To live without a dining table??

[inmyshoos]

Can't fit in a dining table in our new house. We have a massive corner sofa and it barely fits in itself. Aibu to just sit there and eat? I really love a table, feels weird not having one. Have even considered weird coffee tables that convert to dining tables but they look weird as heck.

Will I desperately miss a table? Aibu to think we can live without one?

Our dining table is old and cost 50 quid second hand, our sofa was 3k.

[Tw1nset]

I like our dining table and with children it is useful for homework, games and craft but the MN judgement on this thread is very funny

[NoIDontWatchLoveIsland]

Serin so true.

[NoPainNoTartine]

@Hellotheresweet

*Another one for it depends on your children and their age. Mine are 8 and 5 and to ensure proper eating , table manners etc they have to eat at the table for all food. I can see however if it is just adults it might well be doable.*

Doesn’t really make sense to me. Why teach your children something but then never do it yourself?!

because the adults have already mastered it?

I could have lived without a dining table in my 20s: was at work all day, out most evenings anyway, and friends met in pubs, restaurant or bars after work, I couldn't have care less. My table manners were fine

It's not snobbery to say that I haven't got the same lifestyle anymore, and not having a table would be an absolute pain in the ass. My kids eat at the table, friends or family coming over eat at the table too. I wouldn't want not to have one.

I can't imagine having to go to a restaurant as the only place for the family to sit for a meal together. On which planet is that considered weird?

[Tw1nset]

As much as I think a dining table is important I can't imagine choosing one over a sofa. I have lived in places with no room for a permanent dining table. We did however have fold down tables but we mostly ate on the one small sofa we owned. That was pre children though

[randomsabreuse]

I have a 5 year old and a 2 year old - eating on the sofa would definitely be very grim... Older kids, about about 8 or so not so much but currently would be grim. Bad enough sweeping the floor in the kitchen!

[Laiste]

Due to knocking the house about we had to spend 2 years without a dinning table (having previously had one for the last 20 years) and it was bloody horrible. Horrible. It was while DD was 4 and 5 and i felt really shit about her having to eat off a tray every meal :(

Got it back out of storage a year ago HOORAY and my goodness - every single time we use it (eating/homework/craft work/wrapping presents/writing/work paperwork/taking things apart/spreading out building plans/ dumping the shopping / --drying random items on the backs of the chairs) i'm thankful for having it back again.

[Genevieva]

Our kitchen table is very much the centre of the family home. All meals, arts and crafts, homework... you name it, it happens at the kitchen table. I would sell the sofa and get a little one that enables you to keep a table. Also sofas are fine for lounging around occasionally, but they are no good for posture. I think. you will end up with back ache.

[SlightDrizzle]

@Pikachubaby

I thought most people ate on the sofa

Whenever you see people at home, on TV, they usually eat on the sofa

What programmes do you watch, though?

[windmill26]

@Europilgrim

I'd sell the sofa rather than go without a table tbh
Me too.

Same

[audweb]

@randomsabreuse

I have a 5 year old and a 2 year old - eating on the sofa would definitely be very grim... Older kids, about about 8 or so not so much but currently would be grim. Bad enough sweeping the floor in the kitchen!

I have a seven year old and no dining table. It’s more grim. Why do people think eating on the sofa with a small table is more grim and messy than on a dining table? It’s never been grim. Why would it be?! I don’t have carpet in my living room, it’s easy to give the floor a quick sweep of mess (very early) is made.

I have a small flat, and I’ve had to squeeze a small table and office chair in for working from home as well. My child has a desk in her room to do homework.

The judgement on this thread is amazing. You know sometimes people end up living in flats and small houses where space is at a premium, alongside money and living without a dining table is not the end of the world, and nor does it lead to children being unable to function or eat properly?

[JamesMoriarty]

I got rid of my dining table, never used it. We have a breakfast bar with chairs rather than stools that we use instead.

[Laiste]

DH's hernia induced heart burn problems got very bad during the two years we had to eat while sitting on the sofa.

He had scans and extra pills and everything.

A week after getting the table back his pain improved massively. Unless you sit on the edge, bolt upright, (and who wants to do that!?) then a sofa doesn't put you in a good position for your stomach to receive a main meal.

[Ginfordinner]

We don't have have and it's bliss!

IMO “bliss” is such an overused word on mumsnet. What is blissful about sitting hunched over your dinner while on the sofa, and being worried about spilling food on it?

