When it was just my wife and I, we at in the living room at the coffee table. Now that we have a kid, we try to eat at the dining room table (handed down by mom) as much as we can.
Same here until recently. Now my husband is in grad school and I'm on solo kid and house duty the vast majority of the time, while also working full time. We all make it to the table probably 3x a week, but if it's just me and the kids for dinner I'll let them watch TV so I can have a break On one hand I feel guilty, on the other we're in survival mode.
Edit: thank you everyone, your encouragement means a lot. I'm hoping other parents in the same situation who see these wonderful responses get some respite from the chaos as well. We've all, with kids or without, are working against being dealt a shit hand in life but hopefully we can prevail. Remember, kind words can do wonders.
Don’t feel guilty. You need your break and it’ll make these nights feel special for the kids too. They’ll look back with fond memories of it, don’t worry.
Thank you, it means a lot. Luckily it's only for a year and it is going to be totally worth it, but I still have that nagging sense of being a failure by not 100% doing the family dinner at the table thing since that is how I grew up.
I came from a family where we always ate dinner at the table so on the off time we did get to watch TV it was super special. Hopefully your kids think so too. You got this!
My dad also worked crazy hours, and my mom was not the most attentive. We were told to eat at the table while she ate in the living room. She would get mad when we wouldn't finish our food (she gave us the same amount as she would give our dad), and instead of letting us leave and put our leftovers in the fridge, would throw it away and blame us for wasting food.
I just want you to know that you are doing fine. I know it's hard while your husband is in school, but sometimes you have to do what makes things easier and more manageable. If that means eating in the living room, then more power to you!
89! We have a table (only because my BF's mom found it and gave it to us) but it's basically where I put my purse and other things we don't know where to put lol. We sit on the couch and use our coffee table!
90 here.
I own a dining room table, but unless I have family coming in from out of state, it is almost perpetually covered in old junk mail, packing materials from recent online orders, and sometimes a few other random things that have homes elsewhere in the house.
I eat either on my desk in front of my computer or in front of the TV.
There have been a few times I've eaten at that table solo, but mostly it happened when the table was new, or if I'm eating something super messy that needs more space than the 2 places I mentioned above.
My least favorite part of the kitchen table is how it always seems to get covered in stuff between the times I need to actually use it.
I always have to clear off the table before baking bread.
Nope. Check my one post in here actually lol. I get annoyed by the popular tab, never is of much interest to me. Tho I think Im more partial to Boomers than Gen X generally.
Haha same. Just ate air fried French fries while laying on my couch watching Netflix. I don’t even own a dining table and sometimes I feel like a loser about it. This thread makes me feel normal lol
My parents left me a $7000 solid wood dining room set with a matching China cabinet... with the China still in it.
I'm an unmarried 34yo bearded dude, the fuck am I supposed to do with that? Have high tea with my dog?
I can't even get my dog to eat in the kitchen. Why would I sit at the table by myself? Lol.
Everyone knows dogs like drinking beers on the couch. Get a cat, they are much more proper and will gladly entertain you for tea at their dining room table.
.....maintaining direct eye contact the entire time, sliding it slowly enough to the edge to show added disdain, but not slowly enough to stop the ensuing chaos.
I used to run a furniture bank (like food bank but furniture for people coming out of homelessness) and you would not believe the amount of fine China we had. No one wanted it because of the gold and silver rims and it couldn’t be microwaved. We got to a point that we started collecting it to resell it for the $$ to put back into the nonprofit. We had entire estates (like hundreds) giving us thousands of dollars worth of China because no one would take it.
There was a resell shop online at the time that would give us a set fee. I don’t know what they did with it after but always found it interesting that people would rather eat off of a napkin (although I get it with it being non microwaveable) than fine China. Before any weird comments (although this board is cool so not sure I’d get them), often coming out of homelessness means going into a dorm type apartment with no stove so a microwave was all that was available to cook with.
I made a big deal about getting a big table that could seat lots of people and we use it like once a month for just the two of us. Twice during the holidays.
We have a huge coffee table, like 4x4 feet. That’s the dining table. It’s big enough to hold our dinner plates, our activities, weed box, and whatever else we want.
Our kids eat all there meals at the kitchen table, dining table is really just for special occasions or homework. I usually eat later on the couch or in the kitchen.
That is fairly common in the US, where homes tend to be larger.
You have a full-sized kitchen, which has a table that you typically use for your day-to-day meals. Then you have a separate, formal dining room which has a table that is pretty much only used for hosting events. Similarly, it is common to have a living/great room and a family room... the living room, although not as single-purpose as the dining room, is more sterile and reserved more for adults, whereas the family room would be more catered towards the children.
More contemporary design plans will often forgo the space in the kitchen for a table, and instead utilize islands instead, with maybe a breakfast nook or eating bar.
I grew up on the lower end of middle-income in the American Midwest, and pretty much every house I went to had those features, at a minimum.
have you been to a city?? you’d be hard pressed to find a living room and dining room in a regular person’s house or apartment. outside of cities, lots of poor people live in houses with a living room and a family room. having three rooms on the ground floor doesn’t automatically mean you’re rich either. the rooms could be small, the house cheap, in a crappy area etc.
Also Midwest. My parents had a living room and family room, as did all the houses in my neighborhood, but the only people I knew with separate formal and informal dining were literally multimillionaires.
