to think it is just not necessary to have a dining table anymore?

[LDNmummy]

Traditionally it has always been the look of a good home to have a dining table, preferably with its own area/ room in a house for family gatherings.

But, with modern life as it is, I just don't think it is necessary to have one anymore, unless of course you genuinely use it at least once a week. But do most families anymore?

I don't know many families who still go through the process of sitting around the dining table every weekend let alone every day, possibly for the fact that it is a little extra effort people are not as formal about anymore and sitting together doesn't have to be around a table but even just in the living room watching the telly together IYSWIM.

Plus, houses are not always big enough to accomodate a large family sized table and some may just feel it isnt worth the hassle to cram one in.

I also think this about the large cabinets that traditionally housed all a households fine dining wear that would come out on special occasions.

Aren't these bulky pieces of furniture that take up lots of space and are rarely used outdated now except with older people?

My MIL has a six seater table in the living room that could easily fit eight diners but is used properly about once a year. Half the reason for that is that it is too big and has to be crammed against a wall so isnt convenient to sit around daily or even weekly anyway. She also has a very large display cabinet full of her best dining wear wich is only used when special guests such as family travelling from abroad are visiting, which is rarely.

She is about 60 and in her eyes these two items of furniture are essential to beautify a home as well as for practical reasons, which IMO is questionable. My DM and all the older women in my family feel the same way.

But isnt this just all outdated and unecessary faff a house can do without in a time when people are no longer as formal when it comes to situations such as dining?

[pollymere]

We didn't have one, until.We realized that we needed a table! Christmas was the catalyst but it was the start of a beautiful friendship. We rarely eat at it, but it's used for work, crafts, dumping stuff on etc..

[Blankiefan]

Breakfast and dinner every day at our table. DD is 3 and she's already learning how to socialise appropriately. Lots of "what did you do at work today mummy?", "any good snacks, daddy?"!

Also gets used when I work from home and for all messy craft activities (mostly painting).

[ourserendipitoushome]

We are at the tail end of a renovation, but previous to this, every night we sat down to dinner together. Even though we have been relegated to the front room, we still eat dinner on the sofas together. Can't wait to have my table back.

Except for Friday night, which is traditionally Aldi pizza or take away night- watching a family movie in the lounge (for anyone who is in).

It has been the best tradition we have kept to as a family. Of course, not everyone is always there for every dinner, but those of us who are- eat together.

The youngest child traditionally has the job of setting the table. We sit and discuss the day, or clear the air of family issues, discuss politics or just mess around.

No tv, no phones, no screens. Just chatting around the table, breaking bread (so to speak), looking each other in the eye, and talking.

We will continue with this tradition when our dining room table is back in it's rightful place.

I wouldn't have passed this tradition up for anything.

[PortiaCastis]

Christmas dinner ?????

[PopFizz]

We have a small house (two bed terrace) and we have a table . We eat as a family round it two or three times a week. Otherwise it's on the sofa/kids at coffee table. We use it for homework and laptops as well. I bought it about eighteen months ago (children are 10 and 8) and didn't realise how much I'd missed one until I got it.

And you need a proper table for Christmas dinner surely?!

[Lagirafe]

Our table is essential and I only allow food at the table. Also no TV during meal times.

[Memoires]

I do what my parents did. We have a large table in the kitchen where we eat, entertain, spend most of my time in there tbh. We have a dining room which is rarely used - only when there will be too many people to fit in the kitchen, or they are too 'posh' or something to keep in the kitchen!

Tbh, if the kitchen were too small I would rather have everyone eating off their laps in the sitting room than eating in the dining room!

[Luluandizzy]

I have a tiny house so only room for a tiny table in the kitchen. I still sit and eat meals with my 15 month old son at it. I think it teaches structure and good manners. X

[Allaboutcalm]

My dining table is where I sit with the kids to do crafts, homework etc and it's used every evening for dinner so we actually talk to each other and find out how each other's day has gone. I think there's enough time sat zoned out in front of the telly without adding meal times to it. Nearly all our communication about important issues happens at the dining table where we can sit and look and each other and actually listen without the distractions of TV, phones, tablets etc. I couldn't imagine my home without it. 😳

[Assamteaformeplease]

We eat most of our evening meals at the table as a family , breakfast and lunch are usually separate so could be anywhere. Tv meals as a family are a treat , not the norm . I think a table is essential but does not thave to be formal, in its own room, if you don't have the space .

