“No phones at the table.”
That’s my quote. My husband knows it. My kids know it. Even our extended family is aware of it.
Why? You may ask.
Why not?
I grew up in a house where family dinner time meant something. It was a time to talk about your day or any other topic you had on your mind. It was the one time of day when everyone was together, even just for a short amount of time. It wasn’t the time of day to check your Facebook or text messages. Granted, they didn’t exist then (geez I’m old), but you get my point.
Sad to say, family dinner time is pretty much non-existent in many households today. Opposite and crazy work schedules can make family meals impossible. For others, it’s overscheduling ourselves or our family that seems to be the problem. Whatever the case, dinner time ain’t what it used to be. I’m sure many of you agree.
That’s even more reason why we should give our phones a little nappy when actually sit down to dinner with the family. That Facebook video doesn’t need to be watched now. It doesn’t ever need to be watched if you ask me, but I digress. Twitter will still be there in a half hour. That text message that’s dinging incessantly will eventually go away. Don’t worry, it will be waiting for you when you’re done eating your mashed potatoes and corn.
Trust me, it’s hard to resist the urge to set your phone a place at the table. Just because I made the rule doesn’t mean it’s easy for me to follow. I really don’t know why our phones have such a hold over us. It’s an addiction. It’s hard to accept the fact that our phones can wait.
I don’t think the same can be said about our kids or spouses. A little piece of me cringes when parents tell their kids to hold on to that great story they are bursting to tell so that they can finish a text or finish watching a video. The next time, that child may not want to tell their story. Think about that the next time your text messages dings.
So, if you ever have dinner at my house, remember no phones at the table. If you forget, don’t worry, my kids will remind you. They know the rule so well that their play phones don’t even make it over!
How about you? Do you have similar dinner time rules?
Great rule! We don’t really have a rule about it at this point, but it may become one later. Sometimes I find myself escaping into my phone land when the needs and whininess surrounding my life as a stay at home mom overwhelms me while alone with our munchkins, but generally we don’t mess with our phones at the table. It seems rude to ignore living people at a social time like meal time while staring at the phone.
I know, I find it so rude! Thanks for stopping by!
Love this. My husband and I have been trying to do the same thing. Of course, once in a while i need to take a picture first if I’m sharing a recipe hehe 🙂
Lol! Thanks for stopping by:)
You are absolutely right. Dinner time with the family should be time without phones.
Oh boy this is something that is been bothering me for months….I completely agree with you and it gets worse because now restaurants are starting to have tablets for kids to play with! So glad we aren’t the only ones trying to work on this!
I love this rule, and we try to stick to this too. Our kids are still really young, but we definitely want to make dinner a time for us to connect as a family as well. Great post!
Thanks!
I absolutely agree! My husband and I used to be terrible! Since having kids we have established the same rule. Not so easy all the time, but we’re working on it. It’s so important to have dinner with family…JUST family.
Glad to know I’m not the only one!
We have been purposely leaving our phones away from the table, and even just away til our daughter goes to bed. I am considering even taking a break from social media for a bit just to get away from it all!
I know what you mean. As a freelance writer, I feel like I am always online looking for stuff. I get annoyed with myself, lol!
Thanks for stopping by!
Completely agree with you, family dinner times are a lost art and something that need to cherished.
We have the same rule in our house
Thanks for linking up to #SHINEbloghop
Thanks & thanks for stopping by:)
You were nominated for the One Lovely Blog Award, for bloggers from another blogger who supports you! 🙂
I have named you in this post here and, in order to accept, you can visit for rules/pass on details; http://mydomesticdish.com/2015/01/one-lovely-blog-award-2015.html
Thank u so much! I’m going to get on this, promise!