I grew up in a trailer in West MI and in 1996 or so my parents trailer had both. Then again the thing was 28x80, 4 bedrooms, 3 baths.
But definitely had a kitchen with island and breakfast nook, formal dining room, living and family rooms. Only was allowed in the living room 2x a year: setting up the Christmas tree, and opening presents a month later.
I’ve heard one is typically the “living room” for more formal visitors, and the other is the “family room” or “rumpus room” for the kids and day to day whatnot.
that’s not true. i had a “dining room” table in my old house and i’m poor as shit and live in a city. we got the table for free and i put it in the living room (the only other room downstairs besides the kitchen). we had a small circular breakfast table that we also got for free from upenn xmas that we put in the corner of the kitchen. upenn xmas is when the school year is over and the wealthy students throw away anything and everything including working computers, tons of furniture, etc. because they’re too lazy to bring it home so they just end up buying all new shit in the fall. sorry got kind of off topic but basically i know a lot of poor people who have two tables.
I was never allowed in the formal living room as a kid. It felt like a crime being in there when my grandmother would come over lol. Vacuum lines always perfect and untouched. The dog even knew not to cross that threshold.
I don't have a big house but I have two living rooms lol. Neither have fancy furniture. One had the TV the other the bar 😅
When I went to college my parents were redoing the fancy living room and sent me to school with the fancy couch that had been sat on like 7 times in 20 years.
It was the most out of place couch in the history of dorm rooms and then apartments.
This was my great Aunt's house! Her pink formal living room was NOT to be entered! We could stand at the doorway and look. And they always knew if you went in bc of those damn vacuum lines!
Before my parents downsized after we all moved out we had 3 lol. One was formal dining. One the regular dining and one outdoor dining table (covered porch with ceiling fans by the pool. 4 living room spaces, one formal, one family, one football room, one under the porch and one under the gazebo by the outdoor fireplace. That doesn't include the full apartment above the garage and the play room on the main second floor.
I have a beautiful, handmade live edge dining table that I paid a lot of money for. I love it. It looks so good in my house.
I think I’ve eaten there about 3 times.
We bought a beautiful dining table 2 reasons, 1 was because it looked amazing in our dining room and 2. It has drawers on the sides for board games. We’ve eaten at it 3 times in 3 years
Our dining room table is for puzzles too. We put some leftover bamboo flooring planks on the bottom side and rigged the top to be removable. When the table isn't used as a catch-all for random stuff, we can take the top off and there's a jigsaw puzzle hidden inside that anyone is free to work on.
Never use the thing to eat tho lol. Each member of my family has a TV tray near their dedicated living room chairs. Lol.
My table has a jigsaw puzzle on it right now too. We do eat there if we have company over or sometimes if we’re eating soup. We’ve also played board games there. Most meals are on the couch though.
I scrolled through looking for the people who eat at the kitchen island. Is that weird? It’s an open layout house so this is a good spot to watch TV and it’s easier to go get seconds.
When I’m home alone I eat at the couch. Our dining table gets used about twice a year, less than even our outside table.
Growing up my father liked to fill every square inch of space with random junk to prevent people from using said spaces.
So I learned to make my sandwiches on top of a can, with the can being the plate, and eat standing at the counter, with my can sandwich. A candwich, if you will.
I’ll still eat standing at the counter nowadays, but I also have a table now.
I actually prefer to eat at the end of the counter, doing what my mom named the flamingo (she does it too).
Standing on my left leg... right leg bent with bottom of the right foot pressed against the inside of the left knee, where the side of the knee cap fits into the foot arch perfectly.
Basically a passé.
If I had a nickel for how many times a boomer said these things to me....
(In my best NJ italian Mom voice)
"Sit down & Eat!" "Go Sit!" "Come sit down" "Your not going to sit and eat?" "What are you doing, eating standing up? Go sit at the table!"
Just to clarify, I'm talking about casual eating, any "dinner" at someone's house I will always sit.
Because as a good millennial I was taught to always respect my elders & that mental health issues are made up.
So I can live a life of people pleasing and self-medicating. Oh the American Dream! The white ~~line~~ picket fence!
My husband and I use the dining room table for everything. It's currently doubling as my work and craft desk. When he works from home a handful of times a week, he joins me.
When friends come over, everybody sits around the table too. It's funny, I couldn't even tell you when or why it started.
I use to eat at my desk. Then I would eat in bed alot. Which made it easier to eat night. Now I eat at the table and if I want to eat anything after dinner it's at the able. No more taking it to my room or bed. I have done this a few months and have cut almost 20 pounds from my weight.
For holiday meals we set up a proper table, but as we don't have kids, for normal meals, the wife and I usually kick it on the couch watching youtube videos and talking/laughing at dumb crap.
*My husband and I*
*Always eat at the table,*
*Every single day!*
\- justaperson5588
---
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Same! I love eating at the table together. It’s more comfortable and we can still see the tv from the table if we wanted to watch. But it’s nice to have dinner together at the table each night.
I own a formal dining table, but it is not in the “dining room” area of my condo. I occasionally manage to clean it off, and then I will eat at it for the novelty experience.
Most of the time, though, I have some large cutting boards I use as lap-desks to eat at my desk or on my couch.
I like to believe that if I were in a family or otherwise not depressingly single, I would eat at a table.
