Friday, February 19, 2010

More on Meals

I recall an evening when my kids were in grade school --
a weeknight, and I had cooked pot roast for dinner.
Nothing unusual from my point of view: it was dinner,
it was good, and we all sat down together to eat.
My next-door neighbor stopped by unexpectedly
just as we raised our forks, and when she stepped inside
and breathed in the homey cooking scents, she said,
"Oh! How wonderful! You've cooked a REAL meal!
And you're all sitting down together to eat!"
Indeed we were. Indeed we did every night.
If you must eat, it might as well be a good time.
The funny thing is that this neighbor was the epitome
of a Kansas (from whence she hailed) 1950's stereotypical
housewife. It would not have been out of the question
to assume that every evening meal at her table was
replete with home-canned peaches and freshly-baked
bread. But judging from her reaction, I'm guessing
that it was not.

So powerful, apparently, was my insistence that we sit
down together at the table and eat & talk that, recently,
when my son N. was visiting for dinner, and I suggested
that we take our plates and eat in front of the television,
he reacted with indignance and horror: we ate at the table.

It gives me no small pleasure to acknowledge that, as a
mother, I know I've done at least one thing right.

Sante´!

3 comments:

  1. Good for you!

    I grew up in a household where dinner was served at the same time every night and all four of us were there on cue. (Unless it was Sunday and a golf tournament was on-then you had to drag my dad away from the t.v.)

    I'm picturing tinned peaches and Wonder Bread in your neighbour's house.

    Kat

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  2. I'm pleased to read that there is at least another family that sits down together to eat every day.

    Our meal times are a pleasure, not a duty or a drudge. We set the table for lunch and for dinner; we take turns setting the table. For my children, it is a normal daily routine. I do have friends who say to me: "But where do you find the time to sit down at the table?" Priorities, I guess.

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  3. Well done, T. I bet it wasn't always easy to get your family to the table, all at the same time. But I do understand how difficult it is for parents who have jobs, the job at home and the job outside the home.

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