With my ds1, we did not eat together as a family until very recently (I know - very bad parenting). However, we all eat together now (me, dh, ds1 who is 4 and ds2 who is 14 months). I love it and it is great for them both. However, we did have to teach ds1 things like asking to get down from the table when he is finished; waiting for dessert until everyone is ready, etc. These are easy to teach as he is 4, but I am struggling a bit with my youngest. I want things off on the right foot now - not to have to put up with bad behaviour at the table until he is 4 and then teach it.
One of the main problems with him is that he sometimes starts really whiney screaming and throwing things. We do say no, but generally to no effect. Tonight we had enough and each time he did it, we put him on the floor in the hallway. He did not like this one bit and cried and screamed and came back to us. When he stopped crying we put him back in the highchair. He started to get the idea at the end.
I read somewhere that you can't ever make children eat, so don't even try that battle. BUt you can make them sit at the table with you and behave nicely. So, what do you expect of your children at the dinner table (and what age are they) and how do you go about enforcing it?