# When family’s ate together.



## Pappy (Oct 19, 2017)

Reminds me of our place at supper time. Mom expected everyone there when it was time to eat. And, not an IPhone in sight.


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## terry123 (Oct 19, 2017)

We always ate together and when my kids were home we did also.  It was nice as no phones in sight.


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## Wren (Oct 19, 2017)

I recently saw a TV programme which showed many families don’t even own a table these days, preferring to eat off their laps with the kids eating off plates on the floor, just another nail in the coffin of family life.....


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## Aunt Bea (Oct 19, 2017)

When I was young we always ate supper and Sunday dinner together, the television was off!

Then along came those metal TV trays my mother bought at the green stamp store and it's been downhill ever since!!!


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## CeeCee (Oct 19, 2017)

At home we always ate every meal together at the table...no TV.  That's the way I also raised my family, up to a certain point.

I think we started straying from dinner at the table when my kids had different after school activities and my husband traveled or came home at different times.

Both my kids still have dinner at the table with their families for the most part, not always easy and the TV is on usually but at least they try.


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## cobham (Oct 19, 2017)

Yes same here, hard to get family together on weekdays coming in all times.  Then there were the picky eaters (husband a main offender )  and 'special' meals  and the vegetarian daughter.  Fussy son was always difficult to feed, yes mealtimes could be quite a battleground!


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## jujube (Oct 19, 2017)

There were two courses on my mother's dinner menu: "Eat It" or "Go Hungry".  And, barring special circumstances, the "Eat It" had better be at the table with the rest of the family. There was no wandering in and eating whenever you got hungry.  You got hungry when she SAID you got hungry.  

I remember Sunday dinners.  We got home from church about 12:15 and dinner was on the table by 12:30.  My mother left stuff simmering on the stove or in the oven when she left for church, so it was hot and ready when we came home.  She'd race in the door, take off her dress to keep from being spattered and finish the cooking in her slip (except when we had company, natch).  There'd she be standing at the stove, in her slip but still in her high heels and usually she'd still had her hat on (of course, slips were quite modest back then.)  We'd tease her about it unmercifully.  She'd always say, "Do you want to eat or do you want me to put on a fashion show???"  She'd put her dress back on by the time we sat down at the table.


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## CeeCee (Oct 19, 2017)

cobham said:


> Yes same here, hard to get family together on weekdays coming in all times.  Then there were the picky eaters (husband a main offender )  and 'special' meals  and the vegetarian daughter.  Fussy son was always difficult to feed, yes mealtimes could be quite a battleground!




Yep, that took the enjoyment out of cooking for me...loved it when it was just one meal for everyone, then somewhere along the way everybody wanted something different.


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## SeaBreeze (Oct 19, 2017)

My mother did all the cooking, so when the meal was ready we all ate together, except for my father who was sometimes not home for mealtime due to work.  No TV on, we just ate and talked a little bit together.


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## Aunt Bea (Oct 19, 2017)

jujube said:


> There were two courses on my mother's dinner menu: "Eat It" or "Go Hungry".  And, barring special circumstances, the "Eat It" had better be at the table with the rest of the family. There was no wandering in and eating whenever you got hungry.  You got hungry when she SAID you got hungry.
> 
> I remember Sunday dinners.  We got home from church about 12:15 and dinner was on the table by 12:30.  My mother left stuff simmering on the stove or in the oven when she left for church, so it was hot and ready when we came home.  She'd race in the door, take off her dress to keep from being spattered and finish the cooking in her slip (except when we had company, natch).  There'd she be standing at the stove, in her slip but still in her high heels and usually she'd still had her hat on (of course, slips were quite modest back then.)  We'd tease her about it unmercifully.  She'd always say, "Do you want to eat or do you want me to put on a fashion show???"  She'd put her dress back on by the time we sat down at the table.



I miss those Sunday dinners and the seemingly endless boring Sunday afternoons when I was a kid.

I grew up in an area that observed the Blue Laws so not much was open on Sunday, we either stayed home or visited relatives that lived in the area.


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## Trade (Oct 19, 2017)

Aunt Bea said:


> I miss those Sunday dinners and the seemingly endless boring Sunday afternoons when I was a kid.
> 
> I grew up in an area that observed the Blue Laws so not much was open on Sunday, we either stayed home or visited relatives that lived in the area.



