Are you wanting to know about my own family dinners, or the dinners I had growing up?

Trin

The first thing that comes to mind is - NOISY. But not in a bad way. We have all been off to work or school, or daycare, or volunteering for the entire day and 5 out of 7 days a week there are four generations around the kitchen table, so there's always lots to talk about. Just catching up and often sharing about the "old days". Makes for an interesting dinnertime. DH was raised in a home where dinnertime was nearly silent and it took some getting used to, but he is as noisy as the rest of us now.

Yep, our family dinners were always loud too. Big family, lots of talking. We always ate around the table as a family, never in the living room or in front of the television. We usually went around the table and everyone was asked how their day was. When we were all teenagers, usually our only responses were "nothin" or "fine". LOL

Christmas family dinners at my father's parents, was always a buffet. Kids ate in a separate room.

My maternal grandparents died when I was young, so no memories of dinners.

After we were teens, my father's family kinda drifted away from the Christmas gathers. Just occasional, and if it was warm, some ate on the porches, tables, yard.

Adult years, at my parents, was always a formal seated dinner for holidays. Chit chat

Casual family dinners at my parents was at the kitchen table, with the table always set, and everyone stayed at the table until everyone was finished.

When I was a kid, my family consisted of four kids and our parents, total of six. I remember Mom used to dish up our plates for us at the stove, then carry the plates to the table. She also poured us each a glass of milk. Thanks, Mom. If you wanted seconds, you could go to the stove and help yourself. My parents sat at the head and foot of the table, I sat to my Dad's left. I grew up eating like him-one food at a time, and putting lots of salt on everything. I remember lots of conversation. Everyone had something to say!

We usually have everyone around the dinner table when we have dinner at home..I think it's important to connect that way.

During football and baseball it doesn't happen as often..but it's still important to us.

Some nights we talk about important things with the boys..some nights it's just general banter...

There is no set seating..but usually it's my husband and I next to each other and the boys fill in around the table...sometimes when the younger ones were younger they'd both want to sit by Mommy or Daddy..so we'd have a kid in between us.

My boys are 18, 13 and 10.

We all ways had dinner together at the table. DH, me and 4 kids. It was a good time to find out what was going on with the kids and share our days with them.
My DD doesn't have her family eat at the table very often, when I am there we do eat at the table, of course, she works and I was a stay at home Mom. Lots easier for me to get dinner together. I enjoy cooking for them when I'm there and letting them relax when they get home from work.
Kathy G in MI

When I was growing up in the '40s and '50s, we ate dinner in the dining room. Dad carved the meat and served the food from the china serving bowls and platters. He sat at one end of the oval table, and Mom sat at the other end. Seats were assigned for us 4 kids.

We started with grace before eating. Mother baked our bread, and there was always freshly sliced bread on the table. For dinner, we always had potatoes and a choice of two vegetables, and meat. Sometimes we also had a salad, and on Sundays we had a homemade dessert.

When we kids were all done eating, we could ask to be excused from the table, and Mom and Dad would relax over coffee. But we had to clean our plates, and many a night I sat there after everyone else had left till I ate the last of my peas, which I hated. The Depression was still in recent memory, and clean plates were the expectation. Moreover, my parents were concerned that I was just a little too skinny, I think.

Dad held court at the table with wonderful stories of what his friends had been up to or vaudeville stories from his youth or current events too. We kids shared events that had happened at school. Our dinner conversations were stimulating and unique. I can remember laughing so hard at Dad's stories that I fell off my chair.

No radio or TV was on, and no phone calls were accepted during dinner. We each had our own silver napkin ring that had been in the family for years and they were used on our cloth napkins. No food was put on the table in any kind of store package--milk was in a pitcher, jelly was in a little bowl, but then it was probably homemade too.

Flash forward to my family. We eat in our kitchen at the large table built into the island. I don't use a tablecloth or even cloth napkins. Milk is available from the carton. I serve the plates from the stove and do not require the kids to eat every morsel from their plates.

We eat dinner together every night and always have. I believe that it's very important to family life to maintain that connection! Occasionally we have the TV on, but it runs a really far second to the conversation. DH always has tales to tell that are far better than the drivel on TV. I have an interesting job, so sometimes I have a story or two to contribute.
Thanks for asking and hope these answers help.

Thanks for your responses, everyone.....feel free to keep 'em coming!