Nice to hear this practice isn't dead

not every night

We have been able to plan for Tuesdays and Thursday night family nights where we sit around the table for dinner then a short game night.

We sit down for dinner at 5:45pm everyday. this allows everyone to atleast sit together for 20 to 25 minutes during dinner. some of us are beginning to eat and the rest will sit half way thru so at least we have eachothers attention during ...in the middle of dinner. it just works. Yes, it's a full course meal: salad, with lemon oil dressing, basmati rice, homemade garlic parsley meatballs with tomatoe garlic sauce, followed by a small sweet treat with tea. After working a full day, I start putting components of all parts together, followed by mixing and pouring, cooking or setting, finally making all plates, and sweets in plates so as people come if the cover does not keep it hot they can warm it for 2 minutes. Cheer! Bon Appétit!

Our family of 5 eats together 3-4 nights/week. Between sports and scouts, it's sometimes difficult to have an hour but we generally spend 35-40 minutes at the table together.

80%ish. When the kids were younger, yes, all the time.

We always thought it was super important to do this, especially once our girls came along. We eat at the dining room table every night that we are home except for Friday night which was always pizza and movie night. Even when they were playing competitive hockey, we would eat together (even if it was in the car on the way to some far-flung rink). When my job got intense and I was getting home later, the kids were older and we simply ate dinner later.

I'd like some opinions about a friend's family more years ago than I care to admit. And I wonder what ever happened to her. Her parents were professionals. She had one brother away in college in New England. The three of them rotated with topics (their choice) to speak about at the evening meal. I remember her hurriedly hunting through encyclopedias in search of interesting topics and the answers to any questions that might be asked of her. I will add, her vocabulary was fantastic as well as her knowledge and grades. But I always sensed this pressure she was under to glean information for random topics in addition to homework and school projects. Somehow I think her parents lost some valuable connection to her as their child. Am I wrong? As a parent, I tried to mention news items to see if my kids were listening to current affairs but there were never topic assignments.

Yes, dinner together was always the expectation and anticipation. Breakfast and lunch could be in the kitchen but dinner would be in the dining room. It just reinforces that this family time is special. Many people rarely use this room, not us!

We don't make it to the dinner table every night because of busy schedules with four kids, but when we are together, we do. And there are no phones allowed:) That's why I picked Other.

It's usually standing up eating out of a can by the kitchen sink.

unless evening activities means someone isn't home - we eat as a family.

No we work different shifts

I checked "yes" because I serve (or plan) family dinner every night. Everyone who is here and hungry eats together.

Yes dinner every night as a family and electronic devices are left at the charging station. So no phone calls, texts or alerts during dinner. So for 30 minutes daily we come together to renew the family bond.

We do 4-5 times a week, no cell phones allowed at the table and TV off. That leaves one night set aside for "date night" where my hubby and I go out by ourselves and reconnect, catch up, etc. Sometimes it's a nice restaurant, sometimes it's Taco Tuesday night, but wherever we eat, it's OUR time. Date night allows us to be better parents, present a more united front, keep each other updated on the kids, house matters, work, etc. I CHERISH our date night!

The other night is a free night for the kids as ours are now older which I think they appreciate as they become more independent. Awww, the joys of family life! :)

Yes, we do every night, but not on Saturday. because our teenage daughter has plans for herself. We prepare the table and sit together. We are italians so it is quite normal to do so

We sit down together, talk and gaze lovingly into each other's eyes. I often stroke his hair and he kisses me in return. And I love to pop a tasty morsel in his mouth now and again. He's my family, he's my 160 lb Newfoundland dog. Oh, and his table manners are impeccable.

We do, but our boys are young. I know a nightly family dinner will be a challenge once they're running in different directions. Enjoying it while I can!

We have eaten together at the table every night (when we are in the same town) since we married 39 years ago. The table is set with cloth placemats and napkins and the food is put into serving bowls that are passed This was continued after the children were born and until they grew up. Dinner was adjusted around school and extracurricular schedules. It has made for s close family life. Oh and we said a family blessing every meal also.

We have 6 kids, from 24 to 5 years old, so it's almost impossible to have dinner together every night. But, we try, and usually there are 3 or 4 kids sitting at the table. One thing we have learned is to be flexible, so sometimes we sit at the table at 10 PM, because we wait for each other to arrive from whatever activity we have.

wrknnwf Same here and as far as family time I have to drift into the far reaches of my memory. As for now, it's only me and the dog; a sweet little big eye'd Pekingese. She seems to sense when I sit down at the table, it's time for her to eat, too. But I happen to be sloppy with bits of bacon at breakfast. They just drop from my hand, hmmmmm.

Not always dinner due to work schedules. One meal a day we sit and eat and talk. Even when at college there were calls while each ate a meal

Yes and we try to have breakfast together too!

As a mother of three very active , involved girls and a wife of a Police Detective Sergeant we always have dinner together . The only exceptions- my husband working the afternoon shift or OT while he " Serves and Protects"or we have a night out :))

Ever since my Mom moved in with us. Even if we order in, we eat together. We watch Jeopardy with dinner (I hear the gasps) but it keeps our minds active! Of cos "Man plans, G-d laughs" but we do the best we can. Very precious time.

Yes! We use a tablecloth, placemats, crockery, cutlery, water glasses, serving dishes etc. It feels special. I love cooking so it makes sense to make it special.

Tanya: you go girl!! Every day IS special - do what you love with those you love! I love it!!