[cherrybath]

We've used a dining table ever since we had kids and hate trying to eat meals balanced on our knees. Even our adult children all have homes that have a proper table for meals. Meal times (particularly supper) are such an important family time, often the only such time in the day.

The only times we didn't use a table were when (pre-children) we lived in homes that were too small for a table of any kind.

I should add that I agree that a formal dining room is certainly not a necessity today, the space is better given over to something else unless you have a very large house.

[worrierandwine]

Our dining table is a very small one that fits in a nook in our kitchen but it still seats 4 people and we use it every day for most meals. I think sitting around the table as a family is a very important part of the day and would never be without a dining table. I don't however have a special display cabinet for crockery (I don't have anything special enough) and I don't see the need for a formal dining room but each to their own. I prefer a more open plan arrangement with a dining table and maybe a breakfast bar type kitchen island...but now I'm dreaming

[trulybadlydeeply]

We need our dining table as it's where we change 7yr old DS3's nappy. He's too heavy and long for a changing table and it saves my back by not doing it on the floor. We eat our meals at the kitchen table though..

[MammouthTask]

Blue I agree, we do that too. But it isn't sharing stuff with everyone in the family together. It's more of 1-1 or 1-2 type of thing, not the whole family together.
mind you my dcs are clearly older than yours so no bath time for us anymoren or playing in the den. Which means that the times when we ARE talking together, esp with teenagers, needs to be engineered and implemented in such a way that they can NOT escape. Meal time is a good way (none of them would ever miss meal time lol!)

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

Thank you suzy.

[suzybe]

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius
I can't remember exactly what was said but it was to do with sitting upright when a lot of people apparently curl up or slouch. Mind you I don't go for a stroll after meals either which was also recommended at one point. It probably depends on the individual but sitting at a table was supposedly the best thing to do.

[IsItGinTimeYet]

We have breakfast at the kitchen table but dinner at the dining table. I like it and see it as essential for us as a family.

[aifai]

That's interesting. I don't know any family who don't use theirs, my children and I use ours for every meal

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

Why is eating from plates on your lap bad for the digestion, suzy? I don't think my posture is that different to when I am sitting at the dining table, and I don't notice any more incidents of indigestion after eating off my lap than after eating at the table. Though I do understand that that is just my experience, anecdotes are not the same as data, and there is probably scientific proof that I am unaware of.

[dailymaillazyjournos]

I'm single and live on my own and I end up eating every meal out of a bowl on the sofa. I use the table for crafting, wrapping presents etc, but only eat at it when I have guests. I wouldn't be without it though and definitely when dd was at home meals where at the table. Aw I get older I have got rid of a lot of stuff and my few rooms are very simply furnished. I don't begrudge anyone their big display cabinet but it's not for me. I'm late 50s and my friends are.nearly all in their 60s and I can only think.of one display cabinet amongst us.

[suzybe]

I wouldn't be without mine. Eating from plates on your lap is bad for digestion and often messy on the furniture. If you haven't got room for a large table there are always those with drop flaps which take up hardly any space and can be used half open or fully extended. Definitely an essential as far as I'm concerned for chat, games, homework etc. and teaching table manners like waiting for everyone to finish before leaving the table and not running around like lunatics.

[NotCitrus]

We used to eat meals at the table until toddler ds got so upset by every meal that we had to let him eat in a different room - he's now been disagnosed with autism but the only thing most people notice is his very restricted eating. So the dining table isn't used much for meals but is against the wall used for party buffets, meals for me and dd sometimes, special meals, and shedloads of painting and activities and things. DP doesn't get home from work until 8pm if he's in the office, so the children need feeding earlier.

We do go to Pizza Express and cafes quite a bit so the children can practice their nice table manners (and then use them on the grandparents!).

[Troika]

We eat all our meals sat at the table! Can't imagine not having a dining table!

[TheEternalForever]

We eat our evening meal together at the dining table every evening, unless we're having a takeaway (which is a pretty rare treat). We also tend to eat lunch at the table if we're in. I'm not sure I know many people who don't eat dinner (at least) as a family around the table.

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

Almost every day starts with me sitting at the dining table, with the paper and my mug of coffee - it is the most comfortable place for me to read the paper and do the puzzles in it.

We do eat most of our meals in the front room, with the plates on our knees, but from time to time, we eat together round the dining table - and we enjoy it.

Even if you always eat informally, not at a table - what do you do for special occasions? Christmas Dinner, or having people over for a meal? Even ds3, a typical teenager (19) who would eat every meal in front of a screen of some sort, laid the table and did a more formal meal when he entertained his girlfriend on Valentine's Day.