The Family Table: Sitting Together

When the children were little, it seemed so very easy. Twenty one a week. That's how many meals we would eat together. Work was a ten minute walk from the house. The kids, all home schooling at the time, were more than happy to make cooking part of their daily routine. It was fun, laughing and telling stories, sharing the day's learning adventure, or sometimes just singing silly songs.

And then things changed, which they always do. We moved and now the commute to work was a 25 minute drive. The kids got bigger and their school work demanded more of their time, so that cooking was more rushed and so, less fun. Big kids also have places to be and things to do. More and more often, someone is missing from our table - off baby sitting, or rehearsing, or whatever it may be.

Memories, however, are made at the dining room table. With everyone being pulled in a million direction, mealtimes are more and more frequently the only times we are actually all together as a family. It's sad to accept that the tell-tale signs of successful parenting means that eventually, our table will be set for two most of the time.

So, what have we done at the table? We have inculcated our children into the culture of family. They associate getting together and laughing together with the special foods that have been placed on the table before them. Even now, with their departure dates still a few years out, they tell stories about cooking together during our own Iron Chef competitions. They sit and plan for future get togethers, laughing about needing a giant dining room table to hold all of us, and G-d willing, all their growing families. Who will host this holiday? Who will cook that dish? I'll make this, but you make that because yours is the best. 

We smile at the end of the table as we watch them passing around plates and appreciate the fact that our baby still has 16 years before he pushes away from the table.