Gary asked me what I wanted for supper today. He does the cooking. I told ya’ll he spoils me. Anyway, it got me thinking about the Sunday dinners I had as a kid, then later when our children were growing up. Everyone was home for dinner and everyone sat at the dining room table. No one touched their food until after Grace was said. The TV was shut off and only dinner music was permitted to be played with the volume low.
My Mom is probably spinning in her grave watching down at the way we eat our meals now. It’s only the two of us so we just sit in the living room and eat in front of the TV. Which is where he served me my supper today. This allows me to keep a sewing machine and project on my dining room table undisturbed. But that’s not the real reason. I do have a sewing room so the dining room table isn’t needed for that. We just don’t bother with the niceties of dinner. Funny how things change.
When we have guests, we always revert back to what we were taught as children. We use “good dishes”, crystal stemware and cloth napkins. It’s funny. If one of our daughters stop here while we are eating in the living room, they always comment that they were never permitted to eat in front of the TV growing up. I chuckle and say what my Dad said to me all the time. “Do as I say, not as I do.” And then I tell them that they can eat anyway they like in their house, but they know how to do it right so that they can teach their children. They give me that funny look as if to say I’m crazy. 🙂
As my Mom always said, “you have to know how to do things right, you never know where you’ll wind up.” It used to drive me crazy, but I did it her way-the right way.
Times have certainly changed. It seems that these niceties are falling from our society. I can understand it. After all we are all so busy. Children don’t come home from school anymore and stay at home. They are involved in so much. Dancing, sports, clubs. All good things for them to do, but it does take away from the social aspect of family dinner. I always enjoyed our family dinners. We talked about our days and it was such a good way to stay on top of what the kids were doing.
I am sure that many of you have noticed the changes and possibly you have also adapted the short cuts to family meals. Not many women can or want to be home all day and they work outside the home. This isn’t a judgement for what happens today. It’s just an observation of how society changes with the times.
Cookies & Moo 