Family Time, Mealtime

Eating together as a family is one of those things that plays a huge role in strengthening the family bond and creating more cherished memories to look back on; it also serves as an avenue to communicate as a family and relish how the day went for each member of the family. We've seen this play out in many movies, both local and international, and it's always an intriguing thing to behold. But yet despite how much most of us enjoy seeing those family scenes, not all of us indulge in such acts as a family, and in this article I'll be sharing my take on that, when last I had such with my family, and the like.

There is this popular saying that a family that eats together stays together. That statement goes a long way and is, to an extent, right because when you eat together as a family, you tend to notice differences in their actions, ways, or the way they do things, and when they seem lost in their thoughts or carried away by them during a meal. As a family, when we eat together, we tend to understand each other better, and that becomes a template to notice any changes. That helps you notice when something is wrong with the other person and act on it to help them get over whatever might have put them in that state.

Personally, I love it when I watch families eat together in movies, and aside from that, when I do that alongside my family members, it's always an exciting moment filled with loads of fun, communication, and love, because although there's a table etiquette that says one shouldn't talk while eating, in our family, we do talk when we eat; in fact, we make jokes and have great times doing so. When we eat together, it's more like another avenue to have family time, family discussion, or further bonding.

Although the last time I was privileged to partake in my family dinner together was about eleven years ago, in 2014 to be precise, that was the last year we had gathered together as an extended family, which had been a tradition for as long as I can remember prior to that, but the thing is that the following year that followed happens to be when Grandma died, and we usually hosted the get-togethers or reunions at her place, so since her passing, it's more that things are no longer the same, and most people just come up with excuses, unlike before when everyone was eager to be there.

I'm sure you might be wondering why I have to wait for a family reunion before I can have a dinner with my family. Well, the thing is that as a family we actually always ate together right from my childhood. Even when we had no dining table, the adults sat on the chair and ate from the center table, while we, the young ones, sat on the carpet and ate while listening to the conversation from the adults, and that continued till we grew up and had our own house and a dining table, but it all stopped when we began to gain admission into the university one after the other.

Since then, we're hardly together at home at the same moment, leading to eating separately, but overall I can say for a fact that I love it when we eat together as a family, and when it's time to begin my own family, I'll ensure this is followed to the letter, as I see it as a great ideal to strengthen family unity, bonds, and concern for one another.

All photos are taken and edited on canva application library.