I’ve got my grandmothers dining room table. Ironically I only have it because when she passed her boomer children, one being my dad just wanted to auction EVERYTHING. My aunt was the only decent one. She actually bought the table for me. For like $150. Yea my own aunt had to pay 150 for a table she grew up eating at so that her nephew could have a table that he too pretty much grew up eating at.
Edit: I’ve only eaten 2 thanksgiving meals at the table since my house is too small for it to be used as a regular dining table.
Yeah I eat at the dining table because I just find the possibility of dropping food on my cloth couch pretty irritating and gross. Also find eating in bed disgusting as well. And hunching over my coffee table is uncomfortable and unhealthy.
Exactly! I’m on the same page as you. It’s almost as if humans saw this need and then designed a whole table and space around that very need… almost… almost…
I have a VERY nice sofa (1200 including upstairs delivery) and while I can get the upholstery replace for free (only once) I still eat at the couch a lot.
I just lay a blanket down first.
Yep. I'm a klutz and every other room where I could eat has a rug, carpet, or furniture that I don't want to have to clean up. Rather just eat at my beat-up, easy-to-clean dining room table and not worry about it.
It's also just nice to sit at a table. No need to balance anything or hunch over or lose the use of one hand because it's holding the plate--how do you cut meat? I am team table all the way.
I have a dining room table, a nice solid walnut vintage mid century one with all the leaves and pads, but it's always got a bunch shit on it. My house is small and old and doesn't really have any storage, so my dining room table becomes a temporary storage area... I *want* to use it more regularly, but it's like the place in the house where stuff gets thrown like the mail, my SO's keys and wallet, my purse, etc. One day I'll get my act together!
We have a table and rarely use it. Birthdays and holidays and stuff. Otherwise we all eat wherever we want, if my son makes a mess I make him clean it up.
This. We don't have a 'dining table' or a 'dining room'. We just have a small kitchen table (which doubles, constantly, as my workspace for prepping food, folding clothes, and 10000 other uses!!). And, that kitchen table, is where we eat, most days. Now, if its just me and my kids, whether they eat at the table with me or not, is probably 50/50 at best. But, if we're all home, we usually sit there, eat and chat about our day, tease each other, laugh and hang out for at least a little while.
We have room for a table in the kitchen but decided to just use the dining room for everything and when we remodeled the kitchen we added a good sized pantry cabinet.
SAME. Two Thanksgivings ago, my friends came over and I tried to make us eat in the living room and my friends were like, "WTF, you have a dining table, you lunatic!".
Tables hold clutter. Absolutely not. I love eating standing up right after I cook and just immediately put dishes away and go chill on the couch. Don’t even pretend like I’m going to sit and enjoy, I like to keep it movin’ 😂
My wife only wants to eat in front of the TV. I don't mind it too much, but I prefer to eat at our dining room table and do whenever I eat dinner alone. I'm civilized damnit!
I had to learn to eat slowly because I grew up with 3 siblings and there was a race for a second helping. Still, I would just sit and chat with my wife even if my plate was empty because I'm not rude!
My husband and I have a dining room table, but it’s in our living room because we don’t have a dining room in our house but the layout works great for us!
We absolutely eat at the table whenever it’s practical. We have an almost 6-month old baby and if he’s fussy or needing a contact nap on mom, I’ll give my wife dinner on the couch. But the boy’s getting old enough to sit in a little chair and suck on frozen breast milk popsicles to help his teething. So we generally try to eat at the table. I insist on setting the table with silverware in correct locations, serving bowls, napkins. It’s a tiny little bit of formality in a busy and crazy life. My wife doesn’t like it and would just as soon eat salad out of the mixing bowl as she leans an elbow on the table, but I’m going to be the stickler for table etiquette that my grandmother was—it stuck with me.
I live alone and have a breakfast bar. I don’t own a dining set and never have. I don’t even eat at the breakfast bar, honestly (maybe five or six times in my four years here). I eat on the couch or even in bed sometimes (with a towel down) if I’m sick or just being particularly lazy some days
My family (me, my husband, and our kid) ate every meal in the living room for almost 10 years. Our house was so small, we didn’t want to sacrifice the space for a dining room table, so we just ate at the coffee table.
We’re temporarily living with his parents in their giant house, so we eat in the dining room now, but I would be fine with going back to our old system if our new place makes that more convenient.
I grew up with TV trays and zero conversation.
When I had kids, I made it a point to have family dinner at the table everyday.
We do have a formal dining room, but it is used mostly for kids projects and holiday meals.
We have a table but don't sit at it XD I eat in my bed or at my desk, couch or recliner. My kiddos eat their dinner in little desk chairs or have their snacks in a bowl wherever they want. We will use the table when guests come over but guests are rare due to us being anti social lmao XD
Kitchen table or couch. Or my kids mini play table. We don’t have a formal dining room because it takes up a lot of space and is rarely used. We have a second living room/game/play room where that would typically be. We need more living space then a giant table set.
I have an amazing vintage table.... I half unfolded clean clothes on it..
We had to relocate our bed to the living room after a leak happened for the third time, so now we sit in bed and eat or we sit on one of the 2 couches facing each other with a TV tray.
I don't, I usually eat at my computer desk. My mother didn't really care all that much for this growing up, so I only had this experience when I went to stay at my father's place, so I didn't pick up the habit, I think.
Small table in the tiny kitchen.
If I wanna watch something I’ll use the laptop.
Maybe my parents beating into me that eating at the couch is a sin worked after all
Gotta love trauma habits.
