How often do you have a real sit down family meal in your house? How old are your children?

Question

My children are 20, 18, 14, 13. We have not had a family meal in 2 weeks due to work schedules and social commitments. I miss it a great deal. I do not want to give up this very happy time.

I have to work around Childrens work and college schedule as well as hubby's and mine.

Answer 1

Don't worry about it. Just do it when you can - - - - or agree to meet at McDonalds and have family time there. That's what we do. I have a husband who works long hours, a 17 year old and a 20 year old. We don't eat together at home often because of work schedules and dating schedules, etc., but we are still a very close family and spend time talking at other times. What about Sunday at Lunch? A lot of families choose that time because it is when most aren't working.

Answer 2

I hate to say it...rarely. Our daughter is 16 and she is either at practice or doing other activities. On the nights that we are all home I require that we sit down to dinner together. That means a nicely set table, prayer before meal and a discussion of the days events and upcoming events. That is the one thing I miss from my childhood. We always had family sit down dinner. Of course, school schedules seemed to support that. These days they have morning practice, evening practice, events on weekends so on, and so on. Our other child is 4 so he has no choice but to have dinner with my husband and I :o). However, to add a glitch to that system my husband is frequently on-call so some nights it is just my son and I.

Don't give up! This is a very happy time and you should keep striving for it.

Answer 3

My children are 12 and 10. We sit down together to eat about 3 to 4 times a week. Actually we are bad about getting in the habit of doing it each week then we seem to fall out of it. I agree with you that it's a special thing. My family growing up, I'm 38, sat down together almost every night. I think it should be done more often by many more families.

Good luck!

Answer 4

I have a very small kitchen so we eat in the living room. Sunday has always been our special meal day and now My grown children and grandchildren come over most every Sunday for a family meal. Even though we eat in the living room it is still a time of sharing and love for us. So maybe try picking one day that will always be special for your family. My children are 35, 32, 30, 28

Answer 5

My mom has us eat a family meal every two weeks. She has three children 14,12,9. If you mis it a great deal why don't you take a nice break in the evening from your busy schedules and have a family dinner.

Answer 6

I don't have kids, and still the hubby and I get to have dinner once or twice a week at most. It's partially due to the fact that we both travel a lot, partially due to the fact that we work crazy hours, and partially b/c it's much easier to just toss a salad and eat it while finishing reports for work.

Answer 7

We TRY to have it everynight but it seems like we make it about 3 times a week at our own table. However... no matter where are eat we say our pray, even if we are out or at a friends house. I think that makes it a "family" dinner no matter what. My husband and I only have one child and he is 13

Answer 8

we eat together as a family almost nightly. There are times when we are watching a movie, we all eat in the living room. I feel it is important, but each household is different. My children are 12, 4, & 11 months.

Answer 9

I'm 19 but when i was living with my parents we never had a sit down family meal when me and my brothers were teenagers

Answer 10

Its just My hubby and I usually we have dinner together when i cook i barely cook during the week because i fix him a big lunch for work and he is usually not hungry when he comes home..