Is having dinner in front of the TV trashy?

[Anonymous]

DH and I have a routine of cooking dinner together and then sitting down to watch Jeopardy while we eat. Not always, but a lot of nights. When it's nice out, we'll eat outside. We also do date night once a week so we can chat and catch up about things.

Once our infant DS is old enough to sit and eat at the table with us though we plan to do family dinners.

I think it's sad if a family uses tv as a means to avoid communicating with each other, but if it's sometimes a part of family dinner time/bonding over shows, NBD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I think it's sad if a family uses tv as a means to avoid communicating with each other, but if it's sometimes a part of family dinner time/bonding over shows, NBD.

I am very for family dinners at the table, at as consistent of a time as possible - but I do agree with this. #1. Sometimes is key - I think more than once or twice a week is too much, IMO. #2. If it is an interactive show like Jeopardy, that could definitely be a "family fun time" if you're discussing the answers, learning things, trying to guess before they do, etc. It's when people are sitting passively it really concerns me.

[Anonymous]

I think that it sets up very bad practices. Dinner should be eaten as a family. It is a social time. Reliance on electronics instead of human communication breeds people who are unable to communicate properly.

I do eat in front of the TV when alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it trashy to have dinner in front of the TV? How do you have dinner?

No OP! Sometimes DH gets home from work very late, kids have already eaten. homework is sprawled all over the dining room table and I just don't have the energy to do more than eat in front of the boob-tube. I work as well, and the minute I leave the office the second half of my day begins....pick up from activities, drop off at tutor, HW helper, laundry.... and DH is a huge help with all of this - when he isn't walking through the door at 8:30!

So - No OP. not trashy. and who cares anyhow. Its all how you feel about what you're doing. I personally couldn't care less if someone thought that eating in front of the TV was trashy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I think it's sad if a family uses tv as a means to avoid communicating with each other, but if it's sometimes a part of family dinner time/bonding over shows, NBD.

I am very for family dinners at the table, at as consistent of a time as possible - but I do agree with this. #1. Sometimes is key - I think more than once or twice a week is too much, IMO. #2. If it is an interactive show like Jeopardy, that could definitely be a "family fun time" if you're discussing the answers, learning things, trying to guess before they do, etc. It's when people are sitting passively it really concerns me.

This, really. We don't usually eat dinner in front of the TV, since we try to have family dinner, but if we're eating later for some reason and the toddler is in bed, we might eat in front of the TV if there's a game we want to watch or if we're watching a TV show that we really like and we want to get in two episodes before bed.

[Anonymous]

Maybe, but I love it. Especially, if it is mindless tv. Formal living be damned I say!

[Anonymous]

SAHM mom here and eating lunch solo with the TV as my sole companion (and watch an admittedly trashy tv show) is one of my daily pleasures and indulgences.

[Anonymous]

Of course it is. Dinner is time for sharing your day with your family with no electronic devices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes ...as I bite into my filet of fish, with my 3 year old and her fillet of fish, my hi-c spiked with vodka, and my live in Bf on the other side of the couch ..unapologetically at 930pm.

Funny troll.

[Anonymous]

trashy. no, but I don't think it is the best thing for your health. Do yo have kids?

We use to eat on the couch more when we didn't have a nice dining space. One we changed our dining are and had a clean table to eat at we found that much more enjoyable. Now I can't even fathom food in the living room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't own a table/chairs and don't have space for them anyway. DD and I eat all our meals either on the way to school/work or sitting on the couch.

This is setting up such a bad habit and missing such an opportunity. You couldn't fit in a small drop-leaf table that is nearly flat against the wall when not in use?

It honestly makes me really sad when kids don't have a frequent dinner at the table, TV off, with their family. It is SUCH a valuable learning time and experience, totally different than eating on the go. I'm not saying it has to be every night, but I really think at least a few "set" nights per week is something that should be a part of every household.

My brother and sister-in-law have such a messy house their table is always covered - in 5 years I've never seen it usable to sit down and have a meal. It really breaks my heart.

There's no wall space for a table, so no. And I didn't say we eat with the tv on each night. You said that. I just said we eat on the couch. Our other two options would be to eat on the bed or standing up. Neither DD nor I are morning people, so we'd rather sleep later and eat breakfast on our way to school and work. There's NOTHING magical about eating DINNER at a table. The idea behind it is that families are busy and dinnertime is when they all connect. But DD meets me at work at 5pm, we get home together, and then spend the next four hours talking while doing homework, chores, showers, cooking, cleaning up, making lunch for the next day. It's a one-bedroom apartment. We spend tons of time together. I'm not worried in the least about how we eat our meals.

I sorta agree with this pp. There is nothing magical about dinner at the table. When my DC was a preschooler, he used to only want to talk about his day during "nite-nite". If I asked any earlier, he would say, "we talk about it at nite-nite". The goal is to make a quality connection and have quality communication with your kids, not to have those things at the dinner table. Lots of families have different schedules and circumstances and can find various ways to make things work that happen to be different from your family and mine.

[Anonymous]

Trashy! My inlaws do this and it freaks me out.

[Anonymous]

I think it makes a big difference if you have kids or not. If you have kids, I think its a really bad idea to eat dinner, or any meal really, in front of the TV. I think it teaches kids to eat mindlessly and discourages real family interaction.

If you don't have kids, it's still not a great habit, but dinner once or twice a week in front of the TV is no big deal. My husband and I eat dinner in front of the TV probably once every two weeks. Its usually on the weekend when we are too tired to cook and order takeout or pick something up. When our son is older and we are able to eat as a family, I hope we never eat in front of the TV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Trashy! My inlaws do this and it freaks me out.

It "freaks" you out? You need to get more and live, honey, if this is what freaks you out.

[Anonymous]

It's called life.