Do YOU eat at your dining room table every day?



cathyxyz wrote:

> Sorry - all the talk about using good tableware reminded me that we
> actually have a dining room table ;)
>
> We usually eat in the "family" room. I can remember as a kid that my
> Mom used to lay the table properly for *every* meal. She still does.
> Only time we use ours now is for HIgh Days and Holidays...

On Sundays we always have breakfast and dinner in the dining room.
During the rest of the week we are lax and often eat in the family room
watching the news.

I have three brothers and when we were kids we always ate in the dining
room, and my mother always had candles.
 
Goomba38 wrote:
> Jude wrote:
>
>> We have dinner together as a family - me, my BF, and our 9 year old
>> daughter - most nights. House rule is that dinnertime is in the
>> kitchen (don't have a dining room) at the table. Sometimes we have
>> music on but not too loud - I was raised on the belief that 30
>> minutes of socializing at the dinner table was an importtant family
>> activity. No gulping down your food in 3 bites and getting up; we
>> all had to be at the table for half an hour, eat slowly with good
>> manners, and have a chance to talk about our days together.
>
> This is how I was raised also. And NO TV on!!! That is the death to
> conversation. I worry that kids nowadays aren't getting very much of
> this family dinner time and what they're losing down the road?
> Goomba

Absolutely! NO TV. We didn't have one anywhere near the table, be it in the
kitchen or the formal dining room. Now, however, without children in the
house, my parents eat at the kitchen table and there is most definitely a
television. I guess after almost 57 years they just don't have that much to
talk about ;)

Jill
 
cathyxyz wrote:
> Sorry - all the talk about using good tableware reminded me that we
> actually have a dining room table ;)
>
> We usually eat in the "family" room. I can remember as a kid that my
> Mom used to lay the table properly for *every* meal. She still does.
> Only time we use ours now is for HIgh Days and Holidays...
>
> Cheers
> Cathy(xyz)

The only time we eat at the formal dining table is when we have guests.
I would like that to change but I am outnumbered and resistance is
futile. ;) DS eats in his high chair, I usually eat standing up while
managing him, and DH eats in his office (working), in the kitchen next
to us, or in the bedroom watching a movie (we have sort of a theater
set-up). We are pretty non-conventional types when it comes to
formality. ;)

-L.
 
cathyxyz wrote:
> Sorry - all the talk about using good tableware reminded me that we
> actually have a dining room table ;)
>
> We usually eat in the "family" room. I can remember as a kid that my
> Mom used to lay the table properly for *every* meal. She still does.
> Only time we use ours now is for HIgh Days and Holidays...
>
> Cheers
> Cathy(xyz)
>

sadly, we don't anymore, David and I eat in the living room.
If I make a nice meal or something I'll set the table with candles, so we eat
at the table maybe once a month.

--
..:Heather:.
www.velvet-c.com
Step off, beyotches, I'm the roflpimp!
 
"-L." <[email protected]> hitched up their panties and posted
news:[email protected]:

>
> cathyxyz wrote:
>> Sorry - all the talk about using good tableware reminded me that we
>> actually have a dining room table ;)
>>
>> We usually eat in the "family" room. I can remember as a kid that my
>> Mom used to lay the table properly for *every* meal. She still does.
>> Only time we use ours now is for HIgh Days and Holidays...
>>
>> Cheers
>> Cathy(xyz)
>
> The only time we eat at the formal dining table is when we have guests.
> I would like that to change but I am outnumbered and resistance is
> futile. ;) DS eats in his high chair, I usually eat standing up while
> managing him, and DH eats in his office (working), in the kitchen next
> to us, or in the bedroom watching a movie (we have sort of a theater
> set-up). We are pretty non-conventional types when it comes to
> formality. ;)
>
> -L.

As I posted earlier, 90% of the time we eat in the den on TV trays. The SO
usually gets home really late in the evening. He's usually tired, hungry
and wants to relax, eat and watch a movie. The dining room is seldom used
and quite frankly, I'd like to convert it into kitchen space. It'll never
happen but if wishes... On days we're both off, we usually set the kitchen
table and eat in the kitchen. And sometimes we do Chinese carry out and eat
it just about anywhere right out of the cartons with chop sticks ;)

Michael

--
“It requires a certain kind of mind to see beauty in a hamburger bun.”
_Ray Kroc, creator of the McDonald's franchise
 
Dave Smith wrote:

[...] and my mother always had candles.

