1/10 families NEVER sit down to an evening meal together

[Peanut89]

According to a recent survey...1/10 families never sit down to an evening meal together. I am writing a feature on the decline of family meal times and why it is we don't eat together anymore for my MA in Magazine Journalism. I was wondering what you guys thought about this? How often do you spend family time at the dinner table? Do you find other ways to have quality family time?

I really appreciate your input. Many thanks! Steph

My family (when I was growing up) never sat down for evening meals together and I don't think it had a negative effect on us at all. We are a close family and it seemed to work better for us to sit on the sofa and relax in front of the TV than have a regimented dinner time full to the brim of etiquette and "could you pass me the gravy, Father?"

That said, in my house currently, we eat around the dinner table. This isn't because I think it's better for the family, but because I enjoy the feeling of a "traditional" family dinner and I hope to maintain this in my house until I get too old to cook!

Have you a link to the survey Peanut?

We don't eat in the evening as a family at the moment because son (nearly 3) has his dinner at around 5ish and is in bed at 7, and we prefer to eat later when we can relax. When he's older we'll eat together, although I'm not bothered about it always being around the table, as long as it sometimes is.

DS has his fair share of meals out with us and family lunches though.

1/10 isn't so bad.

We always ate together at the weekends and still do - if they are around. But when DCS were younger they always ate first at 5ish as they were in bed by the time DH got home from work. I would sit with DCs while they ate though at the table, have a coffee and talk to them. .

During the week my DC have clubs in the evenings so they need to eat early. OH and myself eat later when things have calmed down. Saturday and Sunday we always eat together unless one of the DC has a party to go to.
Saturdays we sit in the living room and have a carpet picnic and sundays we sit at the dining room table. During the week the DC eat at the dining room table but OH and myself sit in the living room when we eat later.
When they get older we will be able to eat together in the week more often as they will be able to eat after their clubs as their bedtimes will be later.

We eat together most days at the table and especially at weekends, its my one thing I try to make sure we do even though DH and I both work full time I am lucky enough to get home each night between 4.30 & 5pm and we eat at 6 / 6.30pm, they are in bed at 8 / 8.30pm.
Its a marathon sometimes but I tend to make faster meals or use made ahead ones in the week and occassionaly the DC's are too tired and need an early night so they eat first & go to bed at 7pm.

this is the third thread you have started about this is it not?

crappy survey by Bisto. Means nothing.

we eat together and did so as a kid, but this eating together in the good old days is a myth.

my gran used to serve up dinner several times over the evening as different family members arrived home from school and work at hugely verying times. was the case for most w/c families. m/c families - the kids ate early, adults later.

We eat together at the weekends. No time in the week and Dh is rarely home at a sociable hour.

When I was growing up had a big sociable family tea on a Sunday but other than that meals were eaten in front of the telly as and when you were hungry.

we never eat together in the evenings - dc eat at 5 and then we eat at 8 when dh gets in from work. at weekends we often have take aways/eat out when the kids are in bed. no biggie.

we do however, eat breakfast as a family every day, and eat lunch together at weekends.

MA in magazine journalism? how odd.

wow - so 9/10 do. That's brilliant.