How Often Do You Sit Down for a Family Dinner?

[Shooby]

  Like most moms, I have always had great intentions.  But, it just seems that everyone is on a different schedule.  DD has basketball from 4 to 6.  My son has football practice until 7.  My other son has other activities going on.  And, with work and other assorted life things it seems to be less often.  And, when I do really push for it, my kids tell me I am acting like sitting down together is the "Last Supper" and that I need to chill, lol. 

[Otto the Orange]

almost never.........wife and I always have dinner on the couch watching TV (we have no kids)........so maybe 20 times a year max do we do a real "sit at the table" meal

the exceptions are when we have guests over or something

[Sum Dum Gai]

At least five days a week.

[Shooby]

Good job Dark!

[Sum Dum Gai]

Kids aren't in any fall sports. Despite the efforts of the PE teacher to recruit our older one for the travelling volleyball club. Ask again in the spring or summer.

[sarcasticgirl]

DH and I have dinner together just about every night unless one of us has plans with a friend and our fur beast is at our feet begging every night.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using proboards

[sheilaincali]

We sit down to dinner as a family nearly every night.  We also eat breakfast together nearly every morning.  Only exceptions are if DH goes into work early or is at work late or one of us has other plans.  But even if I am not home for dinner DH and DS will eat together. 

DS is 15 - we will rearrange our schedule to match with his schedule.  Tomorrow he has YIG (Youth in Government) at 6pm so we will eat early so we can all eat together. 

[swamp]

It depends on the kids activities 

[steff]

When kiddo was little, we did a sit down dinner together on whatever day was hubby's day off. (hubby works nights).  Now that kiddo is older, in college & working, we haven't had a family dinner since Mother's Day.  It's just impossible to get all 3 of us together at once right now.

Each week kiddo & I have a dinner out together and he & hubby also do a breakfast or lunch out together once a week.  So we're still making time to connect with kiddo one on one.  Hubby & I eat together on whatever day he has off each week. 

[whoisjohngalt]

Hardly ever, but I really don't care that much about "family dinners", so it's not a big deal to me at all.  We mostly do it for special occasions. 

[Deleted]

Oct 27, 2013 13:02:55 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

At least five days a week.

I'm not sure eating McD's on the floor of the shop with the kids & wife is supposed to count  


Fantastic for you and family that you really prioritize the time together!!!

I was never very good at that once they hit Jr High & HS ages.  Between their sports and me coaching something most of the time it was a difficult schedule when homework was in play too.  Reading school books while eating dinner at the table was pretty common.

Also had one kid that totally went off the rails at 15 & decimated 'family time' and 'family money' and anything else you can think of.  Sometimes I am amazed we all survived that phase.

[Sum Dum Gai]

I'm not sure eating McD's on the floor of the shop with the kids & wife is supposed to count

The whole family was there and we all ate together, I'm counting it.  Besides the kids will always remember eating at the store while construction was going on.

[marvholly]

When the kids were old enough to be up late enough (hubby was in sales and got home about 7 pm) we ate together every night.

As they got into sports we still mostly ate together unless there was a competition at a far school. For home competitions we attended & just went out after.

When they started working part time we still ate together at least 4x/week (nights they did NOT work + Sun brunch and/or dinner).

At one point I did notice a BIG difference w/kids whose families often ate together vs. those that did not. Talked to BIL & SIL (both social workers) about the differences. They said their casework experiences were pretty much the same.

[happyscooter]

If we were home, we all ate together.  It could have been 7:00 or 9:00, supper was on the table and we were sitting at it.  We also would not discuss any kind of subjects that would make someone mad or cause an argument.  (yeah I know, I'm mean).  If one of the kids got a bad grade on their homework or something, it was not discussed at that time.

You know, it's only 15 minutes.  We could sit and make idle chitchat for that period of time.

[mmhmm]

We always sat down to dinner when everyone was at home.  It was a time to exchange the events of the day and just enjoy one another.  As the kids got older, they had things to do, places to go, and people to see.  As a result, a lot of meals were taken "on the run".  Still, we managed dinner together most nights.

[Deleted]

The kids and I eat together every night. If DH is working late we'll sit and talk with him while he eats when he gets home. 
 
I am sure it's going to change when they get older and sign up for more activities so I am going to enjoy it while it lasts. Just like their thinking I am the Greatest Grown-Up in the World! 

[sheilaincali]

I only have less than 3 years left before DS leaves us for college (his top choice currently is 8 hours away from us).  So we will keep eating dinner and breakfast as a family for as long as we can.  It's a delightful experience. 

Today was a typical day- we had eggs and bacon for breakfast.  DS sat down and said "So Mom-goose, how did you sleep?"  then it was "What's on your schedule for today?"  that sort of thing.  Breakfasts are more subdued and calm with regards to conversation topics.  Dinner is much more spirited.  We talk about our day and then usually start telling jokes or discussing world events or history.  DS is a huge history buff so we hear a good bit about what they are currently doing in his History Club at school, what kind of progress his Robotics Team made that day, or a run down of how Knowledge Bowl practice went.

It's guaranteed conversation time with the kid and I love it.  Most of the time the conversations continue to the point that he helps clean up after dinner and will keep talking to us about his day, his friends, his life, etc.  Some days we even move to the living room and sit down and continue visiting or bust out a board game. 

Maybe that's unusual- I honestly don't know.  It's just what works for my family.  I'm going to miss that part of my day the most when he leaves us for college.

[Deleted]

Our kids are still young, so we don't have lots of activities. We sit down together pretty much every night. Sometimes one of us has a meeting.

I am of Italian heritage and food is very important to me.   Feeding someone is how you show you love them.

[Deleted]

Almost never here also unless we are eating out.

