That’s SAD! My wife and I raised four daughters. Even when Nintendo was the hottest ticket, then phones and then computers...at dinner, TV OFF, phones OFF, computers OFF...we sat at the table as a family, we talked about our days, about life, we joked. At least one night a week was family night and we played board games or video games together - ALL OF US.
Was it always bells and whistles? Of course not, not family, marriage or relationship is, but we worked to be a close, loving family. All four of my daughters are grown, two married, one engaged, one divorced. All have children of their own and they all have family nights.
I grew up in a house where my mother ate in the living room, watching TV. My step dad ate at the kitchen table and I ate in my room or somewhere else and we couldn’t get further away from one another...and it felt like it too. My wife is a Latina woman, so her family and family meals (ANY MEAL) is the most important time to spend with each other. We decided early on that we didn’t want to pass MY family tradition on to our kids.
I think this article is TRYING to say that bonding moments happen around food and family - IF YOU MAKE IT HAPPEN. Otherwise it is just sustenance and $2 protein bar can solve your belly hunger, but it won’t help make/maintain a marriage or family.
We raised our kids the same way. Food is consumed only in the kitchen area. No food allowed anywhere else in the house. The only “entertainment” we had in the room for a long time was a radio. We taught our kids how to cook and how to work as a team on a meal. Now they are teaching their friends who didn’t get that growing up.
I have the no devices at dinner rule. We eat together at least 5 times a week as a family and take turns cooking. Cant imagine not having family dinner. I usually put on some nice soft dinner music. Usually some type of cafe music from the countries dish we are serving.
I raised my kids the same way - talking to them all the time. My parents - especially my father - was incapable of relating to kids. He got home at 5:30 every day, fell asleep on the couch until dinner, got up for dinner, during which he said not a word, then went back to sleep on the couch until bedtime. A total dud who meant nothing to me. I was determined it was going to be different for my kids.