I need to sit upright at a table so that I don’t get indigestion, so it isn’t “snobbish horror”, but comfort. I can’t see that sitting on a sofa cutting up a steak on your knee or eating a roast dinner with lots of gravy is more comfortable than sitting at a table. Or do people only eat foods that are easy to eat while on a sofa? Do they never have friends round for dinner?

I can’t imagine eating Christmas dinner on a sofa. It sounds a bit joyless TBH.

I realise from when we replaced our sofas a few years ago that they are much bigger and deeper than they used to be, and IMO it is quite unnecessary.

In the OP’s case I would just buy some adjustable tables that can be used while eating on the sofa.

[randomsabreuse]

My 2 year old is the really grim one, scatters stuff, deliberately puts stuff on the floor, accidentally knocks stuff everywhere 5 year old not so often but would probably poke disliked stuff down the side of the sofa to hide it if she thought she could.

Occasionally I have tried indoor picnics, always regretted them.

DH and I happily ate on the sofa pre DC, if we didn't have space for a "proper" table we'd have one for the kids to eat at, with hard/flat chairs to sit on. Or a low table/sitting on the floor option. Sitting on something fabric with cracks, gaps and creases is a recipe for stuff in crevices. I also dislike "fabric" dining chairs - much prefer wipeable stuff with the kids at the ages they are!

[IntermittentParps]

Smaller sofa.

While I love dinner in front of the TV, I also love sitting round a table, whether with people or on my own. I couldn't do without one.

[SlightDrizzle]

I think everyone understands that space is at a premium, @audweb. But unless you are actually living in a tiny bedsit I once lived in, where you could fry an egg sitting up in bed, the place was so small, what most people are saying is that it’s not that you do not have space, you’ve just prioritised different furniture in that space.

Most people who say they don’t have a table to eat at seem to have prioritised a sofa.

[Winterwoollies]

I don’t think it’s snobbery to think that teaching kids how to sit and behave during a meal at the table, and not having them slopping food and filth all over the sofa, is important.

My brother’s kids never eat at the table and when we do (did) go out for family meals, they require constant behaviour checking and iPads to keep them sitting down and quiet. My sister’s kids eat at a table for every meal and behave beautifully because they’re used to it. They can also make conversation with adults as they all eat together. My sister me kids are younger.

I don’t think it makes me a snob and I know which kids I’d rather be with when out.

[Sonofapizzaman]

How many times do you walk into someone’s house and they don’t have a sofa though? People saying they’d have a table over a sofa are being a little disingenuous I think.

[doodleygirl]

I honestly thought it was an urban tale that nowadays families sat on the sofa to eat their meals, and children on the floor! I think that is grim.

When I split from my ex, DD and I rented a small place so we used a small folding table. Took no time to set up. Dont get me wrong she would often have a bowl of cornflakes sat on the sofa but the majority of our meals we used the little fold up table.

[GrandTheftWalrus]

I'm neglectful as well then. I don't have a table nor do I have the room for one. Not even a folding down one (where do the chairs go?) But dd still has manners and can use a knife and fork fine. And yes we will have Xmas Dinner on our knees and I can't wait.

[PandemicPalava]

We have a fold out table which sits against a wall. It's ok but we end up with dinner on our laps most of the time. We like being able to fold it out when people come over though

[Ginfordinner]

People saying they’d have a table over a sofa are being a little disingenuous I think

I agree. I spend more time on the sofa than at the dining room table.

[madcatladyforever]

I have a dining g table but its covered in my crafts in various stages of being painted so unusable. I have a nice little side table I pull up to the sofa to eat off and it folds away when not in use.

[CherryBlossomTree7]

I would want a table as well as a sofa.

Can you not get a slim one that goes against a wall with two chairs on the side facing the wall and a chair at each end? There's a lot of houses around me that I see on Rightmove and people tend to do this, especially if their staircase leads off the lounge.

I think you'll definitely regret not having a table. You do need to eat at it sometimes and it's so useful as a desk or for children's activities.

[Tw1nset]

@doodleygirl

I honestly thought it was an urban tale that nowadays families sat on the sofa to eat their meals, and children on the floor! I think that is grim.

When I split from my ex, DD and I rented a small place so we used a small folding table. Took no time to set up. Dont get me wrong she would often have a bowl of cornflakes sat on the sofa but the majority of our meals we used the little fold up table.

I don't think you genuinely thought it was an urban tale? Are you locked in the late 19th century with Jacob Rees Mogg?