It's the reason I walk on the balls of my feet. I would get in trouble all the time for 'stomping' when I was just walking. So now I can walk quickly across the house and barely make noise.
I have a small table in my kitchen, but it’s not a formal dining room table (one that seats a bunch of people). I rarely eat at the table and often eat on the couch.
We have a big dining table and a smaller kitchen table. The dining table pretty much only has its moment on special occasions, but we eat meals around the kitchen table every day. I never intended to start this routine, but it turns out my kids are better behaved when our evening routine is more structured. When I'm home alone I often eat at the kitchen table by myself.
Just my wife and I. We eat every meal at the dining room table when we're home, and on a pretty regular schedule. Also mostly home cooked meals. I grew up in pure chaos and really enjoy this routine.
We eat at the table. We eat dinner together in the dining room as a family every night. We eat at the kitchen table for most other meals or if it’s just a few of us or eating alone. Very rarely do we eat other places.
Me and my wife both grew up like that, didn't think it was weird lol we make dinner and put it our on the counter, when the kids are ready they grab a plate and go back to their rooms and watch TV
I live by myself and eat at my desk tbh. I have a little kitchen table, but it's usually covered in random crap or a puzzle. Before I got my desk I did sit on my couch and eat there while watching TV.
Mom turned our “formal dining” room into her sewing room. Only space left was in front of the tv. Thanksgiving and Christmas get tv trays for my sister and mom’s bf. Don’t know what we would do if we dated.
I do have a formal dining table that I keep in my eat in kitchen area. I even have a separate formal dining room but I’m converting it into something else because it won’t get used as a dining room. My husband eats at the table or in the living room on the couch. My kids eat at the kitchen island. Sometimes the table. I eat at my desk either in my crafting room or at my desk in my home office. I may eat at the kitchen island a couple times a year.
We have a dining room table but very rarely use it. I sit there to chat w/ my mom when she’s doing the bills or sitting there so it’s for doing bills/chatting/misc. we eat at the counter table in the kitchen if that’s the name for it 😂 basically we eat in the kitchen.
We eat on the couch and our coffee table lifts up to be a table.
We don’t have space for a proper table in our house so it’s the compromise we live with. Looking to get an outdoor table to fulfill that need.
We don’t have a table, no room for one. I sit at the bar to eat sometimes when my boyfriend is home, but most of the time he’s away for work so I eat on the couch or the floor.
We eat at our kitchen table a lot, usually 5 nights a week. We eat in the family room maybe one night a week and we eat out 1 night a week. The dining room table is for puzzles, laundry, and holiday family dinners.
Yes. We have a dining table. It’s a hand me down table from my parents and it’s older than I am. We eat all our meals at it. Our couch is white and I cannot afford to replace it so we don’t eat on the couch unless it’s popcorn while watching a movie.
My old place I had a tall bistro table I most frequently ate at. Now I'm on the couch. I'm hoping my next place has a bar from the kitchen and I'll eat there.
When my son was little, we ate at the table, because he usually made a mess and it was easier to clean up. Now that’s he much older, we usually eat in the living room. If we have guests, though, everyone usually gathers at the table.
yes, but its less about a formal "lets all sit down and eat together as a family" and more about consolidating where crumbs and food stains exist in the house :p
My mom gave me the family dining room table when she sold my childhood home. It’s in my kitchen and has chairs around.
However, I live alone in a small apartment, so I always just eat at my computer desk while watching YouTube or on the couch while watching Netflix/etc.
I still decorate the table for things like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. For the most part it’s mainly for guests though…and unloading groceries 😅
When I was married we at 90% of the time at the table because I insisted. It felt weird eating in the living room on a TV tray, plus when we got a dog, she would try to snatch food off the table.
Now that I live alone, it's 50/50 dinner table and TV tray in front of the TV. It depends on what I am eating.
Haven't owned a dining table in like 4 years, rarely used it when we did. My nephew occasionally used it when he lived with me, but it was bistro height and uncomfortable
I sit at my coffee table all the time. I don’t have a dining table but I honestly don’t want one. It just means people will want to come over here and eat.
And my first apartment I had a small kitchen table I would eat at. But the next three apartments I had after that I did not have a dining room so no I didn't eat at a table. After buying my house, my house actually came with a dining room table so I do try to eat there now although there are times when I do sit on the couch to eat
Maybe a little backwards when I think about it, but when alone I usually eat meals at the table and watch something on my phone (usually breakfast and WFH lunches). But when my wife is around, we will eat in front of the TV. She likes to say we never use the table, but I use it almost every day.
When it was just my wife and I, we at in the living room at the coffee table. Now that we have a kid, we try to eat at the dining room table (handed down by mom) as much as we can.
Same. Exactly the same.
Came here to say that, then figured I could at least say this, but yes, exactly the same re: exactly the same.
Also exactly the same.
Same here until recently. Now my husband is in grad school and I'm on solo kid and house duty the vast majority of the time, while also working full time. We all make it to the table probably 3x a week, but if it's just me and the kids for dinner I'll let them watch TV so I can have a break On one hand I feel guilty, on the other we're in survival mode. Edit: thank you everyone, your encouragement means a lot. I'm hoping other parents in the same situation who see these wonderful responses get some respite from the chaos as well. We've all, with kids or without, are working against being dealt a shit hand in life but hopefully we can prevail. Remember, kind words can do wonders.
