# When at home, do you have fixed "coffee break moments"with family/ housemates? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 6, 2019, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-at-home-do-you-have-fixed-coffee-break-moments-with-family-housemates/833544 "2019-05-06T09:21:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-at-home-do-you-have-fixed-coffee-break-moments-with-family-housemates/833544/21 "2019-05-07T05:51:10Z")
The closest we came to what the OP describes was breakfast when I was in high school, when my Mom and I would share the morning newspaper over coffee. On weekends, that occurred a little later than on weekdays, but it still happened. But during the middle of the day? No. Cocktail hour, on the other hand, was a family tradition that I happily participated in, once I was old enough. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-at-home-do-you-have-fixed-coffee-break-moments-with-family-housemates/833544/22 "2019-05-07T06:10:14Z")
When I was a child we used to have _Kaffeetrinken_ with a small pastry and a hot beverage in the afternoon with our mother/on weekends with the whole family. _Kaffeetrinken_ in the afternoon is still reasonably widespread as the fourth meal (or more precisely, as the third out of four) in Germany, at least on non working days (schoolchildren are more frequently at school in the afternoon than in my time). When I worked as a student in an university institute we often had a short afternoon round with tea. Nowadays my wife and I almost invariably have _Kaffeetrinken_ on weekend days, with tea/coffee and a slice of cake - at home at stay at home days or in a café. We skip lunch more often than we do _Kaffeetrinken_. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-at-home-do-you-have-fixed-coffee-break-moments-with-family-housemates/833544/23 "2019-05-07T07:46:55Z")
I’m not sure why there isn’t an option for “We have meals together but not coffee breaks as outlined.” Growing up Mormon, no coffee or tea for us, of course, but we didn’t have a fixed break either. I’ve never heard of them. We have meals together. Mostly lunches and dinners, but sometimes breakfasts as well. No screen time during meals so we can have conversations. Even if it’s just the kids fighting. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-at-home-do-you-have-fixed-coffee-break-moments-with-family-housemates/833544/24 "2019-05-07T07:48:59Z")
No, and while the idea is not unknown to me, it would have been strange in my house. My family has always had a sort of flow through out the day that wasn’t really conducive to that sort of thing. At around 5 or 6 in the afternoon, dinner would be served for whoever was present, with a little extra in case someone showed up or was expected to arrive a little late. That’s about as structured as it got. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-at-home-do-you-have-fixed-coffee-break-moments-with-family-housemates/833544/25 "2019-05-07T08:19:57Z")
Not at home, but my parents’ business did and does stop for tea/coffee at 10am. This tradition is upheld to the extent that passing family members or staff on their day off who, say, just wanted to check the diary or something will regularly drop in at that time and join in. It does work very well as an informal daily meeting and catch-up session. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-at-home-do-you-have-fixed-coffee-break-moments-with-family-housemates/833544/26 "2019-05-07T09:12:39Z")
> [@Chicken\_Fingers](#): > > I’ve heard Brits call this “elevenses.” I can’t imagine doing this outside of a workplace with strict break times. We Americans typically drink coffee and snack at will. If you’re trying to structure your day more and avoid snacking, creating the ritual at a set time sounds like a good idea. True that, although pretty antiquaited now. I think it related more to fixed work breaks which don’t really happen in modern offices, though may still happen in factories where production lines dictate fixed breaks. I also think my Mum used to do this with her cleaner - they’d both sit down for a proper tea break at about 11 and no doubt called it ‘elevenses’. No bells were involved. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-at-home-do-you-have-fixed-coffee-break-moments-with-family-housemates/833544/27 "2019-05-07T11:45:46Z")
My wife and I sit around on weekend mornings drinking tea or coffee in our study. Does that count as a “fixed” coffee break? I don’t think so, but I’m not familiar with the idea of fixed coffee breaks outside of work. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-at-home-do-you-have-fixed-coffee-break-moments-with-family-housemates/833544/28 "2019-05-07T12:59:23Z")
I grew up in a classical 'Leave it to Beaver’esque middle american household of the 60s and 70s, breakfast before school, snack when getting home, dinner on the table at 7 pm … mrAru and I breakfast together, and cook and eat supper together, and on weekends we like to do a pot of coffee mid afternoon and discuss plans and tasks. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-at-home-do-you-have-fixed-coffee-break-moments-with-family-housemates/833544/29 "2019-05-07T15:08:23Z")
Not a household I live in, but my aunt has Three O’Clock most weekdays. Nothing formal, but friends/neighbors are welcome to drop in for snacks (or pizza on Fridays,) coffee or tea, and a quick visit. I see the charm of the habit, and its usefulness. My aunt is 83, and lives alone in a pretty rural area. Most of the neighbors are her age or older. It’s a sneaky way to make sure that everyone is okay, has a meal or the motivation to prepare one, arrange rides to medical appointments, and so forth… (One of the older cousins makes the rounds in the golf cart to collect and deliver anyone who needs it.) It’s a nice little collective habit, I think. In my household, nightly dinner together was the only real daily food ritual. We always had Sunday lunch at Grandma’s or Grandmother’s, and now my mom hosts the same. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-at-home-do-you-have-fixed-coffee-break-moments-with-family-housemates/833544/30 "2019-05-07T15:50:16Z")
> [@glee](#): > > My family ate meals together, but that was it. For the most part we didn’t even do this. Dad worked three shifts, my brother was 11 years older and already a performing musician, Gramma had her things and so did the one Uncle who lived with us. Outside of some/most Sundays and holidays meals were maybe two people at a time. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-at-home-do-you-have-fixed-coffee-break-moments-with-family-housemates/833544/31 "2019-05-07T15:59:15Z")
We eat dinner together, and breakfast and lunch on the weekend, but not tea or coffee. If someone wants a drink they just have it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-at-home-do-you-have-fixed-coffee-break-moments-with-family-housemates/833544/32 "2019-05-07T16:32:52Z")
I have never heard of this. We mostly had dinner together growing up, and we kind of try to do the same now with our kids (5 & 3), but, no, there’s no tradition of a tea or coffee time or anything like that. I can see how it’s nice and encourages good familial/interpersonal habits but, no, we don’t do it, and I really don’t care for doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-at-home-do-you-have-fixed-coffee-break-moments-with-family-housemates/833544/33 "2019-05-07T22:00:53Z")
And how about kids having “milk and cookies” at four PM, with their mom, when they come home from school? According to the Berenstain Bear Books, that’s an American thing, right? I thought that was the American version of Mop’s _Kaffeetrinken_. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-at-home-do-you-have-fixed-coffee-break-moments-with-family-housemates/833544/34 "2019-05-07T23:30:20Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > And how about kids having “milk and cookies” at four PM, with their mom, when they come home from school? According to the Berenstain Bear Books, that’s an American thing, right? I thought that was the American version of Mop’s _Kaffeetrinken_. I didn’t know of anyone who did this, but I’m sure some families had some kind of tradition. I had never heard of anything like it, though. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-at-home-do-you-have-fixed-coffee-break-moments-with-family-housemates/833544/35 "2019-05-08T03:53:32Z")
Nothing scheduled like that, no. There’d be natural times where it would just happen, though, because schedules aligned. Generally it would involve gathering around the TV for something innocuous, like Wheel of Fortune, so we didn’t have to pay attention. We did also often eat dinner together. But not even that was on a fixed schedule. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-at-home-do-you-have-fixed-coffee-break-moments-with-family-housemates/833544.md?page=1)