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Do you watch tv while eating dinner?

225 replies

AngryBird6122 · 03/10/2025 10:10

We do.
Our table is in our living room and we can see the tv from the table(it's quite a big room) although I tend to eat on my lap on the sofa (dc have to sit at table)
eg yesterday we all watched Wednesday - probably not the ideal dining company as it was a gruesome episode!

OP posts:
AnnaQuayInTheUk · 03/10/2025 10:12

No. We eat at the table, TV is in another room. Occasionally at lunchtime I'll watch the one o'clock news on my phone while eating lunch.

I hate eating on my lap.

lovenotwar149 · 03/10/2025 10:13

no , we eat at the table

BadActingParsley · 03/10/2025 10:14

Most of the time it's just me and DH so we've got in the habit of a tray and sitting on the sofa and watching something non threatening and easy that we both enjoy. Very occasionally if it's something very messy we'll eat at the table in the kitchen. If we have people round then we eat at the table.

Breakfast and lunch at the kitchen table though.

Comedycook · 03/10/2025 10:15

Yes we do... usually in the living room on our laps but if we eat at the kitchen table, we have a TV in there too

Drivingmissrangey · 03/10/2025 10:15

If we’re eating as a family it’s always at the table. No tv, often some music on.

During the week we have dinner after the kids are asleep and we have it in front of the tv.

EerieDecorations · 03/10/2025 10:17

If I'm on my own I sometimes prop my ipad up in the kitchen to watch, DH tends to head to the living room if he is eating alone. Sometimes we eat in the living room with a pizza to watch a film. But generally we eat in the garden or kitchen where there isn't a TV.

GasperyJacquesRoberts · 03/10/2025 10:17

If it's dinner with the DCs then almost always the TV is off. The only exception is a very infrequent pizza-and-a-movie treat.

If I'm on my own then I do sometimes eat in front of the TV but I'm more likely to read a book instead.

MidlandsGal1 · 03/10/2025 10:18

Most of the time yes. Kids will sit at the coffee table, myself and DP on the sofa with trays.

We rarely use the dining table.

ApolloandDaphne · 03/10/2025 10:19

It's just me and DH at home now so sometimes we watch TV and eat, sometimes we sit at the kitchen breakfast bar and sometimes we sit at the dining room.

Kitchenbattle · 03/10/2025 10:19

No we eat at the table or the breakfast bar depending on what’s going on.

twistyizzy · 03/10/2025 10:20

No never. Meals always eaten at table with TV off. Phones also banned from the table.

rainbowstardrops · 03/10/2025 10:20

When my children were younger, we always sat at the table. They’re in their 20’s now and it’s fairly rare that the three of us are in together for dinner, so we sit with our dinner on our laps watching something together on the TV.

Ddakji · 03/10/2025 10:23

Only if DD wants to watch a movie at the weekend. Not as a usual thing.

Bringitonicancope · 03/10/2025 10:23

When my son was growing up we always ate at the table. We used the meal time to talk to each other and it was a real opportunity for him to talk about what was going on in his life and any school related stuff.

Now I'm by myself I eat sitting in my arm chair and watch tv or a film . Or listen to the radio or a talking book.

I don't think eating sitting in an armchair is good for digestion because of the posture. And certainly family meal times talking to each other is one of the things I'm nostalgic for.

Snugglemonkey · 03/10/2025 10:34

The vast majority of the time at the table, but we do have pizza in the lounge whenever have movie nights.

MiddleAgedDread · 03/10/2025 10:36

if i'm on my own i tend to have the TV on and eat at the table or sofa depending on what it is (pasta type things are easy to shovel in one handed with a fork off a lap tray). if DP is here then the TV is off and we talk.

pinkspeakers · 03/10/2025 10:36

No. Only if we get a takeaway on a Friday night, then we tend to watch a film. But that's a very rare event and almost non-existent since the kids left.

Having said that, I have to confess that I sometimes take my dinner to the sofa and tv on the rare occasions that DH is away. It's not something we do when we're together.

When I was a teenager, we quite often had our dinner in front of the tv, because otherwise we would miss Eastenders!

DancingwiththeEuropeans · 03/10/2025 10:38

When the children were little food was banned from the living room where the TV is, so no, all meals were at the table which is in a completely different room. Now they are teens we will occasionally have dinner in front of the TV in the living room as a treat, eg sometimes when watching Gladiators - it will usually be buffet-type dinner, pork pies, salad, Scotch eggs etc.

FurForksSake · 03/10/2025 10:40

I will prepare my shield now.

yes, dh and I eat in the lounge in front of the tv. The kids eat in the kitchen at a table in front of a different tv.

I can’t sit in a chair at the moment and have persistent pain so I sit with my legs propped and surrounded by pillows.

We have a separate dining room and a very nice table, we just don’t use it very often. I find eating with the kids very overwhelming and overstimulating when I am capable of it so this works for us.

Sundays we would typically sit up together in the dining room.

I often think we should go back to the dining room when I am capable and listen to gentle music and spend time together eating. But to be fair we do spend a lot of time together on hobbies and driving to hobbies and just chatting so it’s not like we never speak.

Ahwig · 03/10/2025 10:44

When my son lived at home we ate properly at the table. “ no you can’t eat off a tray in front of the tv, like everyone in your class does “ Then he grew up and moved out and err mum and dad just might eat off a tray in front of the tv😀

OneNewLeader · 03/10/2025 10:45

No, never.

Twoshoesnewshoes · 03/10/2025 10:46

No! And I didn’t as a child.
sometimes the kids would have movie night and have pizza and snacks in front of the TV, but generally, supper is at the table, no TV, no phones etc.

Shutuptrevor · 03/10/2025 10:49

Disclaimer: not aimed at those with illness or pain or special needs etc, but in general I find this thread quite sad tbh. We’ve had hundreds and hundreds of great chats with our kids across the dining table; it’s where all our best conversations have happened.

If everyone’s under the weather or we’re doing movie night etc we’ll occasionally do easy meals like pizza in front of the TV but otherwise no- table all the way.

yonem · 03/10/2025 10:54

No, we eat at the table. We have a combined living room/dining room but it’s a long room that was knocked through from two and you can’t really see the tv well from the dining space. We often have the radio on though.

I don’t like eating from my lap, I find it uncomfortable - am I the only one?

ShesTheAlbatross · 03/10/2025 10:54

Never with the DDs.

Sometimes if it’s just DH and me.

Pretty much always if it’s just me.