Family Dinner Table

Ok time for a pet peeve rant. What drives me nuts is parents who don’t eat with their kids. I guess I don’t have a problem with an occasional romantic dinner eating separately from the kids after they hit the pillow. We actually wait until the kids are in bed to break out the snacks that are strategically hidden in the cupboards.

What annoys me and actually brings me to some sort of discomfort is parents who will eat at the same time but in a different rooms and even different meals. What gets me more is eating at different times. I honestly believe a family that eats together stays together. I am sure you can prove me wrong on a few instances but I am a firm believer in this as a general rule of thumb…

I was reading in my local newspaper some outrageous statistics. Don’t quote me on this but it is like 80% of kids only eat dinner with their family on average twice per week. So my first reaction was well, at least 20% do more often. But I read further and realized the other 20% don’t eat with their parents at all. They eat alone while the parents are still at work or they just get their own food and eat individually whenever.

I know this shouldn’t bother me but it does. Families need to sit down together and eat. Sorry, I may be old school but this is important. Who here still makes steak, potatoes, and peas? Or maybe a nice chicken, rice, and corn dinner? A lot of people eat fast food or out at restaurants.

I don’t mind doing some of those things from time to time. In fact, I look forward to it. But people should generally eat with the rest of the family at a cleared off table.

What about you? Do you eat with your kids? Most times, some times, occasionally, or never??