Thank you for dinner

[IgglePiggleTiddle]

Looking for an idea of what happens in other families please. Is it expected behaviour to say "Thank you for dinner" at the end of the meal to whoever cooked? I mean when it's just your household present, no guests? Or is it over the top to expect that everyday when you don't thank the person who does the dishes, or cleans the bathrooms?

We always say thank you in our house.

We generally say thanks when the food is brought out / plate handed over, that's our normal when given anything. If whoever cooked seems to have gone to a lot of effort I might say "that was lovely" or similar after eating it, but that's not every time.

We always say thank you to whoever cooked. Kids have grown up doing it.

We thank for meals and chores. And getting a cup of tea. Holding the door. Making a nice comment. Etc. Even thank Google Home for turning on the lights. Not always the specific words “thank you”, as someone above says - that would begin to sound rote and lose meaning.

I always thank the cook / buyer for dinner

We say thank you at the start of the meal when we sit down. The children say it too. I think that it is a nice gesture to acknowledge the effort that has gone in to prepare the food. The meal does not appear on the table by magic!

it was expected at my inlaws to thank mil and say how nice the meal was. If I didn't say anything I would get asked if I had enjoyed it. I found it annoying but I hadn't grown up doing this for every meal. Quite frankly it wasn't always nice and was underseasoned. We lived with them at that point and I just learnt to say it so as not to hurt her feelings. She never said thanks when sil or I cooked though. I would always say thanks for having us at the end of a visit though.

My dh having been used to saying thanks for cooking my meal does it to my mum whenever she visits. She appreciates it but also tells him that she doesn't expect him to say it. I saw her face brighten and thought to myself that she really does appreciate it so ought to tell her more and I do when I visit.

I think it's just how you are raised. My own kids are little but tell me when they have particularly enjoyed a meal and say thank you. Dh thanks me every day and I thank him when he cooks too and I do comment that it was yummy or could have done with more or less salt as does he.

Sometimes, sometimes it's just "that was lovely" or looks lovely or other compliments.
Usually the cook serves so "thank you" is naturally said when they pass you the plate

I'd never really thought about it before but my ds always thanks me for cooking and I always thank him for doing chores.

He also thanks me for lots somewhere.

It's just the 2 of us at home and he's 18 now so I think it's just become something we do!

Yes we are meal thankers here. I think because a meal cooked for you is enjoyable in that moment in a way that household tasks aren't?

I tend to thank the kids if they do chores. Me and husband sometimes acknowledge chores/household tasks but probs not as much as meals.

We don't do it til the morning. Evenings are for chilling here

Always say thank you for dinner here.

A thank you when you're given a meal is a must in our house.

My MIL (who is otherwise lovely) doesn't say it and when she came to stay it really bothered me! I just don't understand it!

My teens always say thank you to me for dinner. On the rare occasion that they cook I thank them.

I thank them for doing their chores too.

We always say thanks to the cook.

Always

I am Danish living in the UK my children were not raised to speak Danish.

They can all say "tak for mad' (Thank you for food- direct translation) it would be seen as the ultimate rudeness in Denmark to not do this. Yes its expected in put household even dh does it now.

If we are in English only speaking homes they know to say "thank you " for the meal too.

To me its aboit acknowledging the effort and time the meal took.

My DD always thanks me for her meals. I never asked her to, and always think ‘I’m a Mum, that’s my job!’ But she is very polite and I do appreciate her appreciating my cooking for her.

Manners cost nothing and I’m a stickler for them. My kids also show appreciation when I’ve decluttered/cleaned up in their room because they know damn well they’re supposed to keep it up to standard themselves. 😂 Yes sometimes manners have slipped but they are then reminded to use them. Things like cleaning the bathroom is different to me because I keep them at a certain standard anyway so my kids wouldn’t even notice if that makes sense. When I do a longer clean my kids often offer to help with little tasks such as emptying bins or dusting. They want me to continue to treat them to things so they know it’s a way to keep mum happy. ;)

My family say thank you for cooking every night before they start eating dinner.

The dc then regularly thank me after dinner (usually when I am putting them to bed) and tell me it was delicious.

We also thank whoever does the dishes (if someone does, we usually all do them together) and cleans the toilets, though.

In fact we thank everyone for everything we do for each other.

It's nice. It's not forced, we just like to do it.

Anyone cooks for me or does something for me I thank them.

I cook for anyone else, I expect a polite thank you in return.

I even thank the bus driver, and when someone brings me an order in a cafe or restaurant. Or holds a door open. Or at the end of a training session or yoga session.

At home when we do cleaning we both tend to do it at the same time and take a task each so we don't thank each other.

I never used to think about it until I met my DH, who always says Thankyou at the start of the meal or even if I just make a cup of tea. My kids say it now too.

Me and DH always say thank you to each other for cooking. We also say thank you for other chores - thanks for tidying, thanks for cleaning the bathroom etc.

This. Even when my 20-year old eats something that was cooked for him, he will without fail come and find us to say thanks for the food, it was really nice. Even if it’s a frozen pizza, he’d say thank you.

We always thank whoever cooked, and my children do the same. My youngest (17) will always add 'I love you' (he likes being cooked for). But then I'll always thank anyone tidying up too. Basically anyone doing anything for the greater good gets a pat on the back in my house. I just prefer people to feel appreciated for their effort.