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Parenting
littlemermaid
member
S/O...Mom I judged at dinner today
littlemermaid
member
in Parenting
After reading that post of the mom who ignored her child to look at her tablet throughout dinner...
How many of you sit down at the dinner table to eat dinner as a whole family(mom, dad, children)?
If you do sit down do you allow electronics, including phones at the table, and if you can view the TV, do you watch it during the meal?
My answer...We sit down every night as a family and eat dinner together. No electronics are brought to the table. My children are 11 and 8 y.o. so it's a good time to catch up on what happened at school and with friends. We cannot see the TV from our kitchen so that is not an issue.
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Re: S/O...Mom I judged at dinner today
We sit down together for dinner everynight. No electronics, not toys, we don't answer cell phones or the house line. If the business line rings we do have to answer it because it is still business hours on the west coast when we eat and can't risk losing an order:)
About 2 times a month we have a 'special' dinner night and all eat together at the coffee table for a living room picnic and watch a movie.
Dinner at the table as a family nearly every night. TV off and no toys of any kind allowed at the table.
Every once in a while we will have a picnic dinner on the floor of the family room and watch a movie, but it's far from a regular thing.
DS - December 2006
DD - December 2008
We sit at the table most nights. The only electronics on is DH's phone to pandora for music. Occasionally we'll eat in front of the TV, but more times than not we sit together.
Before DS2, we constantly sat in front of the TV for dinner. But now that M is here and sits in a high chair, its easier for us to eat at the table.
My answer...We sit down every night as a family and eat dinner together. No electronics are brought to the table. Our kids are 10, 8 and almost 2. We cannot see the TV from our kitchen so that is not an issue.
This, only we eat and watch a movie once a week.
We eat together 1-2x per week with DH. He's always working M-F nights. Saturday is usually dinner out or pizza ordered, and Sunday dinner with him.
The kids and I typically eat together, TV off, no electronics/toys. Occasionally we'll skip 'dinner' and have fruit/veggies and popcorn in the LR on the air mattress to watch a movie....that's maybe 1x/month. And probably 1x/week it's a chaotic mess and I don't sit down with them - I'll eat after they're in bed.
The TV is in view of our kitchen table, and it is typically on for breakfast (they seem to eat in a wave (Ben, then Nat, then E&G), about half the time for lunch.
Not yet, but we will once the baby gets older.
Right now, she eats at 5pm and goes to sleep between 6:00/6:30, so until her bedtime/dinner time is a little later--we aren't eating dinner at 5! Plus my husband many nights gets home from work at 6:30.
Growing up we always ate together as a family. TV was only allowed at the kitchen table on the weekends. That was a strict rule (and it was only for the news anyway) However, if there was a breaking news story--I do remember having the tv on during the middle of the week.
We did have a LOT of movie nights where we would camp on the couches, floor of the living room with homemade popcorn and a fire going in the winter. I loved those nights.
I need to do better at eating with the kids. Dh's schedule is all over the place. We all eat at the table for dinner together about 3-4 nights/week. No electronics at the table ever.
The other 3-4 nights I sometimes eat with the kids or usually I'm serving the 3 kids the whole time. The baby needs something cut up, can't give her a lot at once or she shoves it all in and chokes. Kids need more to drink, clean up a spill, I'm on my feet for most of it. If it is a DH work night I get home with the kids from work/daycare at 5 and the baby goes to bed at 6, so it's a race to get her dinner and bath before she's screaming.
A lot of times I put her in the high chair and start giving her things. By the time the other kids' dinners are ready, the baby is done, the kids sit down and I'm off doing the next thing with the baby while the kids needing more of this or that.
I either eat when the kids are in bed or not at all.
Occasionally, though, I'll sit at the computer and eat while the kids are at the table and DH has called me on it. It's a lot more comfortable and I need downtime.
We all eat dinner together as a family every night. No tv, toys or other distractions.
We have a tv in our kitchen and I let the boys eat their breakfast at the counter and watch morning cartoons. I usually stand on the other side of the counter and talk to them or I am emptying the dishwasher or doing other things. I don't usually eat breakfast with them since I am up well before them.
I work outside the home, and even with our very busy schedule, we make it a point to eat dinner every single night at the table. I cook dinner every single night. It is the way I was raised, and it's the way we are raising DD. We talk about our day, and it's maybe a half hour, if even, but it is so important.
Pretty much every night. No TV or electronics.
Recently, it's been just me and the kids, b/c MH has been working late, but he usually gets home as we're finishing up so we all sit with him while he eats. Or I'll clean up while he eats and sits with the kids and talks to them about their day.
We quit family dinners over a year ago when DS was 8 and DD was almost 2. We got sick of food battles at the table, bribing them to take "one more bite", lecturing to stop talking with food in your mouth, and begging to Just try one bite, you'll like it!!!
Most nights, DH and I will eat together. DD is the pickiest eater in the world so she's usually already had a yogurt or PB&J for dinner. DS will eat anything so we give him the choice to eat with us, make himself something else or just eat later on. Sometimes, he'll eat at a friend's house or invite a friend here. Usually, we'll let the kids watch tv while they eat.
We aren't a busy family, DH gets off work at 3:30 and I work from home. We have plenty of other opportunities for family time. We don't use dinner time as family time.
There is no "norm" for us. Largely due to DH's job. The 2 weeks he's home, we try to eat together. The two weeks he's working - often times DS eats "alone" (I sit w/ him).
Most of the time, it's at the table w/o TV/ electronics. But occasionally I put the TV on when it's just DS and I.
~Benjamin Franklin
DS dx with celiac disease 5/28/10
We eat together every night. No electronics allowed.
It's usually me and the kids at the table. MH can never get home early, well maybe once a week.
No, I don't like electronics at the table though I will let them play if we are out to eat and waiting sometimes.
We do eat together as a family (me and the kids) every night. We can't see the television from where we sit and I don't allow the kids to bring anything to the table. However, I have been known to FB from my phone or use my Kindle while they are eating. Not every day, but fairly often.
I don't feel bad about it. I'm a single mom with no help. Dinner is the only time I have them both contained in one room together and their mouths are full of food instead of talking. Doing something I enjoy during those rare, quiet moments is sometimes the only thing that keeps me somewhat sane.
Kelly Monaghan's 5K - 5/15/11 - 3rd Place in AG
Walk the Talk 5K - 5/18/11 - 31:12 PR
Ridley Run 3.1 - 4/14/12 - 1st race of the year, 32:45
Very similar to the bolded part. MH sold his business and consults about 4 hours a day mostly in the mornings, so he's home a lot. We spend family time in a lot of other ways, but I do let them watch nick jr while they eat if they want.
I want to know about the Mom you judged.
Even electronics heavy families I know don't allow electronics at mealtime. I don't allow any books either because ML will spill any open container within a mile. Two of my sisters have the TV on when we eat over there (well, one recently moved, and the TV is no longer viewable from the breakfast table, but it is on in the other room), but I can't tell if that's because we're there or if that's their norm.
I really hate talking over noise, and it would just drive me nuts trying to talk over games and/or the TV, especially during meals.
ETA: Actually, maybe you'd judge me. H usually checks his email during breakfast on weekdays, but that's so he can eat with us, rather than checking in his office. I did the same when I WAH. When you WAH, you like people in the office to know you were logged in by a certain time.