What is the most important piece of furniture in your home?
The answer to the question of the most important piece of furniture for each family may be varied. I came to my answer when I was just 18 while hearing a speech presented by a fellow student in college.
Her speech was about the importance of table manners and told an embarrassing event in her life of eating out with a boyfriends family and how her lack of social graces prompted her to educate herself on the proper etiquette of eating at a table with others.
I can remember during her speech being thankful for my parents who prepared meals and we all sat down together and ate as a family.
The dining table has always been the most important piece of furniture for my family.
It is at the table where my children learned table manners and how they were expected to behave during meals. It was also where we discussed our days of victories and defeats.
Social skills were developed and the minor act of taking turns and passing food were important keys to developing a consciousness of others needs before our own. It was also a place where we, as a family, worked as a team by setting the table, discussing and sharing of ideas, and clearing the table to do the dishes.
Our table was a place we met three times a day when my children were small and at least once a day as they grew older. It was at that table we wielded a relationship of love that persevered through anger, disappointment, and misunderstandings. I have often been told how close-knit my family appears to be with one another. It was at our dining table we began that bond.
What Is Your Families’ Most Important Piece Of Furniture?
about gracehodgin
Grandma Blogger encouraging grand parents to remain active in the lives of their grand children and to inspire imagination and creativity.
When Grace is not writing articles for her blog then she morphs into GracieLoo and is off to ZombieZoo where she is the resident Grandma who hands out cookies, kisses, band-aids for booboos and reads stories to her beloved ZombieZoo Residents.
I love that you have a family table. That is one thing I lack- a place where we can all gather. Your post reminded me that this is very important. Thank you.
This is a beautiful post Grace! I try so hard to at least get everyone together for dinner, and somedays (a lot of days) I just feel like it’s not worth the effort, but thank you for the reminder. You’re right, there is so much more to the dinner table, then just dinner!
Thank you Isra. There were days I felt like I gave a lot more correction at the table than had fun but it was all worth it in the end.
Wonderful post, Grace! You are so right! We do need to teach our kids proper table etiquette! Too many families just sit in front of the tv to eat dinner & kids never learn!
Thanks and I agree with you about those that never turn off the tv sets to enjoy each other.
I am a HUGE proponent of the family meal. We sit down together as a family every night for dinner. No TV, no phones, no interruptions …just the 4 of us hearing about each other’s days. I think too many people are starting to forget about eating together as a family!
Good for you and I hope in time there is a shift back to the basics and back to the table.
Amazing post Grace! We seldom eat at our dining table just because it is too large, but we DO always have our dinners together at the counter which is huge….This is very important to our family, dining together every single dat.
Thanks Myrah, I think that is great you eat together and I wish we had a counter in my kitchen as I’d utilize it as well.
This post reflects on something that seems to be falling by the wayside in our society. My husband and I both come from families that gathered at the table as well. Sadly, we didn’t utilize (or even have one) for the first four years we were together. When we found out we were pregnant we both felt the first thing we should buy is a dining room table. Our daughter is too small to sit in her own chair yet, but someday she will grow to be able to sit on her own. Someday she will grow to feed herself and participate in the conversations we are having. Someday she will learn what is expected of her during our meals at home and while dining out. Both my husband and I look forward to all of those “somedays” and know that the beginning of them is that dining room table. Thanks for your post about a tradition that is fading.
Thanks for taking the time to comment and I think your daughter will grow up knowing how lucky she is to have parents that care about her table manners and social skills.
this is SO true! I grew up where EVERY MEAL was a family meal around the table. I didn’t think much of it until we had our own family. Again I didn’t think much of it, as we were poor college students and actually couldn’t afford a table. So we would have “picnics’ in the livingroom on a blanket. Well, when we finally DID get a table, it was shocked at how much I was fought to have meals AT THE TABLE. They all just wanted to watch tv while they ate. But I didn’t want to clean up the mess any more. So I won out and we started having meals at the table and you would be shocked at the difference in my family now! Yes, my boys still have a long way to go to learn proper table manners, but they are far better than they were. We now TALK as a family! We laugh, and it’s a specific time when we all have each other’s attention. It’s a wonderful change, and very rarely do we ever have “picnic’s” any more. Usually only when Mommy has a migraine and I can’t handle sitting up.
