That weird rule my mom had about never eating dinner in front of the TV

I was over at my buddy's house last week and his kids were all eating pizza watching some cartoon, just casually. It hit me that my mom would have lost her mind if we did that. She always said it was rude and would make us sit at the table with no distractions. Idk, now I wonder if she just wanted to make sure we actually talked to each other or if it was some control thing. Anyone else grow up with a weird rule like that that seemed pointless but now you're not sure?

4 comments

4 Comments

adam_thompson5325d ago

Man, I'm right there with you. My mom had the same rule and it drove me nuts, but now I catch myself doing the same thing when I eat alone at home. Sarah531 hit it pretty well, those forced conversations ended up being some of the only real talks we had as a family.

rubyschmidt29d ago

Oh man, my mom was the exact same way about the TV during dinner. It drove me crazy as a kid because all I wanted was to watch my shows. But now I actually catch myself doing it with my own food, like sitting at the table and not scrolling on my phone. Maybe she was onto something about making us actually look at each other, you know? I think it was more about connection than control, even if it felt stupid back then.

sarah53129d ago

Growing up with that rule made me absolutely crazy too, but now I see the value in it completely. We had a strict no phones at the table rule when my kids were little, and at first they fought it just like I did with the TV. Looking back, those dinner conversations were the only time all day we actually sat still and talked about real things. It forced us to ask each other questions and listen, which is something that's way too easy to skip with screens around. I think your mom was right that it was about connection, not control, even if neither of us would have admitted that at the time.

sarah53125d ago

It's funny how we all seem to have that same story about fighting the rule first and then coming around to it later. The part about it being about connection and not control makes a lot of sense now, but back then it just felt like a punishment. My sister still jokes about how she used to hide her Gameboy under the table and try to play it during dinner, and my mom always caught her somehow. Now she does the same thing with her own kids, just with phones instead of Gameboys.