So do we... but it's not for aesthetic reasons - it's cos we have
plenty power cuts ;)

Cheers
Cathy(xyz)
 
"jmcquown" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Goomba38 wrote:
>> Jude wrote:
>>
>>> We have dinner together as a family - me, my BF, and our 9 year old
>>> daughter - most nights. House rule is that dinnertime is in the
>>> kitchen (don't have a dining room) at the table. Sometimes we have
>>> music on but not too loud - I was raised on the belief that 30
>>> minutes of socializing at the dinner table was an importtant family
>>> activity. No gulping down your food in 3 bites and getting up; we
>>> all had to be at the table for half an hour, eat slowly with good
>>> manners, and have a chance to talk about our days together.
>>
>> This is how I was raised also. And NO TV on!!! That is the death to
>> conversation. I worry that kids nowadays aren't getting very much of
>> this family dinner time and what they're losing down the road?
>> Goomba
>
> Absolutely! NO TV. We didn't have one anywhere near the table, be it in
> the
> kitchen or the formal dining room. Now, however, without children in the
> house, my parents eat at the kitchen table and there is most definitely a
> television. I guess after almost 57 years they just don't have that much
> to
> talk about ;)
>
> Jill

Jumping to old-marrieds rescue! DH and I have so much to talk about we have
to interrupt each other to get a word-in. When he goes to CT without me,
the cell phone is on fire!
Maybe your parents are just getting another topic from the news!
Luckily we mostly agree on events on the news, but we still sing to the
choir.
Dee Dee
 
"-L." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> cathyxyz wrote:
>> Sorry - all the talk about using good tableware reminded me that we
>> actually have a dining room table ;)
>>
>> We usually eat in the "family" room. I can remember as a kid that my
>> Mom used to lay the table properly for *every* meal. She still does.
>> Only time we use ours now is for HIgh Days and Holidays...
>>
>> Cheers
>> Cathy(xyz)
>
> The only time we eat at the formal dining table is when we have guests.
> I would like that to change but I am outnumbered and resistance is
> futile. ;) DS eats in his high chair, I usually eat standing up while
> managing him, and DH eats in his office (working), in the kitchen next
> to us, or in the bedroom watching a movie (we have sort of a theater
> set-up). We are pretty non-conventional types when it comes to
> formality. ;)
>
> -L.
A dining room may often look formal, but it doesn't have to be, except in
one's head. If one thinks of a dining room with the standard set up and
everything laid out perfect, then it will be formal usually in your mind,
too. My dining room has a buffet that always has fruit or veggies on it,
a large desk (with all is usual clutter), two tansu's, one very colorful
and one a deep dark red, a warm friendly oriental carpet, loads of
paintings on every space on the walls, a nice view, and my large table
dining room table that always has on it jars of honey, some trays of
condiments, etc. One might say it is a formal dining room, and it looked
that way when we first moved into this house, but our messy way of living
has turned the room into a room to be in that is quite pleasurable.
By all means if anyone has a dining room that is being used for company,
turn your kids loose in the room and let them re-decorate!
Square footage is a horrible thing to waste.
Dee Dee
 
"cathyxyz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Phred wrote:
>> In article <[email protected]>,
>> "cathyxyz" <[email protected]> wrote:
>> >Sorry - all the talk about using good tableware reminded me that we
>> >actually have a dining room table ;)
>>
>> I can see mine too -- though the clear horizontal surface is now down
>> to plate size.
>>
>> What passes for breakfast -- standing at the bench near the sink.
>>
>> Lunch -- usually off the premises.
>>
>> Dinner -- usually at that plate-sized surface. (Which is the only
>> reason it's still clear. :)
>
> Glad we're not the only "guilty ones" heh heh
>
> Cheers
> Cathy(xyz)
>============

Yep - same here... these days the dining table is left alone to look pretty
or is covered in fabric that is waiting to be cut and sewn... <sigh>

Breakfast and lunch are both eaten at work. Breakfast usually constists of
a banana and/or a squeeze tube or two of yogurt. Lunch is leftovers
(steak - enough to eat twice, last week. Woo-hoo!!) or a PB & J sandwich...
Dinner is eaten in front of the TV.

