Back to Basics. Do families still eat together? ~*~
After reading another Apsense Members wonderful blog today about margarine, I got to thinking about my own family. My thoughts shiffed to not only what we consume but also how we are spending our familly time together, especially our dining time.
I look back now,and remember we ate a lot of magarine and solid hydrogentated oils when I was growing up. Yikes! Biscuits were fantastic in the South..where I'm originally from. Mmmm...Mmmm good! My moms biscuits were the best. Even her 3 finger prints, pressed down on to the front of the biscuit, hold a special memory for me. Oh don't worry, my mom is still around and still making biscuits, I'm just 2,300 miles away from home now, a little bit harder to enjoy her 3-finger print biscuits and sopping them in turnip liquor. (soaking them in the turnip juice after cooking fresh homemade turnip greens).
I am just thankful that I grew up also having balanced meals consisting of lots of veggies and pleasant family gatherings around the table. Perhaps, now we know more about solid hydrogentated oils not being good for you, amongst other things, but there are a lot of things besides the oils that could be examined and changed for the better.
Somehow, this subject really got me to thinking about the status and standards of my own family. Now a days, too many of us eat on the go and dont enjoy the immediate family gatherings around the table. I would not trade my child hood memories for anything, yet...I have fallen off the band wagon, as they say, in creating these memories for my boys, lately.
I have personally been trying to bring that back, to my own family. Yes, I'm good sometimes, but when I'm bad..I'm so so bad. Here is a recent scenario in my home. Give me kudos for honesty here..lol.
I realized one day, one of my kids is upstairs munching on Doritoes and cream cheese while on My Space, the other is glued to his Nintendo chowing down on these sour worm creature things, me..well coffee and candy while doing my Social Networking. Hubby, at work eating Burritoes off the local lunch truck. Brakes! What happened to family time, Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner? I tend to be a very heatlhy minded person...what was happening.
Yes, guilty.
So..we are back to a family schedule, like the "old days". It's working great for us. I know it's hard, my boys play sports..etc..etc.. My boys do know dinner will be served at a certain time. My husband is rearranging his schedule, so that we can all try to meet once again around the dinner table, or choose to get up earlier and share a breakfast together as a family.
I hope we can keep this up. I'm sure enjoying the family time and so are they!

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Comments (18)
Lisa G.9
Health Wellness & Wealth Consultant
How was everyones Thanksgiving!
I took on the challenge of doing all the cooking this year.
We had 20 guest for dinner. It reallly felt good to have the warmth of company, and have so many people eating together at the same time. It was a beautiful day for me.
Everyone pitched in and helped with the dishes too, wish I had that kind of help everyday..lol.
Lisa G.9
Health Wellness & Wealth Consultant
Hi Garnet. The computer is so fun, I have found myself hooked on Apsense this entire week. I'm proud to say, that we managed to have supper togther all week long. Though, I kept hearing a sound and I asked where it was coming from. My youngest had the Ninetendo hid up under the table..lol. Well..were getting "Back To Basics" slowly but surely.
Not Here8
just want my account deleted
I for one can honestly say my family sits at the table and eats together. The tv is turned off(personally I RARELY watch it). Just last night my wife MADE me shut the laptop off, instead of eating while checking my mail like usual(grrr!). Then what does she do, starts reading a magazine!!! OMG!!!
Penny Young8
Consultant
Hi Lisa and everyone,
Thanks for such good advice, and also for some great comments in here. You have given me some really good ideas to take some positive action. I lived without a television in the house for eighteen months once. I had a LOT of time on my hands to do everything, but I was also a bit of a social misfit. Until you lose the tv, you don't realise how much day to day conversation revolves around television shows. Even now I have blanks in the conversation every now and agai
Arthur Webster7
Just plain honesty
I've said my piece but, reading other comments, I have to ask, isn't it about time that television was removed from the centre of family life?
I dread visiting people where the living room is dominated by this monstrous time guzzler because I know that someone will want to switch it on - - - - soon!
Like cigarettes, TV is addictive. You get hooked! You need your fix!
Visitors? Oh, yes. I won't be long, just waiting to find out if Diedre really is a man.
Bring the family back into the
Lisa G.9
Health Wellness & Wealth Consultant
Not eating in front of the TV is a good thing.