I love your picnic idea and as long as you were together I think that is great. I do see where having a table would be less maintenance for you and am glad your enjoying yours.
We’re guilty of not using our dining table at meal times, purely down to the fact that as soon as we are all home we are back out again with the kids sports etc and by the time we are back its so much easier and more relaxing eating watching the tv. Ive started working evenings now which really doesnt help either. Great post.
We love our dinner together as a family, and we have always said grace even before the children came. That was one of the things I loved about my husband when we got married. Saying grace before all meals was a family tradition around their table, and it is still ours.
So true! We try to have at least one meal at the table every day.
I think it is a nice place to come as a family and enjoy one another.
I wish more families sat at the table to eat and made it a no phone zone. I have heard that some families have a basket somewhere in the house, and everyones cell phones / handheld devices must go in the basket before dinner, and have to stay in there until everyone is done eating and the kitchen is cleaned up after the meal.
This is something we are working on! Since we have a pretty small house, whenever we have extra stuff come in or out, it covers the dining table. (RIght now it’s covered with a basket of folded tablecloths that have to go back to my church and stuff from my car that’s being worked on. We have no garage or storage.)
But this is a quote from the book “Food Fights” I just reviewed. (You can read about it on my blog (www.mommytoelodie.tumblr.com) or on http://ruralmom.com. I think you’ll find this interesting: There are great benefits to eating meals together as a family.
A recent study has shown “that those who eat as a family at least 3 times a week are 12% less likely to be overweight; 20% less likely to eat unhealthy foods…; 24% more likely to eat fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods; and 35% less likely to have disordered eating habits, such as skipping meals, purging, using diet pills, or smoking cigarettes as a way to reduce weight.” (pg. 8)
Hey that does sound like an interesting review and I’ll be sure to stop by and read it. Thanks for sharing.
Absolutely have to agree, the most important piece is our dinner table. Not just for eating, but board games, crafts, homework, shucking peas- you name it, we gather around it constantly.
I also think it is so helpful in helping to teach children social graces and the importance of family time. What a beautiful post, Grace!
You are so right and I had forgotten how many times we gathered at the table for crafts and games as well.
They say that eating together as a family is important. I can see why, since it’s too easy with all the chaos of life to end up shoving food in your mouth on the go, which isn’t very healthy to do all the time and leaves you stressed and with less time to connect with each other.
Good points made and I see your point about the reduced stress from not connecting with one another.
My husband built our family dinner room table. We eat at it for every meal even snacks. It’s where we gather to talk and just share things..although my children are still young it ends up also being possible the most frustrating times (at times) they play more than I like at it, but all shall pass! We still share around the table and as they grow up they will end up being more well mannered at the table
Trust me in that it will get better and you’ll be one of the mothers that get compliments from others on how well behaved your children are while eating.
We try to keep our toddler at the dining table for dinner and it can be a challenge sometimes. lol.
Love your post.
We love our kitchen table. We try to gather together for several meals a week.
Fantastic post, Grace! I’m in complete agreement – the dining table. My family is so busy during the week but we always sit down together on the weekends. So important!
I hardly ever use my dining room table, but I have a kitchen nook where we do all our eating, talking and planning for the day ahead.
The dining table is important…but the most important piece of ‘furniture’ in our home is the kitchen sink. We have no dishwasher anymore, all our dishes are done by hand. And as the kids help with the dishes they talk, and talk and talk. They share things at the kitchen sink that they would never share at the dinner table.
So the depth of relationship and trust between us as a family is markedly increased since the dishwasher died. I believe it’s true quality time, better than a picnic or a family outing.
My sister and I use to have some heart to heart talks while doing dishes as well.