--
Syssi
 
"Michael "Dog3" Lonergan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "-L." <[email protected]> hitched up their panties and posted
> news:[email protected]:
>
>>
>> cathyxyz wrote:
>>> Sorry - all the talk about using good tableware reminded me that we
>>> actually have a dining room table ;)
>>>
>>> We usually eat in the "family" room. I can remember as a kid that my
>>> Mom used to lay the table properly for *every* meal. She still does.
>>> Only time we use ours now is for HIgh Days and Holidays...
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>> Cathy(xyz)
>>
>> The only time we eat at the formal dining table is when we have guests.
>> I would like that to change but I am outnumbered and resistance is
>> futile. ;) DS eats in his high chair, I usually eat standing up while
>> managing him, and DH eats in his office (working), in the kitchen next
>> to us, or in the bedroom watching a movie (we have sort of a theater
>> set-up). We are pretty non-conventional types when it comes to
>> formality. ;)
>>
>> -L.
>
> As I posted earlier, 90% of the time we eat in the den on TV trays. The SO
> usually gets home really late in the evening. He's usually tired, hungry
> and wants to relax, eat and watch a movie. The dining room is seldom used
> and quite frankly, I'd like to convert it into kitchen space.

Then do it! I have a room with a fireplace adjacent to my kitchen. We
never use a fireplace. But it is a friendly room with built-in bookcases
and loads of windows on 3 sides. One could really consider it like a big
side porch, but it certainly not built in that shape. In the last year I've
moved some tables into this room and put kitchen things on them that I use
most often in the kitchen. It is sort of a catch all for my overloaded
kitchen and dining room. You know, a place to keep the foodsaver, and
processors, mixers, etc. It's handy now and the room is being utilized.
Would I care for guests' comments? No -- they live as they wish, and I
will, too.

It's fun to utilize space the way you would really like to in your dreams,
without tearing down walls!
Dee Dee
 
Dee Randall wrote:
> "jmcquown" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Goomba38 wrote:
>>> Jude wrote:
>>>
>>>> We have dinner together as a family - me, my BF, and our 9 year old
>>>> daughter - most nights. House rule is that dinnertime is in the
>>>> kitchen (don't have a dining room) at the table. Sometimes we have
>>>> music on but not too loud - I was raised on the belief that 30
>>>> minutes of socializing at the dinner table was an importtant family
>>>> activity. No gulping down your food in 3 bites and getting up; we
>>>> all had to be at the table for half an hour, eat slowly with good
>>>> manners, and have a chance to talk about our days together.
>>>
>>> This is how I was raised also. And NO TV on!!! That is the death to
>>> conversation. I worry that kids nowadays aren't getting very much of
>>> this family dinner time and what they're losing down the road?
>>> Goomba
>>
>> Absolutely! NO TV. We didn't have one anywhere near the table, be
>> it in the
>> kitchen or the formal dining room. Now, however, without children
>> in the house, my parents eat at the kitchen table and there is most
>> definitely a television. I guess after almost 57 years they just
>> don't have that much to
>> talk about ;)
>>
>> Jill
>
> Jumping to old-marrieds rescue! DH and I have so much to talk about
> we have to interrupt each other to get a word-in. When he goes to CT
> without me, the cell phone is on fire!
> Maybe your parents are just getting another topic from the news!
> Luckily we mostly agree on events on the news, but we still sing to
> the choir.
> Dee Dee

Oh, I'm not saying they don't speak. But my parents don't go anywhere and
they definitely don't have cell phones. They won't even get an answering
machine for their land line; if we can't reach them we can't reach them,
which is sometimes frustrating.

My dad is addicted to television. He's got to have it on even if he's just
sitting reading a book. That kinda drives my mom crazy, especially since he
only watches the History Channel and the news.

Jill
 
"jmcquown" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Dee Randall wrote:
>> "jmcquown" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>> Goomba38 wrote:
>>>> Jude wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> We have dinner together as a family - me, my BF, and our 9 year old
>>>>> daughter - most nights. House rule is that dinnertime is in the
>>>>> kitchen (don't have a dining room) at the table. Sometimes we have
>>>>> music on but not too loud - I was raised on the belief that 30
>>>>> minutes of socializing at the dinner table was an importtant family
>>>>> activity. No gulping down your food in 3 bites and getting up; we
>>>>> all had to be at the table for half an hour, eat slowly with good
>>>>> manners, and have a chance to talk about our days together.
>>>>
>>>> This is how I was raised also. And NO TV on!!! That is the death to
>>>> conversation. I worry that kids nowadays aren't getting very much of
>>>> this family dinner time and what they're losing down the road?
>>>> Goomba
>>>
>>> Absolutely! NO TV. We didn't have one anywhere near the table, be
>>> it in the
>>> kitchen or the formal dining room. Now, however, without children
>>> in the house, my parents eat at the kitchen table and there is most
>>> definitely a television. I guess after almost 57 years they just
>>> don't have that much to
>>> talk about ;)
>>>
>>> Jill
>>
>> Jumping to old-marrieds rescue! DH and I have so much to talk about
>> we have to interrupt each other to get a word-in. When he goes to CT
>> without me, the cell phone is on fire!
>> Maybe your parents are just getting another topic from the news!
>> Luckily we mostly agree on events on the news, but we still sing to
>> the choir.
>> Dee Dee
>
> Oh, I'm not saying they don't speak. But my parents don't go anywhere and
> they definitely don't have cell phones. They won't even get an answering
> machine for their land line; if we can't reach them we can't reach them,
> which is sometimes frustrating.
>
> My dad is addicted to television. He's got to have it on even if he's
> just
> sitting reading a book. That kinda drives my mom crazy, especially since
> he
> only watches the History Channel and the news.
>
> Jill

