In most conventional family stories, everyone gets together for dinner and lunch, sitting around the table. This was clearly the set up in our grandparents’ generation and before that. It didn’t matter what your social standing was - family meals were essential occasions that always happened around the table. If you were a family of farm laborers, as soon as Dad and the boys came back from the fields, you’d sit down together around a wood table inside your cottage and eat. And if you were an aristocrat, dinner would be served by a uniformed maid at a long table in the dining room. The atmosphere were different - however the concept had been exactly the same.

However, as current technology started to rule our lives, the family framework began to change. When the omnipresent tv began to take over the living room along with other rooms of your home, we found that we no longer looked at each other during meals. There was always the ever-present guest that ate nothing but spewed out a visual feast - the Tv set. This modified the thought of the family meal forever, with the introduction of the TV dinner. A TV dinner essentially includes everyone parked around the sofa along with a tray on their laps, observing the box while they mechanically stuff the food into their mouths. Discussion is not allowed since you may miss some of the action on the screen, which is seemingly more essential to some people.

So does this imply that the ancient art of table setting has gone out of the window, along with family beliefs, unity, and the craft of fine discussion? Get tasks like napkin folding, setting silverware, and elegantly arranging dishes gone out with the Ark?

The reality is - not necessarily. You can preserve the family meal and not to lose the unity and ties that it creates. Ultimately, the quickest, most drastic solution will be to get rid of the television. Then, everybody would have to sit at the table and socialize because they would have nothing else to do at mealtimes (besides eat, of course). Nevertheless, not everyone would agree to do this. So here are some more modest ideas:

Reduce TV time, getting everybody to agree that at least at meal time the tv stays off.

Set the table. Surprisingly, table setting can actually be entertaining. Your kids may take turns on who does it each time. The individual having the turn gets to choose the color of the tablecloth and also napkins each time. You may even be a little bit exotic and select different themes, including Chinese, tropical, or royal for your settings, with fancy napkins and decorations. This doesn’t have to be complex or costly - just fun.

Encourage discussion at the table. And if you and your spouse end up eating afterward than your kids for practical reasons, at least sit at the table with the kids while they are eating so that you are a part of the meal. This creates family unit and can hold you together far more as compared to if you are all going square-eyed in front of the Idiot Box.

Good luck!

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