As a kid, dinner consisted of three kids sitting around table with only the sound of clinking of chopsticks and spoons against our Corelle dishes to break the silence. Honestly, I can’t remember a single conversation over dinner that was noteworthy, but then again, I tend not to dredge up the past very often. I definitely think that dinnertime at our house was a caricature of what a stereotypical Asian dinner looked like. Kids were seen, but not heard. And much of the conversation was in Korean and, sadly, I don’t speak Korean.
As a teen, it was just my father and I. Stepmother #1 was long gone, my father had started dating and my brother and sister had moved out of the house. I spent a lot of dinners reheating leftovers and eating alone. To this day, I can’t believe I am still fond of spaghetti and burritos.
Nowadays, I am not so insistent about sitting around the dinner table. Paige and I eat at the table about 60% of the time. Sometimes we zone out and watch a movie while we eat. Sometimes I am working late and Paige makes something for herself and eats alone. Sometimes we go out and have someone else cook for us for a change. It’s a total crapshoot. A mixed bag. But it works for just the two of us and I don’t think we would be any closer if we sat around the table every single night while we ate our spaghetti and burritos. It’s inconsequential for us.
So do I think that eating together is sacred? Sure it is. But I also think there are plenty of other ways to be “present” with your kids. In the car, at night when you are snuggling or over an ice cream cone – just listen and you’ll be surprised where the conversation takes you.
Here’s what Heather Armstrong from Dooce, Mindy Roberts from The Mommy Blog and I have to say about eating together as a family:
PS. Thanks for your patience and well wishes. I will get back into regularly posting when my head is on straight. The last three weeks have kicked my ass.
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, BlueHost, Freshbooks and OpenSky may take you a purchase page of a company where I am a member of an affiliate program. As a result, I will often get a small percentage of the revenue or a commission off of something you have purchased. I am not otherwise paid to link to these sites, nor do I link to any products that I don't actually use or covet in real life. On the rare occasion I accept payment to review a product, it will be duly noted in its associated post.