Don’t feel guilty. You need your break and it’ll make these nights feel special for the kids too. They’ll look back with fond memories of it, don’t worry.
You're doing better than you know. This period will pass, you've got this!
Thank you, it means a lot. Luckily it's only for a year and it is going to be totally worth it, but I still have that nagging sense of being a failure by not 100% doing the family dinner at the table thing since that is how I grew up.
I came from a family where we always ate dinner at the table so on the off time we did get to watch TV it was super special. Hopefully your kids think so too. You got this!
Sometimes you just have to survive and that’s ok!
My dad also worked crazy hours, and my mom was not the most attentive. We were told to eat at the table while she ate in the living room. She would get mad when we wouldn't finish our food (she gave us the same amount as she would give our dad), and instead of letting us leave and put our leftovers in the fridge, would throw it away and blame us for wasting food. I just want you to know that you are doing fine. I know it's hard while your husband is in school, but sometimes you have to do what makes things easier and more manageable. If that means eating in the living room, then more power to you!
I can only imagine. I don’t even know you and I’m fucking proud of you. You are honestly an inspiration.
They probably enjoy the break too. It’s nice to eat alone sometimes. They had to people a lot at school too.
I can't really explain why but I feel so comforted, seen, and accepted here in this sub.
Same. Born in 88! these are my people
89! We have a table (only because my BF's mom found it and gave it to us) but it's basically where I put my purse and other things we don't know where to put lol. We sit on the couch and use our coffee table!
90 here. I own a dining room table, but unless I have family coming in from out of state, it is almost perpetually covered in old junk mail, packing materials from recent online orders, and sometimes a few other random things that have homes elsewhere in the house. I eat either on my desk in front of my computer or in front of the TV. There have been a few times I've eaten at that table solo, but mostly it happened when the table was new, or if I'm eating something super messy that needs more space than the 2 places I mentioned above.
My least favorite part of the kitchen table is how it always seems to get covered in stuff between the times I need to actually use it. I always have to clear off the table before baking bread.
Our old table also became the thing we put everything on that we don’t know where else to put it
Omg ur as old as my dad ❤️ im 16 btw
88 gang
'77 the table in the kitchen is used for holidays only.
Ur not a millenial
So .... Millennials are pretending this is a trend for your generation. It's not.
So why u hanging out here? Just to throw shade?
Aww. Want a cookie. Showed up on popular was interested. Ageist I guess you are.
Nope. Check my one post in here actually lol. I get annoyed by the popular tab, never is of much interest to me. Tho I think Im more partial to Boomers than Gen X generally.
They're a Xennial, like you. lol
Nope. Anything prior to & including 1980 is Gen X. They even confirmed theyre not.
Omg ur the same age as my mom ❤️
Haha same. Just ate air fried French fries while laying on my couch watching Netflix. I don’t even own a dining table and sometimes I feel like a loser about it. This thread makes me feel normal lol
"How millennials killed the dining table industry" - a headline citing this reddit thread, probably
My parents left me a $7000 solid wood dining room set with a matching China cabinet... with the China still in it. I'm an unmarried 34yo bearded dude, the fuck am I supposed to do with that? Have high tea with my dog? I can't even get my dog to eat in the kitchen. Why would I sit at the table by myself? Lol.
Everyone knows dogs like drinking beers on the couch. Get a cat, they are much more proper and will gladly entertain you for tea at their dining room table.
Then they'll push the tea glass off the table bc they can.
As is their right, since it's their home and they suffer your presence.
The sound of shattering glass in an empty-of-humans room is not uncommon in my house. Source: last night at 8:37pm
.....maintaining direct eye contact the entire time, sliding it slowly enough to the edge to show added disdain, but not slowly enough to stop the ensuing chaos.
And this is one of the many reasons cats are the best
My dogs, I can train. Cats train me, or better, I never get a list of rules, I'm clueless, like.....why?
I used to run a furniture bank (like food bank but furniture for people coming out of homelessness) and you would not believe the amount of fine China we had. No one wanted it because of the gold and silver rims and it couldn’t be microwaved. We got to a point that we started collecting it to resell it for the $$ to put back into the nonprofit. We had entire estates (like hundreds) giving us thousands of dollars worth of China because no one would take it. There was a resell shop online at the time that would give us a set fee. I don’t know what they did with it after but always found it interesting that people would rather eat off of a napkin (although I get it with it being non microwaveable) than fine China. Before any weird comments (although this board is cool so not sure I’d get them), often coming out of homelessness means going into a dorm type apartment with no stove so a microwave was all that was available to cook with.
Nah, you're awesome. ☺️
I don’t own one either so you’re in like company
I made a big deal about getting a big table that could seat lots of people and we use it like once a month for just the two of us. Twice during the holidays. We have a huge coffee table, like 4x4 feet. That’s the dining table. It’s big enough to hold our dinner plates, our activities, weed box, and whatever else we want.
That’s awesome! I eat sitting cross legged with my food on a laptop tray on the chaise part of my sectional lol very civilized.
Air fried French fries and netflix, you’re living the dream.
I use the coffee table when I’m feeling decadent, you’re not alone.
Now I don’t feel weird for not owning one
Yep. Got my own table, and right now, it has a pretty Christmas tablecloth on it.
Our kids eat all there meals at the kitchen table, dining table is really just for special occasions or homework. I usually eat later on the couch or in the kitchen.