Not only do we eat dinner together each night, but we always pray first. And when my children were small, they learned the rules of the house were that they kept their elbows off the table, never talked with their mouths full of food, and chewed with their mouths closed. They knew which fork and spoon were used for what. My son would grump a bit sometimes but now he has his own family and Surprise! guess what he's teaching his children? LOL. Aah! Life is good.

Yes, Also each my daughters had to prepare a dinner one night a week after age 12. They were responsible for planning what they needed for the meal at the beginning of the week, so I knew what to buy. They enjoyed the friendly competition, and older ones helped the younger ones to learn. Our 3 Foreign exchange students had an opportunity to share their favorite meals with us, and we all (mostly) benefited. Yes, there were few disasters, and a few good fun food fights , and an occasional no hands spaghetti night :-).

My girls are wonderful gourmet cooks now, and preparing meals together is a ritual when we get together. BTW I often taught yoga in the evenings, and loved coming into the house with dinner on the table.

just me n my husband so no cats to herd...it may be just the two of us, it may be late, it may be take out, and it may even be in front of the blasphemous television watching our favorite show or PBS but yep we eat dinner together every night - I appreciate those of you who struggle with multiple kids schedules and still find time to have a good meal and family time together, I don't know if I could - keep it up everyone - you do you!

Absolutely we have dinner together. Part of an enjoyable meal is sharing it with people who are family and friends; otherwise, it is only a fuel station to pack it away and move on. When our children were young and lived at home, each meal was a balanced one with salad and vegetables every day, regardless of what the entree was. As parents we made a special attempt to discuss what the children did at school, what their plans were that evening, and often challenged them to come up with reasons to support what course of action or what their beliefs on issues happened to be. Sometimes the discussions were quite lively, but did not disturb the meal itself. As a result the entire family looked forward to gather together at dinner as a special time. 0f course, we didn't have to compete with cell phones and hand-held devices at the table in those days. But there would never have been that competition in the first place--it just wouldn't have happened in our home, I can assure you. Today, our adult children often remark how special the evening meals had been as they were growing up--especially those during holidays when relatives and friends would join us. Sometimes, I think younger people don't appreciate the good feelings engendered on those occasions until they are older (and wiser).

When my husband came back home for (holiday)leave we ate together. But when he was stateside...No, we didn't eat every single night together. But when we finally have children, we have settled that we want to have "traditions" like that, sitting together as a family and eating dinner, almost every night. I think it's okay to eat on your own in your room or living room or in the bathtub at least once a week, lol!

Sadly not often at all, due to our varied work schedules

Buster57, My dear MIL lived with us until I had no choice but to put her somewhere for her own safety (age 99). She passed at 100. But until that time we watched Jeporady. Her hearing was so bad, I'd answer audibly and she thought I answered correctly . How wonderful to be the genius in the family if I was only batting 50%. It made her so happy to have that time together.

Carolynsmimi, you are a very lucky lady to have spent so much quality time with the old dear

When I was a young mother a much older co-worker told me his secret to raising 5 lovely daughters...always eat dinner together. As my kids got older and more involved in school, sports, etc. we still almost always managed to eat together. It took a lot of effort and meals were not perfect but we were together and that's what mattered. It was a place to listen to each other, share the day's activities and enjoy the family. It must of worked because my 3 daughters grew up to be wonderful women with kids of their own still trying to carry on the same tradition. In this day and age, with all the crazy work schedules, I don't know how they do it. For the working moms of today maybe it boils down to one special day a week for everyone to be together. Traditions are what's important.

Some weekday evenings, but more likely on the weekends.

When we can.

Dinner together is the glue for our 3 generation family. The key is grandpa makes a special meal everyday - it's like a tour around the world each month; Italian, French, Japanese, Thai, Hawaiian... it's always a treat we enjoy together. On Sunday nights after dinner, we have our family meeting to go over our schedules for the coming weeks so we can coordinate our needs. Eating together and planning together is fun and an important part of being a family, it's sharing.

usually 4-5 times a week....

We ate dinner together every night with few exceptions. Our family members changed over the 45 years we have been married but I still serve dinner between 6-6:30pm. My mother and aunt who lived with us joined us every night while they were alive. Now we have dinner with our daughter and her 3 yr old on the days we are taking care of her. When our son was in elementary school he brought home a mother's day card and listed what was special about his mom - "having dinner together every night." I treasure that card's reflections. Having that dinner time as family left an impression on him at an early age and now that he is 32 yrs old, he still joins us for dinner when he is not working.

We are a family of four and when the kids were going up we ate together every night. As the kids are now in their 20's and they come and go we still eat together most nights. It is not uncommon that a friend is added to the mix as well. We have theme nights with Sunday night being roast night and usually a friend comes to join us. It definitely makes a world of difference to eat together as a family.

We eat as a family nearly every night. If my husband comes home and dinner isn't underway, he starts singing Santana's Evil Ways - "When I come home, baby
My house is dark and my pots are cold" (he's joking, by then, I've already texted him about a change in plans!)

I have had to settle for Sunday dinners together as my husband's ER schedule doesn't allow for nightly. Kudos to families who make it work! We do our best.

My husband and I have a 19 year old son and a 22 year old son....we used to eat dinner together 5-6 days a week...now it's more like 3 with a friend of theirs joining us every now and then~

Bound to happen when they become of adult status. It's a good thing a friend joins them. Not only does the friend get a good meal, you get to know their friend(s).

It just me... and cats(3). Back in the days when I was marred and my girlies were still at home Every Sunday's we all sit down at dining table and have a nice Sunday dinner...like Beef Pot Roast with all the trimmings!

Well we eat together, its at different times but yes we do.

Yes. Especially when our first 4 children are at home during school break. All 8 of us will sit for dinner together. Normally the girls cook.