Some of my favorite memories of growing up in the Rhien home involve food....(sadly)
But I think more than the FOOD - were the memories that were surrounding the time we spent together. I love that we had breakfast together every morning - sitting at the table, all at the same time. (with color matching Tupperware dishes - thanks for going the extra mile Mom!) My mom would read the scriptures to us as we ate together (and I'm pretty sure her breakfast wasn't ever warm - as she read to us before she had a chance to eat most of the time). Sure, I threw fits, didn't want to eat breakfast, didn't like what we were having - etc (I wasn't a pleasant teenager...) - but now looking back I love that my parents pushed this. When we were teenagers it was easy to have things to do and places to be at night - but at 6:30 in the morning we could be together as a family - no exceptions.
I also love that we had dinner together, at the table, every night. Not only do I know that it was a sacrifice for my mom to have a hot, homemade meal every night - but she worked so hard to keep it healthy too (and yummy!). I think that in today's world - even more than when I was growing up - it is vital that our families reconnect with each other at the end of the day. Sure, my kids are little right now - but I hope that making dinnertime a good experience now will translate into that connection with them when they are teenagers and we are going a million miles an hour in different directions.
Anyway - I thought this short article was nice. http://www.ldslivingonline.com/article.php?articleId=66850
3 comments:
This sounds so much like my family! A hot breakfast every morning at 6:00 am and a home cooked dinner every night as a family. Some of my favorite memories are from after I got to high school and had different activities and jobs and would get home after dinner time, my dad would heat me up some dinner and sit and talk with me while I ate. Those were special times.
When Chase and I got engaged, it was really important to me to get a nice kitchen table for our apartment. I explained to Chase that our kitchen table was symbolic of our love (I think he thought I was a little crazy at first) - it was where my family bonded, ate meals, played games, did homework, etc. Although Chase and I don't do well with eating breakfast together, I still try and make a homemade meal every night and carry on this tradition.
Thanks for this post and for reminding me of the sacrifices my mom made as well as the importance of our "love table" :)
Same with us growing up. I have tried to do that too, but with Spencer not here lately we get don't get around to eating until 7 or 8. IT is not the same. I loved having breakfast and scripture study aerly morning then dinner at 5:30 when Dad walked through the door.
I think the best conversations take place at dinner time. I love it.
I also remeber mom alsways having a homemade snack for us whne we got home from school.
Neither one of us grew up with eat at the table families. In fact, both sets of parents act all confused when we have dinner at our dining room table when they're here. Even if it's just pizza, we're having it at the table. I hope we can do a good job of that when we have kids.
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