This is the same as my f-i-l and deceased m-i-l. I guess it's a good thing
that he has TV, now that she's gone, to keep him occupied. He has an old TV
that is so small I can hardly see it and the picture tube looks like it's
about to go - but won't. We got him one for his bedroom which is so much
better to view, but he prefers the awful one; says the newer one is hard to
see, I think they are basically the same size. People really get
set-in-their ways.
Dee Dee
 
"cathyxyz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> kilikini wrote:
>
> >
> > We don't have a dining room; just a kitchen that connects to the living
> > room. So, my answer would be no. (Shoots, we don't even have a table!)
>
> <eg> not even a tiny one for your beer? :)
>

Nope! I hold mine on my lap and TFM® has the computer desk.

kili
 
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (Phred) wrote:

> In article <[email protected]>,
> "cathyxyz" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >Sorry - all the talk about using good tableware reminded me that we
> >actually have a dining room table ;)
>
> I can see mine too -- though the clear horizontal surface is now down
> to plate size.
>
> What passes for breakfast -- standing at the bench near the sink.
>
> Lunch -- usually off the premises.
>
> Dinner -- usually at that plate-sized surface. (Which is the only
> reason it's still clear. :)
>
> >We usually eat in the "family" room. I can remember as a kid that my
> >Mom used to lay the table properly for *every* meal. She still does.
> >Only time we use ours now is for HIgh Days and Holidays...
>
> Cheers, Phred.


<lol> I try to keep at least 1/2 of the table clear, I often eat lunch
with dad out there and once per week I have to do shipping for ebay
sales and need the surface area... I clean it off completely to change
the table cloth from time to time, and for holidays.

Most meals (for both me and dad) are eaten in front of our comptuers. <G>
--
Peace, Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-*****." -Jack Nicholson
 
"Dee Randall" <[email protected]> hitched up their panties and posted
news:[email protected]:

>
> "Michael "Dog3" Lonergan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> "-L." <[email protected]> hitched up their panties and posted
>> news:[email protected]:
>>
>>>
>>> cathyxyz wrote:
>>>> Sorry - all the talk about using good tableware reminded me that we
>>>> actually have a dining room table ;)
>>>>
>>>> We usually eat in the "family" room. I can remember as a kid that
>>>> my Mom used to lay the table properly for *every* meal. She still
>>>> does. Only time we use ours now is for HIgh Days and Holidays...
>>>>
>>>> Cheers
>>>> Cathy(xyz)
>>>
>>> The only time we eat at the formal dining table is when we have
>>> guests.
>>> I would like that to change but I am outnumbered and resistance is
>>> futile. ;) DS eats in his high chair, I usually eat standing up
>>> while managing him, and DH eats in his office (working), in the
>>> kitchen next to us, or in the bedroom watching a movie (we have sort
>>> of a theater set-up). We are pretty non-conventional types when it
>>> comes to formality. ;)
>>>
>>> -L.
>>
>> As I posted earlier, 90% of the time we eat in the den on TV trays.
>> The SO usually gets home really late in the evening. He's usually
>> tired, hungry and wants to relax, eat and watch a movie. The dining
>> room is seldom used and quite frankly, I'd like to convert it into
>> kitchen space.
>
> Then do it! I have a room with a fireplace adjacent to my kitchen.
> We never use a fireplace. But it is a friendly room with built-in
> bookcases and loads of windows on 3 sides. One could really consider
> it like a big side porch, but it certainly not built in that shape.
> In the last year I've moved some tables into this room and put kitchen
> things on them that I use most often in the kitchen. It is sort of a
> catch all for my overloaded kitchen and dining room. You know, a place
> to keep the foodsaver, and processors, mixers, etc. It's handy now
> and the room is being utilized. Would I care for guests' comments? No
> -- they live as they wish, and I will, too.
>
> It's fun to utilize space the way you would really like to in your
> dreams, without tearing down walls!
> Dee Dee

We have a see through fireplace between the living room and dining room.
Extending the kitchen and eliminating the dining room would be really cozy
in the winter. We use the fireplace a lot.

