Family Meals

By all means, everyone should sit down together, and eat dinner, and other meals even if it is a snack ( if all possible ) This is something I pride myself on. We sit down 5 nights a week and eat dinner together, and talk about our days. Some of our best laughs has come from the dinner table. Although my two preteen girls tried to complain about it once or twice, it was something I would not give in on. We will have dinner together ! They didn't bother trying again to get out of it. Matter of fact, they tell me now that they enjoy it, and I can tell they almost look forward to it. Plus, they have told me that none of their friends sit down and have dinner together with their family, and when they come over here, they think it is a neat thing, and wishes their family would do the same. My step daughter moved back in with us after being gone for 3 years, and she even said she missed dinner family time, and now looks forward to dinner. She is fixing to move out again, and I don't know what she is going to do. Oh yeah, it also is a good thing when I decide to try out new recipes. If we don't like it, we can laugh about it, and still eat it. lol. Dinner time has become our family bonding time, along with a occasional late night snack.

Hello. In my household or most of the Filipino households practice the tradition of eating together not just once a day but always during meal times. It is an old tradition and this tradition shows how closely bonded we are with our family members. I'm not sure about the others but for me, it is important that a family eats together. It is only during meal time that you can talk freely, without stress and without the feeling of animosity since meal time is suppose to be a relaxing experience. It is enjoying the meal while enjoying the company of your loved ones, too. About the food? It is of no issue since we serve at least two dishes per meal.I always see to it that the dishes I serve will always something that both my husband and children like.

Families should always find ways of eating together. This is actually one of the easiest ways to bond together. I don't think the kind of food served will matter. In our household, we eat different types of food in a meal. Even to the point that some buy take out foods, some cooked their own or others just have coffee or a glass of juice. The important thing is that we eat and drink all at the same time :)

Thanks for this discussion, probably you are from india, you must be aware of joint families, mine is one, so we eat the meals together, yes tastes differ, keeping in view my wife and daughter in laws cook meals.

You mean their food is the same and should eat all the same menu?? It depends, what if that family can't afford different kinds of food? well, they don't have other choice but to eat it and forget about the tastes and need food for that matter as long as their stomach is full... If the family can afford, well, its not a SHOULD, it depends on the family member to eat whatever they want. That's what I observed about other families, But, for me, I don't mind the food served in our table as long as we eat together. Eating together with your family feels great, it can strengthen your bonding and lead to a happy family.

Definitely, atleast once a day. Its an important part of the day because everybody gets the chance to talk to each other about how their day went, the experiences maybe even share problems or needs. Plus its fun catching up or just chatting with your mom and dad and siblings. Share the love through family meals ya'll.

i think it is important for families to eat together at least once a day to connect as a family and to discuss the events of the day.

Well, we do. We make it a point to eat breakfast and dinner all together. It's the best time to know what are their plans for the day and what happens to them within the day in school and work. As to the dishes, I only cook meals that is always favored by the whole family like asking them during breakfast what they want for dinner. My children are still on their teenage years so they come home straight from their school. I know this routine will change if they will finish school and find job, but I will make sure that we can eat all together even on weekends.

i think so yup & i gotta agree having eatting together bonds them more to each other different taste then eat at your own time xD or make it a buffet all the time :D pretty awesome dinners hehe

As a family we eat supper every day together at the same time every day and you better have a good excuse to not be there. I make meals and they eat what I put on the table. This is the time of day when I find out all that has happened in my childrens lives for the day and any problems they may have or just conversation period. I feel that this is a must for family unity and sanity. And at the end of the day I know my family has had a good balanced meal.

Family should stay together and eat together until they are mature enough to have their children and family of their own. If you're a family, each and everyone of you as a member knows what the other person likes when it comes to food. So, if the other member has a budget to spend his/her own food, then the better. But, as a parent, mother knows best for their children.

i envy those families who have the luxury of eating 3 whole meals together in a day. i have school children and a husband who works far away from home so we can only have at least 1 or 2 full meals together. of course we try to make up for lost time during the weekend when everyone is at home. we start our meal with a prayer and the rest is just wonderful. i beleive that it is worth anybody's time to listen to what everyone has to say. my kids spend almost 10 hours at school and i'm sure so much has happened during the day and its just nice to hear from them what happened. regarding the food, i sometimes find it hard to prepare dishes because i am no expert cook and my children have different tastes. but i do try to cook at least 2 dishes and cook 1 which would most suit everyone so that we will all enjoy our food and each other's company.