Family Meals

[Inanna]

I have always eaten meals as a family. We all eat breakfast together - sometimes DD14 eats first as she has an early bus. At night we only ever eat sitting down together at the dining table. It is always set. Always have music. Almost always we have candles.

It is DD5's job to set the table. DD6 and DS8 job to clear it. DD14 to help scrape and pack the dishwasher. DD6 or DS8 sweep. (at night)

I was shocked to read that "many families eat together only once a fortnight"...

What do you do in your family?

Are these stats really true...

(I am feeling decidedly wierd...)

[Laranna]

Well, if you're weird Flowerchild, then I am too!!! DH & I eat together at the table every night. The only exception is if he has an early soccer game on Monday nights, I usually don't wait for him because I am starving by then.

I set the table completely also. DS still eats dinner early around 5-5:30pm and DH doesn't get home from work until 6:30ish which is when we eat. Yes, I have his dinner ready to go when he walks in the door DS will have his warm milk while we eat so he is still involved with us.

Even if we get takeaway, I'll still set the table and we eat at the table.

After dinner I clear up and wash dishes, load dishwasher, etc while DH bathes and puts DS to bed.

I'm a big believer in eating together as a family. I enjoy it and it's something I will insist on for my family as we grow older.

[Inanna]

Okay well that's two of us! Did you eat as a family growing up? I know we did. So, I guess it's a positive I have got from my family of origin!

[Indadhanu]

We ALWAYS eat dinner together (unless Jazz is sick and is asleep, or something like that etc). Granted we are a young one-child family, so it isnt hard. Jazz eats what we eat, when we eat. I have dinner ready for all of us early (between 5 and 6) so we can eat together.

Growing up in my family (until my sis and I got jobs and were sometimes not home), it was the same. We all ate at the same time.

I hear of families who regularly feed the kids first then cook for themselves and eat once the kids go to bed, and i sort of get it - they want to eat dinner hot and in peace? But thats not for us, dinner is the only meal we get together (except 2 days a week when Shel isnt at work), so its special (its not always at the table, but it is always together).

[ss_storm]

At the moment DF and i normally eat in front of the tv, or i do and he eats in his office while doing work (his business is 24/7). Once DD starts eating dinner too then i hope to convince him to eat as a family at the kitchen table. i think it's a good habit to get into. my parents always eat at the table, it wasnt always as a family though as dad (being a farmer) was often out late anyway. we ocassionally got to eat in front of the tv on a saturday or sunday night as a treat, but we had a 'family' show that we all watched together.

[Trillian]

We all eat together as a family, but depending on whether DH is on shift or not it may just be the kids and I though sometimes I will have a late dinner so we can all eat together when he's on dayshift (he gets home at 7.30) We have the telly off and the table is set- nothing flash, just cutlery and sauce etc. We never used to eat together as a family when I was younger though - there were too many of us to all get round a table LOL. DH's family used to eat at the table, but as they got older they got a bit slacker with it.

[Inanna]

Well maybe they didn't interview any BB members eh!?

Do you have any rituals? We say: EEDA DUCKIMUS - it is Japanese (obviously I have spelt it as it ispronounced) for "bless this food" or "thankyoufor this food"...

We also each say one thing we are grateful for in that day... I find it a great way of getting the kids to talk about the wonderful things in life rather than... Finn kicked me... !

[Indadhanu]

Not really any rituals here, except Shel and Jazz have playtime while I cook dinner. They go into the playroom and go crazy, lol, while I get dinner on. Then she does drinks, cutlery and sauces, and gets Jazz ready for dinner, while I serve.

[Laranna]

Okay well that's two of us! Did you eat as a family growing up? I know we did. So, I guess it's a positive I have got from my family of origin!

Yep we did eat as a family growing up. We had our own seat at the table too. It wasn't just sit in any seat (with four of us kids, there'd be fights if someone was sitting in anothers seat lol).

As for rituals, we did say grace when we ate at my grandmothers, but not at home. Today, we don't really have any. DH thanks me and gives me a kiss for cooking dinner every night

[Trillian]

We don't do anything spesh, we just talk about our day, what the kids did at school, what DH did at work if he's on shift or talk about what his plans are for the following day if he's at home.

[SugarDust]

We ALWAYS eat dinner together!

The older 2 eat breakfast at day care 3 days a week and the 2 days they are home with me we eat breakfast and lunch together! Lunch is me by myself 3 days! On weekends we always eate breakfast lunch and dinner together!

I'm trying to get the boys into a routine but it is just to much trying to get dinner ready at 6pm weekdays when I pick them up at 5-530pm. I really don't want to do 2 lots of dinner dishes!

[Inanna]

my kids have their own seats too - with 5 of them anything to minimise the need for negotiation!!!

[M22]

we did too growing up - loved but no wDH gets home at about 8 so too late for kids- but on teh weekedn definalty.

[BekZ]

We always eat our meals together at the table with the TV off. DH may not be at all meals though. DD1 is learning how to set the table and return her finished dinner plate to the kitchen. We ignore any phone calls because we believe that this time is our wind down and chat time.

My SIL and Stepbrother's family only have a roast on Sundays together because BIL gets home late and their kids eat super early. I actually feel really sad that they don't get much time together.

My family didn't eat together and as a family we ended up quite disfunctional. As a child I loved going to some of my friends' houses just because they had big families and they all ate together!!! I decided as a young person that my family would be like that some day

[Liviam]

We always eat dinner together too at the table. Sometimes for a treat we eat pizza in front of a movie but it's still together. Both DH and I grew up eating dinner at the table with the family. We don't have any traditions though. It's so good to read other families still have some old fashioned traditions.

[Jellyfish]

We do when we can (me and DP that is, DD isn't a solids girl just yet) but since my partner works shift and 4 weeks out of 6 he isn't here for dinner, there is many times that I eat alone.

[briggsy's girl]

If DH is home from work, we eat every meal together. it's getting harder to do now seeing DD knows it's meal time and wants a feed at the same time (mummy trying to eat properly around a feeding bubba isn't easy) - on the upside, when she does start solids, she will eat with us. we don't have a set meal time due to DH's work - but will try to structure it a bit more once DD is on solids and eating with us

[bonelige]

yep, 90% of the time we do, unless it's soccer night or something. I feel it's an important time to be together as it's probably the only time of the day to be all together doing the one thing.
when both dh's kids came over we'd always make a point then of sitting together too, even when ss18(he was 16 at that time)didn't want to eat we still asked him to join us as a family. He did, and he usually gave in and ate then too.