How about Dinner?
WHAT IS DINNER LIKE IN YOUR HOME?
FROM "Lynn Minton Reports: Fresh Voices" (Parade Magazine, 23 March 1997)
Teenagers' answers to this question revealed a lot about family life today:
The following are from students of Anne Lacy at Spring Forest Middle School in Houston:
| Ashantia Westley, 14 -- |
"
I eat dinner with my mom, dad and dog. During dinner, we don't talk a lot, because we are too busy watching the soap opera that was recorded that day. It's a pretty laid-back time for the family, because we all sit down together in the living room and watch something we all like."
| Matthew Wakefield, 14 -- |
"
I usually eat by myself. My parents are either not home or they are upstairs playing on the computer. So obviously I rarely talk during dinner. But I like it that way."
Sasha Quiroz, 14 --
"
We never eat together. I eat at about 5 p.m., always something different from what the rest of the family eats, because I am very picky and hate a lot of stuff. While I'm eating, I talk to my mother--and usually our conversation turns into a bitter debate, which then fades, and we watch The Simpsons. My mother and brother eat at 6:30 and watch Wheel of Fortune. Finally, my father comes home from work and school at 8:30 to eat what Mom made and tell us about his day."
Daniel Diaz, 14 --
"
I eat dinner with my oldest brother, Manuel, my sister-in-law, Dara, my niece, Alexis, and my baby nephew, Jordan. I like dinnertime, because first we say our prayers, and then we eat and talk about our day and things. We laugh and have a nice time together. My niece always makes us do this little thing where we clink our glasses together and say, "To the open road." She got that from a Goofy movie."The following are from Linda Reynolds' classes at Marietta (Ohio) Middle School:
| Chad Cullen, 14-- |
"
Usually, my mom will call me from work and ask me what I want to eat. If I'm in a hurry, which I always am, I'll tell her Wendy's or Taco Bell. She'll bring it in the house around 3:40, and I'll set it on the coffee table in front of the TV. My mom usually doesn't bother to have anything, so she goes and does something else. Within 10 minutes, I'll be done with dinner and ready to get back to my schedule."
| Lindsay George, 13 -- |
"
When I was younger, my mother insisted that we all sit down to a nice family dinner, and we would talk about how our day went. Only rarely could my sister and I weasel our way into the living room to watch TV. My mother always said that we needed to spend quality family time together--not with the TV set.But lately it has become a rare event for all of us to sit around the table to a home-cooked meal. My father is working odd hours, and my sister is away at college, so it's often just my mom and me. Mom doesn't want to cook a big meal for only two people, so we usually have leftovers or takeout.
Still, there are days when we manage to get all of us at home to enjoy a family dinner just like when I was little."
The following are from Dorothy Taglieri's students at Canyon Springs High School in Moreno Valley, Calif.:
Zulema Encinas, 16 --
"
Every night around 6, my mom, brother, sister and I gather around the table for a home-cooked meal. We say grace, and then we talk about our day and new things happening. I enjoy sitting with my family, because I love them."
| Tory Young, 16 -- |
"
Sometimes my dad and I eat dinner at the same time, in front of the television, and discuss how the day went or what we are doing this weekend. But not every night. Even though his girlfriend cooks every night, I have a basketball game some days, and I go out and eat with my friends before the game. Or I have practice, and I eat when I come home."
| Jamie McCool, 17 -- |
"
My mom works from I p.m. till 10:30 p.m., so I almost never get to see her. My father goes to work at 3 a.m. and gets home at 6 or 6:30 p.m. So my brothers and I make what we want to eat and then eat wherever we want. When my dad gets home, he makes whatever he wants. That's our suppertime. I wish we had a family where we would sit around the table and talk while eating."
| Jonathan Kao, 17 -- |
"In my family, we have to wait until everybody shows up--then we eat. I think most Chinese always do it that way. At the table, we talk about what happened today and have a happy time. I think talking to my parents is very important, because they always give some ideas to solve my problems, and talking to them at the dinner table can make me feel comfortable."