Eating Dinner at the Table . . .

I was reading a friends blog today and came across this conversation and it just broke my heart.

One boy stated that he was starving and was excited to get home, because Mom was making a chicken dish that was his favorite and she promised to save him some. The reaction from a few of the other youths was surprising to me.

It went something like this:

Does your Mom cook dinner, every night? This was said with a huge emphasis that held an element of awe or disbelief. When he went on to assure the group that yes, indeed his Mom did fix dinner every night, the group was stunned.

The crust of the conversation held statements like, “we can’t afford milk, because my mom buys 10 red bulls a day or trades our food stamps for cigarettes.” another statement was, “I don’t think we have actually ever eaten at the table, at least not that I can remember.” one of my favorites, (hope you can sense the sarcasm) was, “we don’t even have a table”

I am grateful to my mom who made my sister and I eat at the table every night when we were growing up! We didn't always like it, but as a mom myself I enjoy that time with my family to find out how their day went, what adventures they had at work, school or daycare, and sometimes it's a race to see who can get done the fastest so we can spend more time at the park before bath time.

Sunday dinner is sometimes a challenge, the boys are hyper or whining about something, but I wanted to say thank you to both my parents for enduring meal time at our house! I love you very much!!!!