I don't know about the rest of us, but I tend to pack on weight when I eat in front of the TV. I tend to choose unheatlhy stuff and I don't fully watch the quality of the food, when I'm watching TV, guess that's the biggest culprit. Suppose, once in awhile its okay.
Theresa6
I grew up living with my mom. After she got home from work, she would become the TV queen, while I finished making dinner (I loved to cook, so it wasnt really a "chore") Anyway, she would come to the table and we would all sit together for dinner every night...but the TV remained on in the other room for background noise--LOL. If there was something really good on, we would be allowed to eat in the livingroom, but it was very rare and it was a "special" thing.
Now, I rarely eat in front of the
Lisa G.9
Health Wellness & Wealth Consultant
Thanks Jeunelle.
Sitting on the toilet eating..lol.
Grandma watching jeopardy with a TV Dinner..lol.
That's too much..ha..ha.
How can we all regain the Family Time that we used to have?
A House that's not a home, that is so true Jeunelle. Sounds like a good book title.
Lisa G.9
Health Wellness & Wealth Consultant
Hi Mizrae,
That's funny about your brother. Our little neighbor friend always seems to do the same thing...lol. Espeically when I make my mothers famous lasagne, he must smell it or something..must be the garlic.
We never had the "silence" thing at dinner time. My dad would just remind us to talk in a low tone. My Dad was always sitting at the end of the table to, with my mom beside him and my brother and I always across from each other. I don't even think this was a rule of sorts, just
Lisa G.9
Health Wellness & Wealth Consultant
Hi Penny,
Sounds like we have similiarites. Somtimes I feel uptight, and then I realize...it's hearing too much TV sound in the background..lol. I turn it off and tell my son that's enough, and Swhooh..the house is so relaxing again.
One thing that has worked for me, is to have pleasant mucic on in the background, rather than the TV. Something that the kids wont think is dorky of course..lol, but something that everyone feels happy and relaxed too. We have found music with guitar works
Penny Young8
Consultant
This is a subject close to my heart. When I was a child, we always sat around the table as a family for breakfast and for dinner, and lunch on weekends. The tv was in another room and was off.
Now I have a child, I would love for the three of us to share meals in the same way.
However, my husband comes from a tv dinner family. Yes, they sit around the table at least, but I was actually quite shocked the first time I was invited to my in-laws' for a meal. My father-in-law actually turn
Rae Steinbrink6
"The Old Coot" and I must be about the same age, as I too remember sitting around the dinner table in silence. But the whole family was there and dinner might not be served at the same time everynight, everyone ate together. As we grew, the silence rule changed, and I had one brother who was never home. He was constantly gone roaming the neighborhood, fishing, hanging out with his buddies. Why do I mention him? It's the standing joke to this day: he always came home right when everyone wa
Lisa G.9
Health Wellness & Wealth Consultant
Oh..thanks Healthy Fishies! I did not scroll down far enough to see your comment. Sorry about that. I sure appreciate the compliment, and glad that my blog was inspiring.
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Lisa G.9
Health Wellness & Wealth Consultant
Thanks OC (forgive me...I don't want to call you The Old Coot..lol) I could not find your first name or initials anywhere. I sure plan to give this family thing my best efforts. It was much easier when my kids were younger. Now that one is a teen and one is a tween, it's been extra hard to arrange dinner time for 4. I agree too, spending quality time with ones family is so important.
Hi Wendy! I could just visualize your family sitting around the table and your hubby innocently saying th
Arthur Webster7
Just plain honesty
Hi, Lisa,
I wish you success with your family time and hope that you can keep it up.
One of the great things that has changed since I was a child is the fact that talking is actually allowed at the table! I well remember having to sit in silence through family meals because that was the way my parents had been brought up. My dad would have changed it but my mother, bless her soul, just could not accept such a radical change to one of her basic rules of good behaviour.
I think all my chi
Wendy7
I know how much I loved having meals with my family.
Whether it was with my parents and my brother and sisters Our family kinda into sports as well especially when they were in school after hours.
Or Hubby and our 3 sons. Our boys were into everything as well and made specially difficult at times to sit together but we did
Some of the stories around the dinner table were well.................
I can remember when my hubby was sitting at the dining room table (he was sat beside Mom,me beside
Theresa6
I thought I had posted here... strange.
Well, i will just try to remember what I wrote before - LOL
AWESOME blog/article Lisa! These are definitely things we need to look at-- you have inspired me as well :-) Kudos are all yours !!