Do you and your family eat dinner around a table ?

[Nicebitofsquirrell]

Meal times have changed a lot in the last decade I think, parents are working longer hours, kids are doing more evening activities and the ides of eating around the table and talking about your day seems very foreign to a lot of children. It's not uncommon for primary age children to have never eaten at a table before and they've said they eat on a sofa with the telly on.

Do you and your family regularly eat around a table and discuss your day without a TV or radio on?

I used to really enjoy it when I was younger and when we stopped because of work patterns it made it much easier for me to hide my ED as no one was watching my food intake.

It's definitely something I want to bring to my family

We eat at the dining room table as a family 5/7 evenings a week and lunches too when we are all home.

On the other evenings the children eat early because of clubs but always at the table. The children have breakfast at the table but dh and I tend to eat it in the kitchen.

When it is nice in the summer we have most of our meals outside in the garden, lunches on the lawn and breakfast and dinner at a garden table.

I doubt a representative sample are replying OP. I expect many who don't won't come on the thread.

Yes, we do. DS often has breakfast and lunch at different times to us (especially at weekends) but we always have dinner as a family.

No.

But we do manage to communicate very well, just not round a table - unless we've gone out for a meal.

So it's not essential - or even morally superior - to eat together at the table all the time.

Yes, every night. My children are 15 and 13. Hobbies means the times vary, but yes, we do.

I was raised in a 'dinner on trays in front of the tv' house, but didn't want this for my children. It let's us chat a bit and catch up. Mostly we're all knackered, and are done in 15 minutes, but it brings us together. Also a no phones on the table rule. They occasionally push this boundary but not often.

No, we tried to but it just doesn't work for us as a family for a variety of reasons (including SNs). We do sometimes but its far from every night and never for breakfast or lunch since the DCs were old enough to get their own. I tried very hard to make this our way when the DCs were young but it just ended up being stressful. I don't think it's had any detrimental effect on our family life, we are pretty close. We just prefer eating separately a lot of the time. It's not right for all families.

Every night. No tv, no phones, I usually turn off the radio too but will occasionally leave it on if a a big match is on (and if there’s a goal we all hop up and run to watch it in the sitting room 🤣)

Yes, every night.

When I was at school, my dad used to pick me up and make the evening meal for 3 of us (me, my brother and my dad) at around 4/4.30pm and my mum would have her meal later as she was a teacher and didn't get home until about 5pm or so.
We would usually eat together at the weekends though...unless we got a takeaway on a Saturday night, which involved sitting and eating it in the living room - those were real treats though. Even now, I prefer eating main meals at the kitchen table and have takeaways in the living room while watching some good (trashy!) TV!

Yes, every night.

When it was just dh & I, we probably sat round the table 2/3 times a week, as soon as dd came along , we made a point to eat at the table every night.
It’s lovely & as a result, I’ve been able to take dd to cafes/restaurants from an early age with no fuss at all. She has great table manners & we all have a good chat around the table.

I didn't grow up this way and now we're a family of two.

But I am going to implement this when I can afford a dining table, which won't be soon but will happen.

I doubt a representative sample are replying OP. I expect many who don't won't come on the thread

😊

We like to eat with trays on our knees whilst watching Modern Family.

My little one has breakfast at the table everyday, with one parent Mon - Fri and usually both parents at the weekend. lunch at the weekend is usually when we are out and is eaten at a table or on a picnic blanket as a family. Tea is at the table with one parent if no after school activities and supper is eaten in the playroom with one parent and we either play a game or watch something on TV.

Yes we eat together at the table every night. It means DH and I eat quite early as our DDs are 11 months, and 3.5 years, but I prefer eating earlier anyway.

I might be cautious of concluding much based on the responses you've had on this thread OP; we've not really encouraged people who don't eat at a table to post!

FWIW with DCs at 9 and 6, sometimes one or other eating at wrap-around clubs, we don't eat together at the table all that much during the week. Additionally, the dining table in our house is also our homework / WFH / craft / colouring surface so it's often got too much stuff going on on it to be usable for eating! But at the weekend we love having meals at the table all together with no distractions. It's a treat I suppose!

Not every night due to various kids activities but at weekends we all sit down and eat breakfast/lunch/dinner at the table.

I aim for a good 2/3 meals during the week.

Sometimes we eat in the lounge and watch a film 🤷‍♀️

Funnily enough it’s the opposite for my childhood we never sat at a table to eat unless it was Christmas dinner

No, we rarely eat at the table. On days DS has activities we chill doing our own thing, a few times a week we watch a TV series with dinner like The Mole or Is It Cake. We all love talking about the show and what's going on. It's fun.

I grew up eating dinner around the table and it was fine.

It's looking like we may all be neurodiverse though so this may influence things. Currently awaiting assessments.

We're a close family and talk about our days generally in passing. DS is almost 10 and loves chilling with us. All enjoy gaming and board games. Sunday night is board game night.

Whoever is home eats at the table but with older teens working some evenings and other stuff going on, there’s usually only a few nights each week that we all eat together. More often it’s 3/5 of us. We always find time to talk on the other days so we all know what each other is up to.

How to people navigate work/commute & dcs early eating times?

I don't judge anyone that can't regularly eat around a table, doesn't even own one. Every family has a different lifestyle and whilst I value it and would want it for my family I can see why it doesn't work for everyone.

You can always do catch ups and chats on the morning commute to school before bed etc

No

Just to add - DS has great table manners, despite us not eating at the table very much. Knows how to behave in cafes and restaurants.

Not very often nowadays, due to work patterns and activities etc. but we all communicate and get on pretty well and the DC (teens) know how to behave when we eat out or with company.

usually, but not always

Ther is only me and the dog but I eat meals at the table because it's more enjoyable, more comfortable, less chance of getting my clothes messed up, better for my digestive system.