# Where do you and your family eat dinners? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 17, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-and-your-family-eat-dinners/593068 "2011-08-17T19:30:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-and-your-family-eat-dinners/593068/21 "2011-08-18T13:36:20Z")
We tend to eat dinner on our laps, in the living room. But I’ve just emailed my husband and informed him that we’re eating at the dining table tonight! ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-and-your-family-eat-dinners/593068/22 "2011-08-18T13:47:15Z")
We don’t even have a kitchen/dining room table. I’m preparing my girls for the future! We eat at our desks when we get hungry. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-and-your-family-eat-dinners/593068/23 "2011-08-18T13:53:07Z")
Dining room, at least that’s the plan. We replaced the kitchen table with cabinets, so the dining room is the only place to sit at a table. Since we have a 3 year old who refuses to stay in a chair, dining is done wherever we can get enough peace to sit and eat. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-and-your-family-eat-dinners/593068/24 "2011-08-18T13:58:55Z")
Somewhere else. We have a sun-room with a little table and chairs for cool weather, a covered porch for warm but rainy weather, a back porch with an arbor for shade for sunny weather, and a dining room for winter/formal dining. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-and-your-family-eat-dinners/593068/25 "2011-08-18T14:19:29Z")
We don’t have room in the kitchen for a table. We eat in the dining room, but it’s very informal. The table and chairs in their are more suited to a kitchen or breakfast nook. It’s just me and my son. We eat at the table half the time and half the time we eat in the living room watching Jeopardy. Since we record Jeopardy the decision comes down to what we’re eating. Bowl of chili, living room. Knife and fork foods stay in the dining room. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-and-your-family-eat-dinners/593068/26 "2011-08-18T15:42:24Z")
Dinner is at midnight because of my work shift. It’s just my husband and me, and we usually eat in front of the TV, on sturdy little tray tables. We used to sit on the floor and have our plates on the coffee table, but this is much better. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-and-your-family-eat-dinners/593068/27 "2011-08-18T16:04:21Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > For those who eat in the living room, where do you put your plate, silverware, drink, and food platters? Do you balance your plate on your lap, or use TV trays, or keep everything on the coffee table? If the latter, isn’t it uncomfortable to hunch way over to eat from the coffee table? When we ate in the living room, we each dished up our meals from the pots in the kitchen, then ate on TV trays. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-and-your-family-eat-dinners/593068/28 "2011-08-18T16:04:41Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > For those who eat in the living room, where do you put your plate, silverware, drink, and food platters? Do you balance your plate on your lap, or use TV trays, or keep everything on the coffee table? If the latter, isn’t it uncomfortable to hunch way over to eat from the coffee table? Th 6 year old has a child sized chair that fits the coffee table quite well. My SO tends to hunch over the coffee table, and my 18 year old and I eat while holding our plate/bowl in midair. I’ll use the table if there’s something that requires cutting with a knife, but most of our meals are fork-cutable, and I can comfortably do that midair. ---
**Author:** ![Time\_Stranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Time\_Stranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Time_Stranger)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-and-your-family-eat-dinners/593068/29 "2011-08-18T17:33:53Z")
My current house doesn’t have a dining room, but it does have a really spacious kitchen with a bay window where we have our table. I always eat there. Growing up, we had both a dining room and a kitchen table - the kitchen was for breakfast, every other meal was in the dining room. I do miss having a formal dining table with set places. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-and-your-family-eat-dinners/593068/30 "2011-08-18T17:41:43Z")
We have a formal dining room at our house which has an expensive table, chairs, china cabinet, and buffet table. I refer to it as “The Useless Room” In fifteen years we have never used the table for dining unless it was some kind of overflow situation. Our kitchen table seats 5-6 comfortably and there is another table in our basement rec-room that seats 4. So, unless we are feeding more than 10 people the dining room is useless. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-and-your-family-eat-dinners/593068/31 "2011-08-18T18:13:05Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > For those who eat in the living room, where do you put your plate, silverware, drink, and food platters? Do you balance your plate on your lap, or use TV trays, or keep everything on the coffee table? If the latter, isn’t it uncomfortable to hunch way over to eat from the coffee table? We don’t have a coffee table, so my SO and I eat “Simpsons’ Style”; from small foldable tables while sitting on the couch. When I used to have a coffee table, I sat on the floor to eat. If we have any guests, we eat at the dining room table. ---
**Author:** ![Snake\_Plissken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@Snake\_Plissken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snake_Plissken)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-and-your-family-eat-dinners/593068/32 "2011-08-19T03:16:43Z")
When we had kids, I insisted we dine as a family in the dining room. I think it has been a pretty important part of the day, and one that has cemented us as a family. Any kid with a problem has felt secure in the fact that we can talk about it at the dinner table where everyone can offer their own experiences in a largely drama-free manner. At the very least it offers an hour of civility in an otherwise busy, hectic life. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-and-your-family-eat-dinners/593068/33 "2011-08-21T04:12:38Z")
Dining Room (seats 6) is for company. Living Room, too. We have a nook off the kitchen which we eat at when it’s just the two of us, but since Mrs. AG likes to unwind watching TV after work, we eat in the basement/guest room, which is where our only TV is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-and-your-family-eat-dinners/593068.md?page=1)