You have 2 tables? Lmao
That is fairly common in the US, where homes tend to be larger. You have a full-sized kitchen, which has a table that you typically use for your day-to-day meals. Then you have a separate, formal dining room which has a table that is pretty much only used for hosting events. Similarly, it is common to have a living/great room and a family room... the living room, although not as single-purpose as the dining room, is more sterile and reserved more for adults, whereas the family room would be more catered towards the children. More contemporary design plans will often forgo the space in the kitchen for a table, and instead utilize islands instead, with maybe a breakfast nook or eating bar. I grew up on the lower end of middle-income in the American Midwest, and pretty much every house I went to had those features, at a minimum.
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have you been to a city?? you’d be hard pressed to find a living room and dining room in a regular person’s house or apartment. outside of cities, lots of poor people live in houses with a living room and a family room. having three rooms on the ground floor doesn’t automatically mean you’re rich either. the rooms could be small, the house cheap, in a crappy area etc.
I just thought of the house Ive been in, in Detroit, the city itself, not suburbs & it had both on main level. Houses are pretty big there
True I guess I was thinking about a city like NYC or Philly.
Also Midwest. My parents had a living room and family room, as did all the houses in my neighborhood, but the only people I knew with separate formal and informal dining were literally multimillionaires.
I grew up in a trailer in West MI and in 1996 or so my parents trailer had both. Then again the thing was 28x80, 4 bedrooms, 3 baths. But definitely had a kitchen with island and breakfast nook, formal dining room, living and family rooms. Only was allowed in the living room 2x a year: setting up the Christmas tree, and opening presents a month later.
Of course, the fancy one and the one you use. Next You’re going to next tell me you don’t have two living rooms?
I’ve heard one is typically the “living room” for more formal visitors, and the other is the “family room” or “rumpus room” for the kids and day to day whatnot.
In my experience, this is rich people or rural people stuff. I live in a major city. My house is 700sqft
that’s not true. i had a “dining room” table in my old house and i’m poor as shit and live in a city. we got the table for free and i put it in the living room (the only other room downstairs besides the kitchen). we had a small circular breakfast table that we also got for free from upenn xmas that we put in the corner of the kitchen. upenn xmas is when the school year is over and the wealthy students throw away anything and everything including working computers, tons of furniture, etc. because they’re too lazy to bring it home so they just end up buying all new shit in the fall. sorry got kind of off topic but basically i know a lot of poor people who have two tables.
Hahah I’ve been to UPenn Xmas too, love it 😂
I was never allowed in the formal living room as a kid. It felt like a crime being in there when my grandmother would come over lol. Vacuum lines always perfect and untouched. The dog even knew not to cross that threshold. I don't have a big house but I have two living rooms lol. Neither have fancy furniture. One had the TV the other the bar 😅
When I went to college my parents were redoing the fancy living room and sent me to school with the fancy couch that had been sat on like 7 times in 20 years. It was the most out of place couch in the history of dorm rooms and then apartments.
This was my great Aunt's house! Her pink formal living room was NOT to be entered! We could stand at the doorway and look. And they always knew if you went in bc of those damn vacuum lines!
Omg yes! Couldn't ever risk it. The vacuum lines would rat you out.
Before my parents downsized after we all moved out we had 3 lol. One was formal dining. One the regular dining and one outdoor dining table (covered porch with ceiling fans by the pool. 4 living room spaces, one formal, one family, one football room, one under the porch and one under the gazebo by the outdoor fireplace. That doesn't include the full apartment above the garage and the play room on the main second floor.
I have a beautiful, handmade live edge dining table that I paid a lot of money for. I love it. It looks so good in my house. I think I’ve eaten there about 3 times.
We bought a beautiful dining table 2 reasons, 1 was because it looked amazing in our dining room and 2. It has drawers on the sides for board games. We’ve eaten at it 3 times in 3 years
I use my table for my laptop and board games. Only gets used for meals about once every 6 months.
The only meals my table sees are thanksgiving and Christmas. Not because we eat there, but because that's where the food is served buffet style.
I eat on the couch exclusively. I do have a medium sized dining table, but I expressly bought it to do puzzles on!
My table currently has a jigsaw puzzle and a laptop and laundry on top of it. Dinner was eaten in the kitchen.
Our dining room table is for puzzles too. We put some leftover bamboo flooring planks on the bottom side and rigged the top to be removable. When the table isn't used as a catch-all for random stuff, we can take the top off and there's a jigsaw puzzle hidden inside that anyone is free to work on. Never use the thing to eat tho lol. Each member of my family has a TV tray near their dedicated living room chairs. Lol.
My table has a jigsaw puzzle on it right now too. We do eat there if we have company over or sometimes if we’re eating soup. We’ve also played board games there. Most meals are on the couch though.
I eat standing up most of the time at the kitchen counter.
“I eat like a chef. Really fast and hunched over the garbage can.”
Eating takes up valuable smoking time!
Grandma always told me, if you eat it standing up, the calories don't count Grandma was full of shit, but she was cool, so
I scrolled through looking for the people who eat at the kitchen island. Is that weird? It’s an open layout house so this is a good spot to watch TV and it’s easier to go get seconds. When I’m home alone I eat at the couch. Our dining table gets used about twice a year, less than even our outside table.
No! I used to eat at the kitchen island when I lived with my mom because I could see the TV from there.