My "family" was pretty dysfunctional for most of my childhood. So my memories of meal times consist of things like making a couple of bologna sandwiches by myself.


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## Pappy (Oct 19, 2017)

Aunt Bea said:


> I miss those Sunday dinners and the seemingly endless boring Sunday afternoons when I was a kid.
> 
> I grew up in an area that observed the Blue Laws so not much was open on Sunday, we either stayed home or visited relatives that lived in the area.



Adults talking and I just sat there watching my two aunts drinking Utica Club beer and adding salt to the beers. Ugh....like beer, but no salt.


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## jujube (Oct 19, 2017)

Aunt Bea said:


> I miss those Sunday dinners and the seemingly endless boring Sunday afternoons when I was a kid.
> 
> I grew up in an area that observed the Blue Laws so not much was open on Sunday, we either stayed home or visited relatives that lived in the area.



Unless there was some sort of activity at church in the afternoon, we often went for a drive in the country (remember just "driving"?) so my mom could buy some produce from a stand or we'd find a creek to wade in.  Then there was a stop at the A&W Rootbeer drive-in for rootbeers all around.  Then back home in time for supper (leftovers from Sunday dinner) and back to church for CYF and evening service.  After evening services, some of the teens would go go-karting or bowling or skating.  So, Sundays weren't _too_ boring.


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## Ruth n Jersey (Oct 19, 2017)

When I was a child we always ate together. Once in awhile as a treat I was allowed to eat my dinner on a TV tray and watch Howdy Doody. I usually missed him because he was on during our dinnertime. My Mom would be at the kitchen table with my Dad having their dinner. I was a poor eater back then and every few minutes my mom would yell, "are you eating in there?" It went on through the entire program. We also ate as a family after I was married and my daughter does the same with her family. The only difference is when they eat. We had a very set time for our meals. My daughter eats when they all get hungry. I mentioned that to her once and she says that I live by the clock and I'm not spontaneous. I suppose that is true. Can't teach an old dog new tricks.


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## NancyNGA (Oct 19, 2017)

My father worked the 6 'til midnight shift 6 days/week at a factory, all the time I was growing up.  When school was in session,  I rarely saw him except at dinner and on Sundays.  We always had a sit down meal, around 4:30.  My mother was a stay at home mom. 

In the summers they were usually busy working on some project, either together or separately, and for years my dad had another part time job installing storm doors in the day, so it wasn't a whole lot different.  

I've been sitting here trying to remember a single thing that was ever said at dinner, and I can't.  We just got it over with ASAP.  Meals were just not that important an event in our house.

:shrug:

I've continued that tradition.  I eat whenever I get hungry (or bored ).


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## Marie5656 (Oct 19, 2017)

*Loved the family dinners.  I do miss them.   If you watch the show Blue Bloods, the multi-generational Regan family has family dinner every Sunday.  I miss that.  Sundays were the special dinners in our house, but we all ate in the kitchen every day.  Holidays were in the dining room, of course.  No television, and the phone went unanswered.*


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## Granny B. (Oct 19, 2017)

As a kid we always ate at the dining room table, or occasionally at the kitchen counter.  Not good memories, really, more sad.  If Dad came home from work in a bad mood, that is when he would start yelling at us or Mom for whatever irritated him at the moment.  It was quite a stressful way to eat (and live).


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## jujube (Oct 19, 2017)

We ate most weekday meals at the kitchen table, because the dining room table was usually loaded with school projects like someone's half-finished Eskimo village diorama or a smeary chart of the relationships between the characters in some English novel.  If we were _really_ lucky, it was a science fair project and was in danger of exploding at any minute.

But Sundays......Sundays, all that had to be stowed somewhere else and we ate in the dining room.  Grandma and Grandpa were always there and quite often visitors.  If it got too crowded, the kids were shunted to the kitchen table where we could chew with our mouths open and throw food at each other without getting smacked (my mom had a six-foot "boarding house reach" and nobody was safe from the long arm of the law.....)


