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Do you always eat at the dining table?

181 replies

SylvesterTheCat · 16/10/2018 12:52

DP and I eat breakfast (not always together) and lunch at the table but have dinner in front of the telly on trays Confused
But now that we have a DC about to start on solids I think I'd like to start having "dinner as a family" at The Table. Thoughts?

OP posts:
DragonGoby · 16/10/2018 12:55

We eat supper at the kitchen table, but not necessarily all together - usually DH gets home too late to eat with the DC, so I wait to eat with him. But at weekends we all eat together at the kitchen table for lunch and supper (not breakfast). I think it’s nice Smile

choccybiscuit · 16/10/2018 12:58

Always at the dinner table

BirthdayPlans · 16/10/2018 13:02

Always at the table. I don't think I've ever eaten off a tray in front of the tv. Never occurred to me. And we don't have any trays!

DollyWilde · 16/10/2018 13:03

I grew up in a dinner table house and DH grew up in an on the sofa house so we have had a few discussions about this Grin

We've compromised that anything you'd eat with hands (a sandwich or whatever) can be sofa food, but anything involving a knife and fork is dinner table food - except for on the very odd occasions I come home from work and we're totally knackered at which point I'll say 'fuck it' and we'll have something like a stir fry while on the sofa.

Have already agreed that when DC come along we'll try and make sure all meals are at the table as it encourages us to chat Smile

c190 · 16/10/2018 13:03

Always. Before DC we would have the TV on (for the Simpsons usually) but ate at the table. Now we all eat together and the TV is off. We consider it family time.

Grumpbum123 · 16/10/2018 13:03

Always at the table except Friday which pizza and film night

GreenMeerkat · 16/10/2018 13:04

Nope.

Kids do, but we sit in front of the TV with ours 

Missedmoments · 16/10/2018 13:05

Always at the dinner table and always together if we can! I personally think it’s a very important part of the day. My kids head to their bedrooms afterwards to do their homework etc so I don’t get to see them much for the rest of the night.

moreshitandnofuckingredemption · 16/10/2018 13:06

Most of our meals are eaten as a family round the table. If DH & I eat later than the kids for some reason, we'll occasionally eat off our laps in front of the telly, but that is v much the exception (especially now the DCs are older and can stand dinner time being a bit mucked about)

shutlingsloe · 16/10/2018 13:06

Yes, always. DC are late teens now and it is and always has been a really important part of the day - a time when they're likely to tell us things or discuss things that are bothering them.

Bluntness100 · 16/10/2018 13:06

Breakfast and lunch always on front of the tv, dinner at the table as our daughter was growing up and still at the table when she's home. When it's just my husband and I we tend to eat dinner on our laps in front of the tv.

Yogagirl123 · 16/10/2018 13:07

Breakfast and lunch ( non messy stuff) in the lounge while watching tv, dinner is always at the dining table.

kaytee87 · 16/10/2018 13:07

If we're having a takeaway at the weekend after ds is in bed, instead of having dinner with him, then we'll have it watching a movie or latest boxset. Most of the time dinner is in the dining room.

Tinty · 16/10/2018 13:08

I grew up with dinner on a tray in front of the TV. Dp grew up with dinner on a tray in front of the TV. We have our dinner at the Kitchen table with DC. Oldest DC now 21.

If DC are away, we sneak into the lounge and watch movies and have dinner on the table in the lounge Grin. And we never tell them.

SputnikBear · 16/10/2018 13:08

We always eat at the table. I don’t want crumbs, stains or sticky fingerprints all over my house. Even if only one person is eating, even if they’re an adult, they still have to sit at the table. It’s unfair to let adults eat on the sofa if kids can’t, so we have one rule for everyone. The only exception is that coffee is permitted on the coffee table. It’s not because of any sense of “family” though, it’s purely because I don’t want my house ruined.

PerverseConverse · 16/10/2018 13:11

I was brought up to eat at the table unless poorly or a special treat and I've carried that on. On a weekend they can eat breakfast in the living room as long as it's not cereal with milk. Lunch is sometimes in the living room but the amount of crumbs they generate means it's usually at the table. Even if I'm eating separately later (very rare) I still sit and chat with them over their meal. They hate that at their dad's the adults don't sit with the children. Meal times are family times in our house. They particularly love special occasion where the table gets done up all fancy. We already have the Halloween cloth on Confused

Bluesheep8 · 16/10/2018 13:19

We have a large kitchen table and eat our meal there every night.

Chipsahoy · 16/10/2018 13:19

We were like you and dinner was on laps. Once DC was weaning he'd just come in the living room with us and eat in his highchair. But once he was able to sit at the table we all started to eat together at the table.

Several yrs and houses and DC later and we mostly sit at the table together, however we do have a breakfast bar and sometimes DC will sit there to eat and we will eat on our own later..usually I a. Friday night when we have a takeaway or something hot and spicym

anitagreen · 16/10/2018 13:22

Nope always sat on the sofa in fact I think I'm going to throw my dinner table away and get a small one for the kids as it's never used

Katedotness1963 · 16/10/2018 13:27

Evening meal at the table. It’s our family time now the kids are busy teenagers,but we started it when they were young, so it’s habit. Pizza night is in front of the telly though.

CurlyWurlyTwirly · 16/10/2018 13:31

I have just moved. In my last place it was always dinner on trays, as there was always paperwork on the kitchen table. Now I have a spare room / study. I keep the kitchen table free to eat there. Apart from DS who likes toast in bed.

PersonaNonGarter · 16/10/2018 13:32

I had always grown up eating at the table - never in front of the telly.

Now I love TV suppers and we rarely eat at the table. It has resulted in my DC having dreadful table manners tho.

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Tentomidnight · 16/10/2018 13:34

Always at the table as a family or just DCs eating.
If DH and I eat later in the evening, we often eat on the sofa, but e.g. pasta/curry in a bowl.
I have an irrational hatred of people eating on the sofa using a lap tray.

ColinsVeryJolly · 16/10/2018 13:35

I work evenings so family mealtimes are rare anyway but we make an exception for Sunday dinner which is always at the table together.

YippeeKayakOtherBuckets · 16/10/2018 13:36

Always at the table for family dinner, occasionally takeaway pizza with a film in the front room.

Anything I’m eating solo though is off my lap or the coffee table.

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