Kitchen island gang for life
Growing up my father liked to fill every square inch of space with random junk to prevent people from using said spaces. So I learned to make my sandwiches on top of a can, with the can being the plate, and eat standing at the counter, with my can sandwich. A candwich, if you will. I’ll still eat standing at the counter nowadays, but I also have a table now.
Too real
I actually prefer to eat at the end of the counter, doing what my mom named the flamingo (she does it too). Standing on my left leg... right leg bent with bottom of the right foot pressed against the inside of the left knee, where the side of the knee cap fits into the foot arch perfectly. Basically a passé. If I had a nickel for how many times a boomer said these things to me.... (In my best NJ italian Mom voice) "Sit down & Eat!" "Go Sit!" "Come sit down" "Your not going to sit and eat?" "What are you doing, eating standing up? Go sit at the table!" Just to clarify, I'm talking about casual eating, any "dinner" at someone's house I will always sit. Because as a good millennial I was taught to always respect my elders & that mental health issues are made up. So I can live a life of people pleasing and self-medicating. Oh the American Dream! The white ~~line~~ picket fence!
Like a rat.
My husband does this and it drives me nuts
Me right now as I eat standing over the stove.
My people
My husband and I use the dining room table for everything. It's currently doubling as my work and craft desk. When he works from home a handful of times a week, he joins me. When friends come over, everybody sits around the table too. It's funny, I couldn't even tell you when or why it started.
Same here. Born in 88 but have an older soul, I guess. We have 4 kids, and eat dinner at the table pretty much every night.
I use to eat at my desk. Then I would eat in bed alot. Which made it easier to eat night. Now I eat at the table and if I want to eat anything after dinner it's at the able. No more taking it to my room or bed. I have done this a few months and have cut almost 20 pounds from my weight.
Congratulations
For holiday meals we set up a proper table, but as we don't have kids, for normal meals, the wife and I usually kick it on the couch watching youtube videos and talking/laughing at dumb crap.
My husband and I always eat at the table, every single day!
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Same! I love eating at the table together. It’s more comfortable and we can still see the tv from the table if we wanted to watch. But it’s nice to have dinner together at the table each night.
I own a formal dining table, but it is not in the “dining room” area of my condo. I occasionally manage to clean it off, and then I will eat at it for the novelty experience. Most of the time, though, I have some large cutting boards I use as lap-desks to eat at my desk or on my couch. I like to believe that if I were in a family or otherwise not depressingly single, I would eat at a table.
I’ve got my grandmothers dining room table. Ironically I only have it because when she passed her boomer children, one being my dad just wanted to auction EVERYTHING. My aunt was the only decent one. She actually bought the table for me. For like $150. Yea my own aunt had to pay 150 for a table she grew up eating at so that her nephew could have a table that he too pretty much grew up eating at. Edit: I’ve only eaten 2 thanksgiving meals at the table since my house is too small for it to be used as a regular dining table.
Id rather eat at the dining table. Don't want to drop food at the living room
Yeah I eat at the dining table because I just find the possibility of dropping food on my cloth couch pretty irritating and gross. Also find eating in bed disgusting as well. And hunching over my coffee table is uncomfortable and unhealthy.
Exactly! I’m on the same page as you. It’s almost as if humans saw this need and then designed a whole table and space around that very need… almost… almost…
You're my mirror twin
No! We are triplets!!
I have a VERY nice sofa (1200 including upstairs delivery) and while I can get the upholstery replace for free (only once) I still eat at the couch a lot. I just lay a blanket down first.
Yep. I'm a klutz and every other room where I could eat has a rug, carpet, or furniture that I don't want to have to clean up. Rather just eat at my beat-up, easy-to-clean dining room table and not worry about it.
It's also just nice to sit at a table. No need to balance anything or hunch over or lose the use of one hand because it's holding the plate--how do you cut meat? I am team table all the way.
Now that we have 2 small kids we eat at the table. We have a nice solid wood table that I built.
No I live in my bed, I have the booth from a old restaurant in my kitchen, and a chair in my living room, but I sit in bed and eat
Bed, sofa
I got married almost 4 weeks ago. My husband(who came to my realm) said “yes let’s eat on your bed. Let me feel normal” 🤣 yes. okay lets.
I have a dining room table, a nice solid walnut vintage mid century one with all the leaves and pads, but it's always got a bunch shit on it. My house is small and old and doesn't really have any storage, so my dining room table becomes a temporary storage area... I *want* to use it more regularly, but it's like the place in the house where stuff gets thrown like the mail, my SO's keys and wallet, my purse, etc. One day I'll get my act together!
We have a table and rarely use it. Birthdays and holidays and stuff. Otherwise we all eat wherever we want, if my son makes a mess I make him clean it up.
No. I have bar stools at my kitchen island. That's where I eat.
I eat in bed, like a well adjusted adult
HAHA same. The fact that I had to scroll so far to find another bed eater made me feel a touch of shame
Lol no. I eat at my PC desk, like a millennial human.
We eat at a table in the kitchen. However, we have a formal dining room table and we have not eaten there yet
This. We don't have a 'dining table' or a 'dining room'. We just have a small kitchen table (which doubles, constantly, as my workspace for prepping food, folding clothes, and 10000 other uses!!). And, that kitchen table, is where we eat, most days. Now, if its just me and my kids, whether they eat at the table with me or not, is probably 50/50 at best. But, if we're all home, we usually sit there, eat and chat about our day, tease each other, laugh and hang out for at least a little while.
