Comments on: What’s so hard about dinner?

By: Mrs G

Mrs G — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 19:33:58 +0000

I’m wonderin’ if some of the angst about actually putting dinner on the table isn’t brought on by watching too many episodes on the foodtv channel…and thinking every meal has to be an event instead of sometimes being Just Boxed Pasta with Canned Sauce…I find I sometimes get into that mode…and after about a week, I’m exhausted and ready for Take-Out…

By: Mouse

Mouse — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 17:58:11 +0000

When I worked fulltime dinner seemed like such a big deal, getting in at 7pm and starting to cook was, often, just too much…

Now I don’t work and I live in France where Food Is Important and I cook every day using fresh, seasonal ingredients…

I have to say that I much prefer this current state of affairs…

PS Am I No 5 then?

By: mc

mc — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 21:43:27 +0000

You know, I was really worried about this when our daughter (I almost typed “dinner” — you can see where my head is!) was born six months ago. I thought we’d never have time to cook, have to eat incredibly early, etc. But that’s not the case. Yes, we have to be more organized than we used to be, and it’s very rare that we can cook together, but once we got past the intensely sleep-deprived early days, we’ve been doing pretty well. Of course, tonight we’re heading out at 5 pm for pizza, but that’s a rare treat.

By: A Vagabond

A Vagabond — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 19:47:38 +0000

If an occasional reader can comment for the first time , I suspect there are a lot of different reasons. Overall, it seems to me that our society has lost most of its personal interaction. People talk to each other on cell phones or over the internet (like I’m doing now); music, dance, and other entertainment are performances rather than participatory. When everything else in our lives is related to individual consumption rather than to personal connection, why whould food be any different?

My family nearly always eats dinner together around the table. I have had occasional chances to share an evening playing Irish fiddle tunes with other musicians, and watching TV just doesn’t compare (we also don’t have cable and can’t get any stations without it where we live). By contrast, all I hear most of my coworkers talk about is what was on the TV last night!

It makes me sad that our society has largely lost its interconnectedness, its ability to create and enjoy and live without the consumer machine, but there it is.

By: Yogamum

Yogamum — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 13:51:52 +0000

I don’t have an explanation but just want to share your bewilderment. Growing up, my family ate together every night, and now that I have my own family, we do too. It just hadn’t occurred to me that we could eat separately, even on nights when the kids have lots of activities going on. Maybe it’ll get harder when the kids are older (they’re 7 & 10)…

By: Jola

Jola — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 13:02:30 +0000

DH and I don’t even get takeout pizza anymore, we make our own (though we occasionally pay good money for bad Chinese). I can think of reasons why families don’t prepare a meal and dine together (e.g., lack of organization, scheduling conflicts). But I once worked with a woman who told me that her husband and two children all demanded completely different things for dinner – four separate menus. And that her husband and son refused to touch any manner of leftover, ever. I was incredulous and simply couldn’t relate. Plus, if that had been my family I would never have stood for it. But this woman (with well-honed diva tendencies herself) seemed proud of her family’s extravagant individualism. So that, to me, points to a difference in values. I wonder if that family ever sat down together much. I don’t remember for a fact, but I bet they all ate in their own rooms!