PLATES OF SHARED MEMORIES

Ideally, it’s always the best when families do most things if not all things together (I’m referring to those things that can be done as a group). The more they do things together, the more they are likely to fight and have more misunderstandings but over time, they will eventually understand one another better. There are various things a family can do together that strengthens their bonds and one of them is eating together. Well, I know of a lot of families that don’t do this for so many reasons and still maintain good relationships with one another and I have also seen families that do this and how strengthened their bonds are with each other.

Mind you, there are other things family members can do together that strengthens their bonds so even if they don’t eat together, those other things can also make up for it. Personally, I like to think that one of the most important thing in building a strong relationship is communication. As long as a family makes time for everyone to chitchat and talk about things, about life, then I believe everything is going to get better for them. So when a family don’t eat together, I don’t just write them off and say they are don’t have a good relationship because they might be strengthening their bonds through other means.

Like families that pray together, play together and go out together. These things can strengthen the bonds of such families. Well, growing up, eating together was what I was brought up with. And because we all eat together, I remember I’ll always fall asleep before the food is ready. Most times, it is during dinner families eat together because that’s when everyone is expected to be at home. For us, there are times we had breakfast, lunch and dinner together but it was mostly dinner. Eating with my dad was always nice because he always makes sure we eat very well.

After a while, things changed and my dad stopped eating with us due to the fact that he returns late from work most times but until now, I still eat together with my siblings from the same plate as long as we are all in the same space. It has actually become an habit that I’m happy we’ve all cultivated. Whenever we visit my mum, she also eats with us from the same plate too. As for my dad, he has a very complicated habit of eating so it’s always hard to bring that habit of eating with his family back and we understand him. I know he will always opt in to eat with us at a good time.

Some reasons that might stop families from eating together include timing. Most times it’s hard to get the whole family in one place at a time and that can discourage the habit of eating together. Also, the space the family lives in. There are some houses that are very spacious and built in a way that everyone has his or her own room. This kind of situation often discourages the habit of eating together. Most people will just prefer to go up to their rooms to eat or refuse to come out of their rooms to eat because they are engaged in one thing or another.

Also, the nature of activities each person engages in. Because of the kind of work some people do, like my dad, it discouraged him from eating with us because he doesn’t want us to starve all the time all because he wants to eat with us. So for some people it wasn’t really intentional but the situation they found themselves in pushed them to stop eating together as a family. And many other reasons.

I won’t deny the fact that eating together is beautiful but I also understand the fact that these days, it’s harder to bring everyone together to eat a meal at the same time. Most people even have health problems that require them to eat at a very early time which others don’t do. That also is a good reason why some families don’t eat together.

This is my response to the hivelearners post for this week’s first edition on A FAMILY THAT EATS TOGETHER.

Thank you for reading through. ❤️