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## Butterfly (Oct 20, 2017)

jujube said:


> *There were two courses on my mother's dinner menu: "Eat It" or "Go Hungry".  And, barring special circumstances, the "Eat It" had better be at the table with the rest of the family. There was no wandering in and eating whenever you got hungry.  You got hungry when she SAID you got hungry.
> *
> I remember Sunday dinners.  We got home from church about 12:15 and dinner was on the table by 12:30.  My mother left stuff simmering on the stove or in the oven when she left for church, so it was hot and ready when we came home.  She'd race in the door, take off her dress to keep from being spattered and finish the cooking in her slip (except when we had company, natch).  There'd she be standing at the stove, in her slip but still in her high heels and usually she'd still had her hat on (of course, slips were quite modest back then.)  We'd tease her about it unmercifully.  She'd always say, "Do you want to eat or do you want me to put on a fashion show???"  She'd put her dress back on by the time we sat down at the table.



Same way at my house.  No excuses for not showing up at the dinner table except, well, possibly, barring your own death. You ate what was put before you or did not eat.  Part of that was because sometimes, particularly when we were little, my family didn't have much money and what we had was what we could afford.  Another part of that was that, as my father pointed out once when we were teenagers, "your mother is not a short order cook and this is family dinnertime."  By that time, money was not really a problem, but we were still expected to respect the fact that our mother had gone to all the trouble of preparing the meal and we were to appreciate both that fact and the fact that there was food in the house to prepare.

Everyone was seated at the same time and left the table at the same time, unless you were excused early for some reason, but that was rare.  We couldn't eat and run.  We had to have decent table manners, as in "please pass the potatoes" instead of reaching for them, no elbows on the table, etc.  If the phone range during dinner, we were not allowed to answer it, much to my chagrin when I was a teenager hoping my boyfriend would call. 

All this sounds a bit grim as I write it down, but it wasn't at all.  It was just the way we were expected to behave as members of a family, and I think we have lost a lot in the near disappearance of the family dinner and its reminders that we were part of a family unit, with all the rewards and responsibilities that that entailed.


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## Iodine (Oct 20, 2017)

My poor mom was a hoarder (it wasn't called that back in the 50s) so our tables were usually piled high with stuff for years on end.  We sat on the couch or a chair that didn't have something on it and ate on our laps.  But from what I've heard from friends some family dinners were just time for one or both of the parents to rant and yell at the kids.  So I never felt I missed out on a lot anyway.  Until I was 13 and we got TV and I watched Leave It To Beaver or Father Knows Best.  That type of life would have been great.


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## Butterfly (Oct 20, 2017)

Iodine said:


> My poor mom was a hoarder (it wasn't called that back in the 50s) so our tables were usually piled high with stuff for years on end.  We sat on the couch or a chair that didn't have something on it and ate on our laps.  But from what I've heard from friends some family dinners were just time for one or both of the parents to rant and yell at the kids.  So I never felt I missed out on a lot anyway.  Until I was 13 and we got TV and I watched Leave It To Beaver or Father Knows Best.  That type of life would have been great.



Never any ranting or yelling at our family dinnertable.  Just stuff about how was your day or what we were going to do on Sunday, etc.


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## Iodine (Oct 21, 2017)

Butterfly said:


> Never any ranting or yelling at our family dinnertable.  Just stuff about how was your day or what we were going to do on Sunday, etc.



Of course Butterfly, a lot of families had a nice meal time like you did.  I know of one lady who would cut an article out of the newspaper every day and read it to the family at dinner time and then they would all discuss it.  She did that even when one of her kids had a guest over.  I thought that was a nice idea.


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## JaniceM (Nov 5, 2017)

Iodine said:


> Of course Butterfly, a lot of families had a nice meal time like you did.  I know of one lady who would cut an article out of the newspaper every day and read it to the family at dinner time and then they would all discuss it.  She did that even when one of her kids had a guest over.  I thought that was a nice idea.



I recently read a book written by Jean Kennedy Smith-  JFK's sister-  and she said their mother did that:   pinned "interesting" newspaper articles to her dress so everybody would have something to discuss at mealtimes.


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## C'est Moi (Jan 4, 2018)

We always had dinner at the kitchen table.   Ours was a family of readers, so each of us brought a book to the table and read.       Not much different than staring at cellphones, I suppose.