[Deleted]

We did much more often when kids were younger. Homeschooling, we get lots of time together, so I think the traditional family dinner loses some of its draw... I'll go with periodically at this point.

[Clever Username]

We sit down for a family dinner 7 days a week.
Simple, it's just what we do.

A few times during the week we'll have one or two kids missing at late dance class.
I miss some times, my wife misses some times, other times extra people join us.

It kinda helps that there's not really anywhere else to eat than the dining room table.

[Sam_2.0]

We go out 1-3 times a week, so we all sit together then. On the other nights it's about 50/50 whether we eat at the table (messy food) or eat in the living room (sandwiches). Our house is so little, though, that the dining room is the living room.

[sheilaincali]

Question for those of you that don't normally sit down to dinner together as a family-  Did you sit down to family dinner regularly when you were a kid? 

We did- every night.  It was just something we did.  Sports practices were always done around 5 so mom picked us up on her way home.  Dad would call when he was leaving the office to see if we needed anything- usually we needed Milk.  With 4 kids (7 years between youngest and oldest) we went through about a gallon of milk a day. 
All of us kids now regularly sit down to family dinner with our spouses and kids.  It's just how we were raised.  Even when it was just DH and I, we ate together at the table every night.  I guess I just grew up thinking that was how you ate dinner.  Wouldn't occur to me to make dinner for just myself and eat it in front of the tv or something like that.

[Deleted]

Oct 29, 2013 15:54:50 GMT -5 sheilaincali said:

Question for those of you that don't normally sit down to dinner together as a family-  Did you sit down to family dinner regularly when you were a kid? 

We did- every night.  It was just something we did.  Sports practices were always done around 5 so mom picked us up on her way home.  Dad would call when he was leaving the office to see if we needed anything- usually we needed Milk.  With 4 kids (7 years between youngest and oldest) we went through about a gallon of milk a day. 
All of us kids now regularly sit down to family dinner with our spouses and kids.  It's just how we were raised.  Even when it was just DH and I, we ate together at the table every night.  I guess I just grew up thinking that was how you ate dinner.  Wouldn't occur to me to make dinner for just myself and eat it in front of the tv or something like that.

I am the same, at dinner time the tv is off and you sit at the table. Its a time to converse and enjoy each others company. This is the way it was when I was a child as well.

Years ago I flew to Toronto to help out my brother with his children as his wife was in the hospital for a week.
He had, at that time, two young children age 7 and 5, both girls. The first day I was there I got reacquainted with my nieces then made dinner.

I set the table and had everything ready to go about the time my brother was expected home from work. The oldest girl, when she saw the table got all excited and her eyes grew large as she said "who's birthday is it?".   I was a little confused by her comment but after my brother came home and she said it again he laughed and told me that his wife never put dinner on the table unless it was a special occasion. Usually they would fill their plates in the kitchen then go sit and watch tv and eat dinner.

By the end of my week there we were all enjoying dinner together and the kids quite liked it. I had hoped my SIL would continue with it but sadly she didn't.

[Sam_2.0]

sheila - we always had dinner together. I would say we went out to eat maybe 5 times a year. Other than that my mom cooked and we all sat together as a family. But she was a SAHM and could start dinner at 4:30. Getting home at 6 with a toddler that wants to eat at 5:30 means I am usually setting her down with dinner in the kitchen or in front of the TV while I try to put something together for DH and I. But he is a picky eater, so half the time I end up making him a sandwich and make me something to share with Aly or make enough to take for lunch the next few days.

[Deleted]

We did a lot of eating at the table when I was younger I guess... Don't recall it being all that memorable or pleasant. 

I had a lot of weird food issues growing up... Particularly from about 11-16... It is wrapped up in the stepmother I had at the time. She left when I was 16... Hardly any table dinners after that... Lots more freedom, less food issues (till college) ... I've never thought if that's Influenced my not caring about the 'family dinner' ... Although, like I said, we did it more when they were younger... And I think it's more logistics, etc... 

[whoisjohngalt]

Oct 29, 2013 15:54:50 GMT -5 sheilaincali said:

Question for those of you that don't normally sit down to dinner together as a family-  Did you sit down to family dinner regularly when you were a kid? 

Yep, we did.  Every day, except some time on the weekends when my parents went out.

[Deleted]

Its just me & the cat now, so I guess we eat together most nights.  He got cheeky last night & decided my soup was his territory when I stepped out of the room to answer the phone . . . argh!!!!!

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

I think that family sit-down dinners should be done as often as schedules allow. It give the family a chance to re-connect and share/discuss what's going on in their lives - especially once the kids reach their teens.

We always had a pretty set time for dinner growing up - but the lifestyle back then was more 'traditonal' - mom at home, dad working a 9-5 job.

Even when DH and I were both working, the first thing we did when getting home was to prepare dinner and have a meal together - whatever time that might be. If we'd had kids, that probably would been more scheduled - but with kids today participating in more activities, or spouses working different shifts, it's a hard scale to balance - but it's still doable.

I think as much as possible in your household, you should try to have as many sit-down meals together in a week as possible - otherwise, the family loses touch with each other when they're all drifting in different directions and the next thing you know, the circle's broken.

Even after all these years of being an adult, my brothers and I (individually or as a group) still get together for lunch or dinner - it keeps the family tie united so we don't drift apart - and we can catch up on each others comings & goings. (We've always been a close-knit family - even if one of us was being an ass-hat now and then).

[happyscooter]

Anybody see 'The Blind Side' movie?  Remember how the family was eating in front of the TV for Thanksgiving until the mom noticed Michael sitting at the dining room table by himself. 

I hope that was a true scene and not something the producers thought would look good in the movie.