The family that eats together stays together

I recently read an article saying that family dinners are becoming less of a norm, giving way to more takeout dinners or notes saying  “Will be home at 9 pm. Dinner in the fridge. Heat in microwave for 5 minutes.”

This made me sad. Growing up in a family where family dinner is a nightly ritual (ok, not as often now as it was before since we are all grown-ups), I know the importance of  getting together every evening (or noon) and eating together. When I was younger, we would always eat dinner together.This was a time to catch up on what happened to us during the day (who wins the “I had the most unlucky day today”), to debate on some important or trivial issues (who’s better, Caludine Barretto or Judy Ann Santos?) , to discuss on life-changing decisions (is it time to buy another tv stand?), to fight, to laugh, to just be together. During this time, no excuse, you had to be there, and no phone calls, no TV, just our voices.

I must admit we are a noisy family, especially around dinnertime. (My friend who lives two houses away says that, sometimes, she hears us from their house!) When we have a very exciting (cheesy) topic (like travel plans or parties), when all of us have something to say, it becomes veryloud and chaotic…chaotic, yes, but fun. Even when we have opposing views on something, and voices are reaching the dangerous-decibel-level, we still have fun. It also helps that most of us have loud voices, and we love to “outvoice” and “outeye” (palakihan ng mata; trying to intimidate one another) each other. It is here also that we talk about serious things, that we make serious decisions, and where we learn of not-so-good things. That’s why I believe that our dining table absolutely cannot be sold…it knows too many secrets about our family!

I believe that this “eating together during meals” is one factor why our family is a close-knit one. Meal times have become an outlet for us to know each other better, know about what’s happening with each other, and simply to know that we have each other as a family. It is one time you have to make for your family.

So I hope that more familes will find the time to sit down and eat together…well, at least I will continue this on, even if I don’t really eat dinner.

PS, I found a great article on the benefits of eating together as a family. If you have the time, check it out, especially those who have familes already!