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## debbie in seattle (Jan 4, 2018)

Have always ate at the table, no tv and no phones, except for pizza, etc.discussions were whatever.    After all these years, just my husband and I still carry on that tradition.


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## Pappy (Jan 4, 2018)

After we got our first tv, mom let me take my supper in the living room to watch my programs using a tv table.


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## Meanderer (Jan 4, 2018)

Change is good!


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## Lc jones (Feb 21, 2020)

Another oldie but goodie....


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## Ladybj (Feb 21, 2020)

When hubby is off.. we eat together.. no cell phone allowed.  The tv is on in the family room but there is still conversation.  When we go out to eat, the same applies, no cell phone allowed.


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## Sassycakes (Feb 21, 2020)

*Growing up my family sat in the kitchen eating our dinners. In the later years my Dad had a tv in every room including the kitchen and he loved watching "The life of Riley". Of course on every show William Bendix said "You dirty rat" and my Dad would get made. When I married and had children we all sat at the kitchen table for dinner and just talked about our days.*


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## Duster (Feb 21, 2020)

Growing up, our family always had dinner together at the kitchen table~everyday. Same for my husband's upbringing. 
Even though my husband worked a lot of shift work in the early years of our marriage, we managed to have a meal around the dining room table at least once a day. We've done this for the last 46 years~no t.v., no cellphones allowed.  This is family time to talk about our day.  If there is something you have to watch on tee vee, tape it and watch it later.  Eating dinner around the table with no distractions was something we also did when entertaining guests at our cabin.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the food and the conversations!
Though most of the time, dinner now is down to the two of us, we wouldn't trade our dinners together for anything.


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## Catlady (Feb 21, 2020)

When living with my parents, we always ate family dinners together.   After I got divorced, my daughter and I always ate at the table together.  When she had a family, each of them ate individually and at different times, I guess they ate takeout everyday.  I thought it was sad but after mentioning it a couple of times and getting dirty looks from her I didn't mention it anymore.  But, when I invited them I insisted we all eat at the table together, my house my rules.  I live alone, so I eat my dinner in front of the TV for companionship.


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## Marlene (Feb 22, 2020)

We always ate together at the table with no outside distractions.  No radio, stereo, or t.v. in the background because it was time to share our day with one another.  I followed through with the same tradition for my kids.  I have lots of great memories from all of those meals together.


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## JaniceM (Feb 22, 2020)

Marlene said:


> We always ate together at the table with no outside distractions.  No radio, stereo, or t.v. in the background because it was time to share our day with one another.  I followed through with the same tradition for my kids.  I have lots of great memories from all of those meals together.



Same here!!


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## Pepper (Feb 22, 2020)

We had one little TV, in the living room, and since it was connected to a roof antenna, it had to be by the window.  Because of the placement, it could not be seen or heard from the kitchen or dining area. I'm wondering now if it was the inconvenience that was the reason why we didn't watch TV when we ate.


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## Catlady (Feb 22, 2020)

Pepper said:


> We had one little TV, in the living room, and since it was connected to a roof antenna, it had to be by the window.  Because of the placement, it could not be seen or heard from the kitchen or dining area. I'm wondering now if it was the inconvenience that was the reason why we didn't watch TV when we ate.


No, I think it was because the dinner was ''family time'' and most families respected that.  After I divorced it was only me and my daughter and we still ate together at the same time at the kitchen table.  But, when she got her own family, the parents and the two kids ate wherever and whenever and ate out of the refrigerator or take out (mostly the latter).  I criticized them a couple of times and then shut up, not my problem.  When they were invited to eat here, I demanded everyone sit at the table like civilized members of a family.

I like watching ''Young Sheldon", the whole family and even the Grandma all sit together at the table and talk about their happenings.  It's sweet!


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## Aunt Marg (Jun 3, 2020)

Reading through all of the lovely posts sure does bring back a lot of memories for me.

Growing up, we assembled at the kitchen table for breakfast, lunch, and supper, but it's the suppers I remember most, and I can't shake the memory of summertime. Everyone's doors and windows open, mouth-watering delight wafting in the air, and that familiar call from mom... "_SUPPER_".

