Sitting down for dinner with the family

[EsJay]

and guess what happened at dinner tonight?
I served it up took it to the dinner table, said dinners ready and he sat there with us!
he either had a good think about what i said today, brought it up at work and found that a lot of other people do it too, or simply sat there without thinking.
whatever the reason (i didnt question it) i dont care, its nice to not have had to 'nag' or argue again, and it was nice not to eat without him again too.
Hopefully this trend continues

[ellasmummy]

Yaay great news!!

[Astrid]

We eat as a family, but not at the table at the moment (it is covered in zucchinis). When not covered in excess produce we at the table most nights. Takeaway is when we tend to eat in front of the TV.

I grew up with a mix of table and in the lounge room. I think it was the lounge room more than 50% of the time, especially when it was mum and me.

[Smoke Jaguar]

Hopefully his words echoed around his brain and he heard himself sounding like a person he didn't want to be!
Dinners together make a difference

[Teeki]

That's great Jen! Fingers crossed he decides he likes this family dinner thing, and keeps it up

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

[skybie]

We eat at the dinner table every night without fail

[Calluna]

We eat dinner at the table every night. Breakfast, m and a tea and lunch are a free for all. Lol

Glad you've made some progress.

[Gigi]

Jen i am so happy for you! what a turn around, that's so great.

My ex grew up WITHOUT family dinners. He ate virtually every meal alone, in front of tv. He has a mouth full of fillings and weight related health issues.
I grew up WITH family dinners (albeit, they usually ended in violence), with no tv.

I had read, before having bilby, how beneficial it was to eat at the table, share the day, concentrate on your food etc, so that was what i planned to do with bilby. My ex didn't feel the same way. We fought for maybe three years, about the importance of HAVING a table to eat meals at, we eventually got the table and chairs, but the damage was already done. My DD5 still is the fussiest eater i know, and i've been told by speech therapists et al, the importance, of her seeing her family members eat and enjoy their meals (at the table).

it's only since i left my ex, that DD5 and i now live in a house where all meals are eaten at the table, there is not a tv in that room.
WHen ex has access of DD5, he puts her one metre away from tv, with a tiny toddler table in front of her, for her to eat. with tv on.

He says he realises what an unhealthy childhood HE had, but regardless, seems to be putting DD5 thru the same (with regard to unhealthy eating, eating with tv, shovelling food rather than enjoying food etc.)

[fionas]

We eat dinner at the table every night even though DP is usually working. No TV.

The girls normally have breakfast and lunch at their 'little table' mainly because DD2 can sit on a chair there whereas at the dining table she sits in a high chair but is an escape artist and with me flitting around buttering toast, getting milk, etc. etc. I can't sit next to her the whole time and I just get anxious. Much easier to have them sit at the 'little table'. Most of the time I sit with them there too. Definitely no TV either.

[Jennifer13]

That's good news, Jen! And well done for not fighting about it.

We eat together at the table as a family. TV is never on until after DD1 is in bed. As an occasional treat when DP has gone to the rugby, DD1 and I get takeaway and watch an old movie together. But that's about giving us something fun to share, not about eating in front of the TV.

DP grew up eating in front of the TV. He thinks it's a dreadful idea and one of the reasons he had such bad eating habits.

I grew up in a house that had no TV. But my father didn't want us to talk while we ate. So it's not just the absence of a TV that you need to make mealtimes enjoyable and a coming together for your family. You need to put the effort in to make it an opportunity to share, even if all the chatter means it takes twice as long.

[KimB]

I used to have to sit at the table to eat with my family and so did DF. We bought a huge table so we could fit all of us around it and now have DD2 (5 years old) asking can she set the table so we can eat a "family meal". We ask the kids about their day and some of it is so funny I would certainly recommend it for all families

[Lolpigs]

This is really important to me, as it didnt happen much in my house growing up.

Even now we sit at the table with little DD and we talk to about what we are doing or eating Its fun.

[Fleur]

We don't... our table is covered by sewing & craft stuff. There isn't a spare scrap of space in our house. We do (generally speaking) eat together... I have said before that if the wrost thing that happens to my kids is not eating in front of the table then we didn't do too bad.
Having said that... if we had mroe room, and another table...we would. We did before. And after reading this thread, I wish we could!

[EsJay]

It is nice to read that so many families eat together, i wasnt sure what sort of replies i would get to this, it has been lovely to see that so many people sit down together.

[Tegam]

We sit at a table for all meals. My kids will never eat in front of a tv. It's a beautiful time to talk and just be with my family

My DH and I will also not eat in a restaurant that has a tv on.

I am very sad for kids who watch tv at meal times