can afford it, Sunday lunch at a proper hotel restaurant every now and then so he knows about the 'niceties' like cutlery. My Mum did the same for us as she says she never had that opportunity and she found the first time she went to dinner in a restaurant she found it excrutiating as she didn't know what to do.

[mccfluff]

i do if i go to my parents but other than that nope i'm on my own so tray infront of the tv for me

[sense4all]

We try to as much as possible. Our Sunday lunches are legendary and we always have the kids friends trying to blag an invite. Survival of the fittest when the Yorkies are served up I'm afraid!!!

[HJT40]

this is something I need to do with my daughter. We tend to have a tray on our laps and how many times have we spilled something or accidently knocked it?! I did say to her the other night that we need to because all we do is watch rubbish on the tv and it make me feel very uncomfortable.

We do eat at the table when family and friends come around.

OK, tonight we will!

[carolenw]

My children are grown with families of their own but I'm pleased to say they are following the same pattern as we did with them - to sit round the table for EVERY meal, with no tv or other distractions. Even after they all left home my late husband and I continued to eat our meals together at the table and now I'm on my own I sit at the table for breakfast and dinner, at lunch I sit on my balcony (I now live in Spain) and enjoy the sunshine!

It's a great habit to get into and very important in stopping this isolation that seems to creep into people's lives.

[douggym]

Yes we do and the kids can be taken anywhere because they have great table manners which are so sadly lacking these days. Forks on the left, knives on the right etc.
We do however know of a family not far from here where a plastic mat is laid on the lounge floor to be used as the their table and the kids, 2 years to 15 years old, sit or lay on the floor and eat whilst watching cartoons. They cannot be taken anywhere as anyone who knows them will not invite them.

[meltoadhall]

yes every night the 5 of us round the table, we also try for breakfast too but it doesnt always work due to getting up really early for work.