Family Values and eating at the table..

We always used to when we were younger. However since then work tends to take over so it's not unusual for 2/3 of us (family of five) to be out in the evening.

We tend to still at the weekend / Sunday though. It's nice to sit around the table and have a chat and talk family things over.

I do think it's important, if I have children I'd love to sit around the table as a family, I always used to really enjoy it. Think it's a big part of being a family.
 
The misconception that eating at the table as a family being irreleveant to becoming a good parent is rubbish. A big part of being a good parent is listening to your kids and their problems and picking up on the ones they might not be mentioning. You can't do this if you are in front of the telly as either they are not talking or you aren't properly listening. Almost every meal is at the table with our kids and we talk about their day. We've already picked up on loads of problems that may seem minor, but at such a young age could have turned into bigger issues.
It might not always be possible to all eat together, but I certainly think it's important. Even to the extent that I've turned down promotions that would have kept me at work late more often.
 
I always had to sit at the table as a kid, even now when I live with my gf we always eat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen, only occasionally if we have a take away or something will we eat in front of the telly. If we have friends round we eat at the dining table. If I'm alone I'll eat whereever is most convienient.

I think it is important to sit together, it's the time for me where we discuss our days (we eat dinner straight after we get home from work), catch up and plan what we are doing for the evening / week /weekend.
 
JeffH said:
The misconception that eating at the table as a family being irreleveant to becoming a good parent is rubbish. A big part of being a good parent is listening to your kids and their problems and picking up on the ones they might not be mentioning. You can't do this if you are in front of the telly as either they are not talking or you aren't properly listening. Almost every meal is at the table with our kids and we talk about their day. We've already picked up on loads of problems that may seem minor, but at such a young age could have turned into bigger issues.
It might not always be possible to all eat together, but I certainly think it's important. Even to the extent that I've turned down promotions that would have kept me at work late more often.
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You're correct, it is a good thing. But it doesn't suddenly make everything alright.
 
Growing up we always had our tea at the table as a family. Maybe exceptions would be made for a football match, golf or similar being on television but you could likely count all the times we didn't eat at the table in a year on one hand. Now it tends only to be on special occasions when everyone is around, which is far less given I live away and my brothers aren't always home.
 
Currently we don't no, but as soon as we move to a house with a dedicated dining area then yes I will make sure this happens as I always did as a kid.

Also a little bit tricky at the moment as my little boy (just turned 1) is in bed by 6pm
 
we used to go through phases. my mum would ideally always want us to eat at the dining room table but my dad wouldn't get home from work until nearly 7 and that doesn't go down well with school kids who have been home since 3:45 so we'd often eat ours at the lounge table with the tv on and the dining room table would be used on a weekend. obviously as we all got older and got more socially active, eating togethor at all became rarer.
i like the christmas, family visiting etc dining room table experience as it's part of the spirit but the other 360+ days of the year, i'm not fussed but i am a 31 yr old bachelor! if i ever have children, i will try and eat togethor at the table as much as possible and am thinking of turning the lean-to on my house which is currently a utility into a dining room.
 
I dont have Kids but when i was growing up we would Sit at the table for Sunday Dinners/Lunch. Weekdays would be eat where ever you could hide long enough to avoid the rodents and T1000s
 
We generally eat in the front room, during weekdays. And then on weekends and mostly Sundays, we gather around the table and have our dinner :)
 
You're correct, it is a good thing. But it doesn't suddenly make everything alright.
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It's not an immediate result, no. But it's a good step in the right direction. At the risk of sounding like a psychiatrist, unless a problem is known it can't be solved. I think the half hour or so we sit at the table gets some problems out in the open. Not just with the kids too. I've been playing Eve Online a lot lately and it wasn't until my eldest moaned about this at the Dinner table, that I realised she was right and cut back a bit. Now she's got me playing Pokemon Card game with her and it's actually quite enjoyable :)
 
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If your a kid and you actively enjoy and want to sit with your parents for a meal weekends or perhaps every day, brilliant, healthy happy kids who want a chat, if you have to force them but you are clever enough to be pro-active about it and use it as a time to communicate with them then great, good parenting, however there exists a lot of unhappy unhealthy and **** parents who don't give a toss and kids who are too far gone/withdrawn/abused/badly behaved to give a toss. So be thankful you can sit down and enjoy a meal with your family, a lot of people can't or just plain don't have families, or dining tables/room for that matter.
 
Always ate at the table when we were younger, however everyone is out at random times now for different reasons, still speak to my brothers/mum/stepdad at length most days.
 
How the hell people can eat a dinner with a knife and fork while sitting on the settee is beyond me. Food bits all over the seat? Stomach cramps? Discusting tbh.

*Whoops! There goes another tayta down the back of the seat* <.< >.> *Keeps it there for later*
 
As a child I was not allowed to eat meals in the lounge! Dropping greasy food on an expensive carpet - No way!
It is like people who let their 6 year old eat a KFC in the back of their fancy car - They get it everywhere and make a right mess.

I have always been brought up to be proud of your house, whether it is a 6 bedroom one with a pool in the garden or a 2 bed council flat - Keep it clean and tidy. Children eating in their bedrooms or in front of the tv is messy and they drop things.

Plus it is antisociable.
 
We actually do still eat at the table, not really for any moral reasons just a habit we got into years ago that we never got out of.
 
For me it was:

Aged 6-13: At with my family, but in the master bedroom watching tv (we didn't have a tv in the lounge).
14-25: Ate in my room in front of my pc/tv.
26-present day: Eat at table with gf when at home (with telly on) and eat at table with her whole family when visiting her parents (telly off).

I am a thoroughly decent chap too!
 
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