When Moms Attack. Episode I: The Dinner Table

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Okay. So Mr. B has been pissing and moaning about "how we're all getting fat" so tonight I laid down the law.

Since I typically cook healthy meals and since getting fat is more than what you eat, it's how you eat, starting tonight we eat at the table like civilized people instead of gobbling down some chow in front of the tube in 1/4 the time it took me to cook it.

Serious wailing ensued.

You would think that I'm the spawn of Satan for crying out loud!

How long do you think I can keep it up before the rebel forces overthrow the evil tyrant me?

How does dinner work or not work at your house?

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@boomerang,

Almost without exception, dinner was at the table. Placemats and napkins.

Occasionally we’d divert and have “TV” dinners, but I’d set the coffee table in the same way. Once or twice a month, maybe. (God, am I lying? Once a week? No. Not that often).

Joelittle is 22 now and left, this morning, for a grand adventure in Calgary. We shared our last meal for the foreseeable future at the table last night (Wah). He said as we were eating that he was already homesick.

Set the table. You won’t be sorry (I hope!).

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@Joeblow,

I want to be you when I grow up, Joeblow!

I don't know how we fell into such bad habits but dinner time is so erratic. I need to law down the law about what time it is going to be on the table too.

Thanks for the encouragment.

I'm sure Joelittle will be all the better for a grand adventure!

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@boomerang,

I got rid of the TV, evil as it is...

(threaten that, and see what happens)

I must say, Stinky was only a marginal TV fan...

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@Rockhead,

I'm not as bad as Mr. B and Mo when it comes to TV but I love TV as much as they do. I'm just not willing to fight over what to watch. I usually sit at the table and read during dinner.

And actually, after a long day, just sitting and reading all by myself is nice. But we all must make sacrifices blahblahblah.

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@boomerang,

http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/news/Whats-for-dinner-Self-esteem-literacy-and-curtailed-high-risk-behaviour.aspx?articleID=11961&categoryID=news-type

1 Reply

@ehBeth,

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/16/health/16well.html

Quote:

Families who watched TV at dinner ate just about as healthfully as families who dined without it. The biggest factor wasn’t whether the TV was on or off, but whether the family was eating the meal together.

“Obviously, we want people eating family meals, and we want them to turn the TV off,” said Shira Feldman, public health specialist at the university’s School of Public Health and lead author of the research. “But just the act of eating together is on some level very beneficial, even if the TV is on.”

The research, published this month in The Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, is the latest testament to the power of the family meal. While many parents worry about what their kids are eating " vegetables versus junk " a voluminous body of research suggests that the best strategy for improving a child’s diet is simply putting food on the table and sitting down together to eat it.

soooo, is the tv in the dining room, at the kitchen table?

Quote:

The key, she said, is togetherness, not timing. A family that is scattered at the dinner hour might be able to meet regularly for breakfast instead. And even adding one or two more family meals to the week is better than nothing. “I would put the emphasis on just looking at where your family is now and seeing what you can do to improve,” Dr. Neumark-Sztainer said. “I think many people just don’t realize how important the family meal really is.”

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@ehBeth,

We eat at the table together..but that is just because I do not want to have to get all the food off the rug in the den. We have "Carpet Picnics" sometimes...I throw down a blanket and we eat together watching a movie. But it just seems simpler to eat at the table since there are 5 of us.

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We had/have food forbidden in the living room (other than when there are parties and such). I used to scoff at it, but now I really appreciate it. Dinner was (and is when i'm at my parents) at the dinner table without exceptions. It's nice, I always look forward to it. ...But that's how i grew up,eh.

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@boomerang,

Quote:

How does dinner work or not work at your house?

Exactly as I want it to,
since, the moment, I am living alone.

I define what will be done.

I make ample use of NY 's better restaurants too.
That works well also.

David

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we used to to table almost every night, but now that the kids are teens and are busy we do it a few times a week. The rule is that it can not be missed, no reading at the table (we are a family that reads a lot) and the tv is off. The rules are not open for negotiation.

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@hawkeye10,

Yeah, the rules r not open for negotiation at my house, either.

David

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@dagmaraka,

dagmaraka wrote:

Dinner was (and is when i'm at my parents) at the dinner table without exceptions. It's nice, I always look forward to it. ...But that's how i grew up,eh.

Yup, me, too!

With my own immediate family, it was the same thing. We always had meals together. Now that it's just my wife and I, the tradition continues, with the exceptions when I'm at work.

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@hawkeye10,

and in Peru

Quote:

The Latin American Study on Emotional Health, Welfare and Happiness conducted by Coca-Cola also showed that 93 percent of the people polled in Peru affirmed that having family meals contributed to their emotional health.

It was reported that eight out of every ten Peruvian families had meals together.

According to Terra News, this was one of the country's most important traditions because it allowed families to talk and share values.

The survey, which concluded that having good emotional health influenced Hispanics' happiness, was carried out in Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile, Lima, Bogotá, San José de Costa Rica and México DF.

sort of an odd little study, by the sounds of it - but the results are certainly consistent with those in Canada and the U.S.

http://www.livinginperu.com/news-7200-lima-coca-cola-survey-reveals-perus-people-happy-because-family-life

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@ehBeth,

this stuff sure gets studied a lot

Quote:

Watching television, eating family meals and the safety of the neighborhood all play a role in children's weight, according to researchers at the University of Missouri.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070103201703.htm

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Oh my. I'm the only uber-slacker in the crowd.

Interesting links, eBeth. I've got some reading to do. Thanks.

And thanks to all of you for sharing your dinner rituals with me. I feel inspired.

I can start some new habits.

1 Reply

@boomerang,

mrs. hamburger still doesn't allow Set to eat in front of the tv - family mealtimes are the only way in her domain

she knows how to hold a fistful of dominions

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What this country needs is more trained attack moms.

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@roger,

Quote:

What this country needs is more trained attack moms.

Do u need a license for them ?

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@boomerang,

Memories of getting tv trays in the fifties and watching Lawrence Welk with my parents and my aunt. I could not wait until that program was over. Now of course I'd dearly love to have a meal with my parents and my aunt, just one more time. Mostly we ate at the kitchen or dining room table.

In my house as a single woman, I had a circular table and director's chairs. The chairs were too short for the table. Director's chairs and pillows..

In my marriage, the dining room table was the only place we really could eat, unless we put plates on our laps in front of the tv (we didn't have kids, except my niece, what am I saying, in many ways she was/is our kid). I don't remember doing that plates on laps thing much (and that was over lots of years.) But I remember having meals on the big front porch (big porch, tiny house) as much as the dining table, and having friends and neighbors stop by, especially on weekends. That's how I got to be such a devil may care cook...

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When Moms Attack. Episode I: The Dinner Table

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