Hey, Grandpa, What's for Supper?

@gtdoss (1013)
United States
August 18, 2022 5:46pm CST
I just happened to stumble on some videos from Hee-Haw, where everyone says, "Hey, Grandpa, What's for Supper?" and then he'd go on to describe his menu of mouthwatering meats, veggies, breads, desserts, and drinks, in a kind of rhyme. If you want to see what I'm talking about, just copy and paste the title of this post into YouTube and the right videos should come up. Anyhow, it made me think about how, when I grew up, most families ate their suppers at the table together. We've always done that with our kids, too, including this very day. Our sons tell us that it's kind of unusual nowadays for the whole family to eat supper together, that their friends don't do that. But to me, it's a way to catch up with everyone without gadgets and devices in front of their eyes (not allowed at the table). Full disclosure: After my parents got divorced (I was 5), my dad, his wife, and their family used to eat in front of the TV on TV trays. When I would go and visit, that was kind of depressing to me, because I wasn't used to it. How about you and your family/friends? Do you all eat at the table together, or do you eat separately? Jozef Israëls, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
10 people like this
9 responses
@sol_cee (38219)
• Philippines
19 Aug 22
We still do and I always tell my kids no smartphones on the table
2 people like this
@gtdoss (1013)
• United States
19 Aug 22
Awesome! It's an excellent example to set for your children!
@snowy22315 (180805)
• United States
18 Aug 22
We used to do that. It is a nice time for all to gather together.
2 people like this
@gtdoss (1013)
• United States
19 Aug 22
My kids are 22 and 25, and we still do it, LOL! I can only hope they continue this tradition when they have their own families.
@LadyDuck (471421)
• Switzerland
19 Aug 22
We always had our meals all sitting together, not at noon, because my father did not come home for lunch, but in the evening we always sit at the table together. My niece still does with her small family.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (471421)
• Switzerland
20 Aug 22
@gtdoss - In Italy (where I was born and grew up) and here in Switzerland families still sit all together to have their meals.
1 person likes this
@gtdoss (1013)
• United States
19 Aug 22
I have the feeling that a lot more people our ages did sit down together for a meal, but maybe people don't as much these days? It's nice to know that one young family (your niece's) does this, though
1 person likes this
@gtdoss (1013)
• United States
20 Aug 22
Oh, I really like that!
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137259)
• United States
19 Aug 22
I watched Hew Haw when I was a kid. It was one of dad's favorite shows. And yes, I do remember Grandpa telling what he was making for supper. Pretty and I didn't have room for a dining table in this house when we moved here four years ago. I gave our dining room table and chairs to the guy that bought our rental house along with two televisions we didn't have room for here. (This house is less than half the size of the house we were renting for over 22 years so we had to do something with an awful lot of our possessions... Most of them were donated to a thrift store here in our city. *shrug* Someone might as well benefit from us moving. As a kid, my family gathered at the kitchen table for all meals. The television was turned off until dad was done eating and he turned it back on. In our last house, Pretty and I, along with any visiting friends, at at our dining room table. In this house, Pretty and I make our plates and go to our separate bedrooms to eat.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137259)
• United States
19 Aug 22
@gtdoss True... I've been her only parent basically since she was 5 years old. When I received full custody of her, her mom couldn't use her against me anymore, so ignored Pretty after that. It was sad. Pretty tells people she doesn't have a mother.
1 person likes this
@gtdoss (1013)
• United States
19 Aug 22
Oh, how sad! But at least you are a wonderful father to her.
1 person likes this
@gtdoss (1013)
• United States
19 Aug 22
But, judging from your other posts, you and Pretty have a very close relationship, and that's what it's all about!
1 person likes this
@Deepizzaguy (102927)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
18 Aug 22
Due to the small kitchen my relatives and myself eat in separate rooms.
2 people like this
@gtdoss (1013)
• United States
19 Aug 22
Well, that can't be helped if you have a small kitchen. Our kitchen is pretty large, even though our home is small, and we have a table in the kitchen that we eat together.
1 person likes this
@RubyHawk (99405)
• Atlanta, Georgia
19 Aug 22
I raised three boys and we always ate at the table together.
1 person likes this
@RubyHawk (99405)
• Atlanta, Georgia
20 Aug 22
@gtdoss That’s right. Kids are at school and parents are at work. Supper time is the most time the family has together.
1 person likes this
@gtdoss (1013)
• United States
19 Aug 22
Sometimes that's the only time a family has together to talk about important things!
1 person likes this
@RebeccasFarm (89873)
• Arvada, Colorado
19 Aug 22
I love that pic..painting!! Yeah it is barbaric the way families are today..at least to me and that includes us here just myself and my son..but see I was raised to eat at the table..oh not here..no table, I wound up selling it as no one would sit at it.
1 person likes this
• Arvada, Colorado
19 Aug 22
@gtdoss Haha good on your husband
1 person likes this
@gtdoss (1013)
• United States
19 Aug 22
I do hear a lot about kids growing up and not wanting to sit at the table anymore to eat. I think that's the rule rather than the exception, to be honest. My husband does most of the cooking in our house, and he's a superb cook. So if my grown boys want to eat a delicious supper, they have no choice but to eat at the table, LOL!
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (68084)
• United States
19 Aug 22
“Well I’s gonna have beans and I’s gonna have corn And I’s gonna have taters as sure as you’re born But I left the door open and Rattler and the pups Got in the kitchen and ‘et it all up” (Grandpa Jones, whenever someone would say “hey, Grandpa, what’s for supper?” at the Opry) We ate together. Im single now so it’s me and the iPad or the TV with a live sunset stream.
1 person likes this
@gtdoss (1013)
• United States
19 Aug 22
Those Grandpa Jones supper poems were so dang cute!
1 person likes this
@Dena91 (16634)
• United States
19 Aug 22
That is why we are as a society where we are nowadays, we stopped gathering together to eat and actually talk to one another. My parents divorced when I was a teen, but their marriage was over long before the divorce happened. Up until I was 7-8 we ate together. After that, it was everyone for themselves. Mike and I eat together, not always at the table though.
1 person likes this
@gtdoss (1013)
• United States
19 Aug 22
Yeah, I don't think a table has any special magic. It's the eating and conversing together and not doing other things during this special time.
1 person likes this