Among furniture in our house, dining table is the one that unites us and an effective family uses it everyday. It is important to make sure that our children grow up in a family that always dine together. Parents can make new habits and family gathering should be the norm. Unfortunately, many families don’t always eat together and although they have a nice dining table, it isn’t always used. Children could prefer to eat in front of the TV, while parents eat in the kitchen to talk about some family matters. It can be a bad thing if families don’t eat together and they could miss out some of the important things. It’s a shame not to use the dining table. Having a small dining table isn’t an excuse. There are affordable tables that are big enough for the family. If our house is cramped and can’t accommodate a bigger dining table, we could consider eating in the backyard. If we run out of options; we can still eat on the floor just like what many Asian families do when they eat together. There are portable stoves that can be used to constantly heat up soups and other meals. Eating together isn’t all about food; it’s about gathering with the whole family. Parents should make sure that family members can be together. We can be angry, busy, restless, frustrated, tired and happy. In this situation, we often need to share our feeling, so we could get solutions or acknowledgment from family members. We are often busy at work and school.
Teenagers are often affected by many problems and it’s important that we are able to assist them in their overall difficult situations. It should be considered a good habit to make sure that all problems that affect family members can be immediately solved. Family dining sessions can also be considered as an educational process where children can learn manner and follow some rules. Parents can instruct children how they should sit nicely at the table. Parents could also teach how students can use fork and knife nicely. Family dining will allow children to form the right kind of habit and parents won’t be concerned if parents need to have frequent visits to the restaurants. There should be many things that children can talk about in the dining table and parents may open the conversation about things that are relevant to their lives. Dining together is also an important culinary experience and the mother could experiment with new food that will appeal to the entire family. This is a good time to make sure that everyone has healthy eating habits and the mother can decide what kind of ingredient that will be included. With proper cooking method, it should be possible for the mother to come up with very tasty meal, despite the frequent use of vegetables and lean meat. A good dining experience should be a combination of very delicious meal and excellent communication between family members. This will make dining together to become a family activity that everyone is expecting.