@LittleBearPad Do I know who’s eating dinner in my house, yes. It’s mad, I know, but I talk to my family. Do I call everyone down to dinner and then serve and all eat together around a table, also yes
Thats fine. You obviously have a household that all gets in and plonks themselves down (and knows what they are doing), before you start dinner. Mine isn’t like that, esp Thur/Fri/Sat nights. Even between starting dinner and finishing our numbers may well change - change of mind, change of plan, an extra who has come to pick someone up deciding they may as well score a meal if it’s going. It’s not a case of ‘not talking to your family’, as you so smugly put it, but logistics of a large adult family, with young people, under one roof (everyone either at uni or saving for huge deposits to enable affordable repayments). I’m not imposing a rule everyone has to make a decision at 5 and stick to it, if they get a better offer at any point, good for them.
As for the all sitting around the table (with the warm plates with salad on), again, I’m not making anyone do anything. Last nights example. Those who were in and hadn’t already eaten before getting in, sat on the lounge and watched a show together while eating, except one who put their pasta bake into a bowl and ran it up to the bathroom where they ate it while continuing with hair and make up before going out. Seemed sensible as other options were stuffing lift around if not ready, or having to spend money on food while out. The rest of us in no way felt, by not all sitting at the table together, that we don’t love each other or whatever other ridiculous nonsense you are ascribing to people, food, tables. Mon to Wed you are likely to find most of us sitting around the table as most are in at dinner time those days and the table feels a more natural fit those days, as opposed to telling people they must sit there every day irrespective. It’s not like we only love each other half the week though …………..