Michael

--
“It requires a certain kind of mind to see beauty in a hamburger bun.”
_Ray Kroc, creator of the McDonald's franchise
 
cathyxyz wrote:
> Sorry - all the talk about using good tableware reminded me that we
> actually have a dining room table ;)
>
> We usually eat in the "family" room. I can remember as a kid that my
> Mom used to lay the table properly for *every* meal. She still does.
> Only time we use ours now is for HIgh Days and Holidays...
>
> Cheers
> Cathy(xyz)

We don't even OWN a dining room table!

SD
 
No. In fact, I often eat in front of the computer these days.... but
I use a real china plate. LOL!

````````````

On 26 Feb 2006 04:40:47 -0800, cathyxyz wrote:

> Sorry - all the talk about using good tableware reminded me that we
> actually have a dining room table ;)
>
> We usually eat in the "family" room. I can remember as a kid that my
> Mom used to lay the table properly for *every* meal. She still does.

I did when my kids were kids, but we ate in the breakfast room....
candlelight, flowers and all. I didn't have a formal dining room in
the house where I grew up - so it wasn't going against tradition for
me.

> Only time we use ours now is for HIgh Days and Holidays...

That was the way it was when my kids were little too. We use the
dining room more now than ever, because the table is bigger and we can
seat more people there. When it's just hubby and me eating in the
dining room, we're usually on automatic for seating and then laugh
about how we're dining like royality (at opposite ends of the table).
Helllloooo down there!

--

Practice safe eating. Always use condiments.
 
On 26 Feb 2006 06:51:36 -0800, cathyxyz wrote:

> - when we eat on the veranda/porch (which is often in summer)
> we do eat at the table. Maybe our kiddo will get the idea eventually...

If the weather at my house was conducive to outdoor dining and I had a
deck off my kitchen - I'd be eating outside until it was so cold, I
couldn't. A table is a table, setting it nicely and having whole
family meals around it makes for good childhood memories. My kids are
grown now and they will testify to that.
--

Practice safe eating. Always use condiments.
 
sf <[email protected]> hitched up their panties and posted
news:[email protected]:

> On 26 Feb 2006 06:51:36 -0800, cathyxyz wrote:
>
>> - when we eat on the veranda/porch (which is often in summer)
>> we do eat at the table. Maybe our kiddo will get the idea eventually...
>
> If the weather at my house was conducive to outdoor dining and I had a
> deck off my kitchen - I'd be eating outside until it was so cold, I
> couldn't. A table is a table, setting it nicely and having whole
> family meals around it makes for good childhood memories. My kids are
> grown now and they will testify to that.

I don't have a deck but we never dine outdoors on either patio. We've tried
it a couple of times and it doesn't work. We have too many birds (well, I
have to feed 'em). We've discussed awnings over both patios but we have too
many other priorities right now.

Michael

--
“It requires a certain kind of mind to see beauty in a hamburger bun.”
_Ray Kroc, creator of the McDonald's franchise
 
On 26 Feb 2006 08:42:52 -0800, "-L." <[email protected]> wrote:

>The only time we eat at the formal dining table is when we have guests.
> I would like that to change but I am outnumbered and resistance is
>futile. ;) DS eats in his high chair, I usually eat standing up while
>managing him, and DH eats in his office (working), in the kitchen next
>to us, or in the bedroom watching a movie (we have sort of a theater
>set-up). We are pretty non-conventional types when it comes to
>formality. ;)

You eat *standing up*?!? Ugh. Can't be good for your health. I have 2
kids, but even when they were toddlers they ate *at the table* (sure,
in their high chair, but at the table), and if they had to wait a
minute because their father or I were eating too, well they did.
I must say, I'm amazed to see in this thread how many people eat while
watching TV or doing stuff at the computer or whatever. But then I
have no TV, and I was raised on good food properly served and a
tradition of conversation at dinner, I just can't imagine it any other
way. It doesn't have anything to do with formality, it's family or
couple life. Call me old-fashioned.

Nathalie in Switzerland
 
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