I remember it like yesterday, the entire neighbourhood (kids galore) would fall silent around 4:30 pm, because it was suppertime in everyone's homes, and I remember some of my favourite suppers were thinly sliced potatoes fried in butter in moms counter-top electric frying pan, or her pork fried rice dish, or hamburger patties served with potatoes and fresh tomatoes and cucumbers off the garden.

Then as quickly as the neighbourhood fell silent, the air was once again abuzz with the sights and sounds of all of us kids.

What a lovely walk down memory lane.


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## Keesha (Jun 3, 2020)

When I was younger and my mom wasn’t yet working, she made some good dinners and eating together could be enjoyable. Certain days like Sunday we’d always have roast beef with gravy , roast potatoes, homemade yorkshire puddings and either canned peas or corn. The Yorkshire puddings were so good but then there was liver & onions or shepherds pie . There was no talking allowed at the table though making it very formal like.

My mom had one of those manual meat grinders and she made everything from scratch. She made 3 fruitcakes a year, treacle toffee for Guy Forks day and Halloween and even made cakes all from scatch. There were times when we’d make a cake together and she’d let me lick the spoons. Those memories are etched into my heart.

It wasn’t long until she started working full time. I really missed her being home so would sometimes pretend I was sick so she’d stay home with me and she usually would and I loved it.  Some memories are truly magical.


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## Gaer (Jun 3, 2020)

Mother always made us kids a hot lunch. and every Sunday we would eat fried chicken with mashed potatoes, corn, biscuits and had chocolate cake for dessert.


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## Aunt Marg (Jun 3, 2020)

Keesha said:


> When I was younger and my mom wasn’t yet working, she made some good dinners and eating together could be enjoyable. Certain days like Sunday we’d always have roast beef with gravy , roast potatoes, homemade yorkshire puddings and either canned peas or corn. The Yorkshire puddings were so good but then there was liver & onions or shepherds pie . There was no talking allowed at the table though making it very formal like.
> 
> My mom had one of those manual meat grinders and she made everything from scratch. She made 3 fruitcakes a year, treacle toffee for Guy Forks day and Halloween and even made cakes all from scatch. There were times when we’d make a cake together and she’d let me lick the spoons. Those memories are etched into my heart.
> 
> It wasn’t long until she started working full time. I really missed her being home so would sometimes pretend I was sick so she’d stay home with me and she usually would and I loved it.  Some memories are truly magical.


OMG, yes... we enjoyed liver and onions and shepherds pie in our house, too! So good!

We never had the money for regular special Sunday dinners, but as often as mom and dad could afford it, we'd have a roast with Yorkshire puddings, and I can still smell the goodness of moms homemade gravy.


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## Keesha (Jun 3, 2020)

Aunt Marg said:


> OMG, yes... we enjoyed liver and onions and shepherds pie in our house, too! So good!
> 
> We never had the money for regular special Sunday dinners, but as often as mom and dad could afford it, we'd have a roast with Yorkshire puddings, and I can still smell the goodness of moms homemade gravy.


What about trifle? My mom made a wicked trifle. The inner cake would be drowning in sherry and gets tipsy from having it but I loved the cold custard with cream on top. And not that air light stuff, this was rich real whipped cream. I’ve gotten admit that I was great


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## Aunt Marg (Jun 3, 2020)

Keesha said:


> What about trifle?


No trifle, but I remember a great aunt of mine always making it. 

Squares, cake, pies, and cookies, were the norm in our house.


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## Keesha (Jun 3, 2020)

Aunt Marg said:


> No trifle, but I remember a great aunt of mine always making it.
> 
> Squares, cake, pies, and cookies, were the norm in our house.


We didn’t have desserts every day. They were for special occasions. Like snowballs for Christmas. My dad loved apple pie and my mom made some but she usually bought those or Sarah Lee cakes instead.


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## Aunt Marg (Jun 3, 2020)

Keesha said:


> We didn’t have desserts every day. They were for special occasions. Like snowballs for Christmas. My dad loved apple pie and my mom made some but she usually bought those or Sarah Lee cakes instead.


Very seldom did mom not having something for dessert for us, even if it was a bowl of store-bought ice cream, dessert in our house was sort of like a staple. LOL!


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