Do you eat dinner at the table?

This question was posted on Facebook the other day and it reminded me of all the fun and learning that went on at our table growing up. I have that table in my little apartment and have finally found some chairs to use at it. It is a wonderful old drop leaf/gate leg table that I think is Maple and it is great for the apartment because I can leave the leaves down in order to have room to move. However, if I decide to actually eat at it, or ever have company, I have room to seat four comfortably - because I only have four chairs.

Growing up we sat six there almost every night until my oldest brother went off to university, (then five, then four). It was a bit crowed with six, but we managed and we talked about everything! From the kids days at school to Dad's day at work, Mom's day at home or shopping or painting or whatever project she was working on. There is a ten year age gap between the oldest and me (the youngest), so if topics got over our heads, or there were words we didn't understand, we were sent off to get the dictionary or the encyclopaedia. This of course threw the topic off course in an entirely different direction.

There were nights that we would sit there for the longest time after supper just talking, maybe not all of us, but most of us and it would vary from night to night. We learned so much sitting at that table too. We had a reservior right across the street that we could watch from the kitchen table. We had Trumpeter Swans every summer and of course, ducks and geese and seagulls. Dad tried to teach us how to read the weather from the clouds, I remember some of it, but, not a lot. We faced south, so we got to see the best sunrises and sunsets colour the sky. I remember one winter morning dad showing me the Morning Star.

Weekends and holidays we would also have breakfast and lunch together when possible. Dad worked close enough (and the city was not so large then) that he was able to come home for lunch, so unless we were off playing somewhere far, far away, we would have lunch together.

If I had a family of my own, I am pretty sure that I would eat at the table, mostly because it is easier to clean up messes from hard surfaces than from couches or carpets. I will eat at table (now that I have chairs) if I am eating messy foods like spaghetti or soup. Otherwise, I am on the couch, or at my computer. I have heard though that you don't eat as much if you are at table and pay attention to your food. So, maybe I should eat there more often.

That's it for today, thanks for dropping by.
Good Afternoon