Do you watch tv while eating dinner?

[AngryBird6122]

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!

Yep. No children here and no dining table so all meals are on the sofa in front of the TV.

I’m autistic and find formal sit down meals quite stressful for all kinds of reasons, so I reserve them for when I’m out in public, rather than in my own house.

No - DH and I eat at the table. DS eats at the table with us if eating the same as us but if not he has his in the living room watching tv. He’s 24 though! When he was younger we all ate at the table together.

If DH isn’t around I might have pasta or similar in front of the tv but I find it more comfortable to eat at the table. If on my own I’d have my iPad propped up and scroll MN.

I agree with this based on my own experience. Growing up we always ate our dinner on the couch whilst we watched the evening news, didnt even have dinner trays so you had to uncomfortable eat your dinner from the arm rests!

Dad worked most Christmases so not even Christmas Day did we sit at the table as a family. It was once in a blue moon when my grandparents stayed. It wasnt until I started having Sunday dinners with my in-laws I realised how lovely it was to eat at the table. We always eat at the table as a family. I still love my parents though!

Never. We always sit at the table. No phones allowed, either.

We don't have a table, so yes - usually! Or we eat standing round the island in the kitchen. Only the two of us though, no kids.

No, TV is in the living room and only junk food on special occassion is allowed.

We eat at the table and as we have serving bowls and pots on the table it wouldn't work anyway, I hate having my whole dinner plated in one go.

If I am on my own I may have the ipad/laptop on the table with me, reading the news or watching something but only for the time I eat.

Yes. Me and teen DS watch the news. Loads to talk about.

Don't people talk to each other anyway, and not just meal times? Do you all live in large houses and appear for food and scuttle off again? We can't avoid each other in this shoebox. Information and views aren't just shared when eating.

But great conversations can happen anywhere - you don’t have to sit and eat at a table every night for them to happen?

Twice a week we eat dinner and watch something. DD and I have a series we're watching and so do DH and DS, so we split up on Wednesdays to do that. On Sundays (sometimes Saturdays instead) we watch something as a family, occasionally a movie.

At the weekend we usually watch something at lunchtime. DH and DD go off to watch their series, and I let DS pick whatever he'd like on the TV, and watch it with him.

The rest of the time we eat at the table with no screens at all and just chat. We're happy with the balance.

Envious of anyone who has great chats at the dining table. Our dinners involve, having to call DC down more than once, listening to complaints about the food - even if they liked it last week, squabbles with each other, eye rolls from teen, slow eating or dramatic picky eating, telling DH off for feeding dogs under the table, followed by moans from the hard done DC about helping to tidy up or who’s turn it is to make a drink or get the pudding out.

My children are delightful, intelligent, chatty and funny and they help around the home but they are awful at dinner. Really bloody awful.

I’ve started to introduce tv dinners and accept defeat - it’s quite nice tbh.

We never eat at the tablet except on Christmas Day - or obviously if we go out for dinner / lunch, which we do frequently. We like eating on our laps on the sofa, watching Tv. It’s just more relaxing for us. It’s not like we never talk to each other, we talk to each other all the time and dc (13 and 22 now) have great table manners as we go out to eat out a lot. But we just hate eating at the table at home. I think maybe it’s because we all have autism and we like our own space and quiet and sitting staring at each other talking and eating can feel quite confrontational.

I watch Last of the Summer Wine along with my neighbour while we eat our evening meal.never a dull moment when that’s on.

@crappycrapcrap if you did want to try and improve things, then you could try buying one of those family conversation starter tins/packs- there’s loads out there- and then maybe just doing it once a week over pudding, or a weekend lunch etc.

If you’re enjoying the tv dinners though that’s fine- just thought i’d mention those cards and also the fact it doesn’t have to be all or nothing, in case it helped someone :)

As only the two of us, we tend to eat sitting on the sofa watching the news. If the kids are round, table. Did make me think just how much times change, as a child, we never ate anywhere but at the dining room table, breakfast, dinner or tea, all at the table

Every day at the table except Halloween! Then they watched a funny spooky show with sausages in buns before going trick or treating. It was also closer to the front door, so we could get up more easily and answer the door to little ghosts.

We have a TV in our open plan kitchen/dining room and it tends to be on as background noise.
We eat at the table and have lots of conversations and sometimes those are related to what is on the TV at the time - Monday night quiz night, the one show, various bbc 2 programmes which are often about travel for example

No, never. Even if I'm eating alone I sit at the table in the kitchen or dining room.
DC were never allowed TV on at meals and ate with us at the table.
I feel strongly that it's a part of the day to talk to each other and for children to learn how to eat and converse without needing devices whether phones or TVs as when you see children in restaurants with a device propped up in front of them .

No.

We never did growing up either. My parents were pretty laid back, but they were strict about eating at the dinner table together, so I’ve always found it a bit weird and uncomfortable eating with a plate on my lap whilst sat down watching tv (I’ve done it at friends houses growing up)

Even if I’m eating alone, I sit at the table.

No we don’t as a rule. We have a holiday home where we sometimes do.

We do now because we are an all adult household but when we had children we ate at the table with no TV .

Yes we watch a quiz usually, tea on laptrays on knees!

We all eat at the kitchen table. It's one of the few times in the day we come together as a family to talk about "stuff". We tried putting a TV in the kitchen once, but it only lasted about 48 hours as it completely killed any conversation.

I think it's important that children learn to sit and eat at a table, with all the correct table manners, and it's an opportunity for them to learn the art of conversation too.

We're all adults though so that makes a difference

No not usually. Sometimes as a treat on a Friday if we’re just having pizza or something. DC are 10 & 14 now, we never ate with the TV on when they were younger.

My Dd has SEN and finds eating at the table difficult due to sensory issues (especially smells). At the moment she eats in front of the TV, though sometimes manages the table. My Dh and I usually eat at the table. It’s not ideal, but it’s what works for now. Our kitchen-diner is open plan, so there’s no way to escape the cooking smells, which I think puts her off. she eats certain foods, she would get upset seeing our food.

If we move, I’d love a separate dining room. We spend lots of time together after school and in the evenings, as she’s a late sleeper, so she does get plenty of family time it's not like she's missing out on conversations.