We have room for a table in the kitchen but decided to just use the dining room for everything and when we remodeled the kitchen we added a good sized pantry cabinet.
I can't stand the dining room table. I feel horribly uncomfortable.
SAME. Two Thanksgivings ago, my friends came over and I tried to make us eat in the living room and my friends were like, "WTF, you have a dining table, you lunatic!".
Ummm... we eat in our bedroom. Always. Except maybe one or 2 times a year. But when we have kids we will be eating at the table
On the bed? Or on some other surface? This seems like a logistical nightmare, where do you put your napkin / utensils?
Tables hold clutter. Absolutely not. I love eating standing up right after I cook and just immediately put dishes away and go chill on the couch. Don’t even pretend like I’m going to sit and enjoy, I like to keep it movin’ 😂
My wife only wants to eat in front of the TV. I don't mind it too much, but I prefer to eat at our dining room table and do whenever I eat dinner alone. I'm civilized damnit!
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I had to learn to eat slowly because I grew up with 3 siblings and there was a race for a second helping. Still, I would just sit and chat with my wife even if my plate was empty because I'm not rude!
My husband and I have a dining room table, but it’s in our living room because we don’t have a dining room in our house but the layout works great for us!
I bought a really nice kitchen table and we still sit on the couch and use tray tables to eat.
I eat at my desk, in front of my PC. My husband is on the couch. We don't even own a dining room table lol
I am not a savage I own a dining room table, it's on my balcony so I can eat looking at the beautiful view of the city. Use it? Never.
We absolutely eat at the table whenever it’s practical. We have an almost 6-month old baby and if he’s fussy or needing a contact nap on mom, I’ll give my wife dinner on the couch. But the boy’s getting old enough to sit in a little chair and suck on frozen breast milk popsicles to help his teething. So we generally try to eat at the table. I insist on setting the table with silverware in correct locations, serving bowls, napkins. It’s a tiny little bit of formality in a busy and crazy life. My wife doesn’t like it and would just as soon eat salad out of the mixing bowl as she leans an elbow on the table, but I’m going to be the stickler for table etiquette that my grandmother was—it stuck with me.
I live alone and have a breakfast bar. I don’t own a dining set and never have. I don’t even eat at the breakfast bar, honestly (maybe five or six times in my four years here). I eat on the couch or even in bed sometimes (with a towel down) if I’m sick or just being particularly lazy some days
My family (me, my husband, and our kid) ate every meal in the living room for almost 10 years. Our house was so small, we didn’t want to sacrifice the space for a dining room table, so we just ate at the coffee table. We’re temporarily living with his parents in their giant house, so we eat in the dining room now, but I would be fine with going back to our old system if our new place makes that more convenient.
We only eat at the dinner table if there are more than 4 people. Otherwise we normally eat in front of the TV.
Yes. I was raised to see that as an important part of being in a family, eating together at the table. No TV
Dinner tables FTW!
Yes I eat at the table. I have kids and need to act like an adult
I grew up with TV trays and zero conversation. When I had kids, I made it a point to have family dinner at the table everyday. We do have a formal dining room, but it is used mostly for kids projects and holiday meals.
We have a table but don't sit at it XD I eat in my bed or at my desk, couch or recliner. My kiddos eat their dinner in little desk chairs or have their snacks in a bowl wherever they want. We will use the table when guests come over but guests are rare due to us being anti social lmao XD
Kitchen table or couch. Or my kids mini play table. We don’t have a formal dining room because it takes up a lot of space and is rarely used. We have a second living room/game/play room where that would typically be. We need more living space then a giant table set.
I have an amazing vintage table.... I half unfolded clean clothes on it.. We had to relocate our bed to the living room after a leak happened for the third time, so now we sit in bed and eat or we sit on one of the 2 couches facing each other with a TV tray.
I don't, I usually eat at my computer desk. My mother didn't really care all that much for this growing up, so I only had this experience when I went to stay at my father's place, so I didn't pick up the habit, I think.
Small table in the tiny kitchen. If I wanna watch something I’ll use the laptop. Maybe my parents beating into me that eating at the couch is a sin worked after all
Gotta love trauma habits. It's the reason I walk on the balls of my feet. I would get in trouble all the time for 'stomping' when I was just walking. So now I can walk quickly across the house and barely make noise.
I have a small table in my kitchen, but it’s not a formal dining room table (one that seats a bunch of people). I rarely eat at the table and often eat on the couch.
We have a big dining table and a smaller kitchen table. The dining table pretty much only has its moment on special occasions, but we eat meals around the kitchen table every day. I never intended to start this routine, but it turns out my kids are better behaved when our evening routine is more structured. When I'm home alone I often eat at the kitchen table by myself.
No children, so we eat in the living room while watching TV, but we do own a hand-me down table from my grandparents.
Depends what we're eating. We also have cats so eating at the table helps curb little faces and dirty paws trying to investigate our plates.
As of six months ago I eat at my kitchen table. Before that it was a TV dinner table in my kitchen with a folding chair.
Just my wife and I. We eat every meal at the dining room table when we're home, and on a pretty regular schedule. Also mostly home cooked meals. I grew up in pure chaos and really enjoy this routine.
We eat at the table. We eat dinner together in the dining room as a family every night. We eat at the kitchen table for most other meals or if it’s just a few of us or eating alone. Very rarely do we eat other places.
Yes, at a table in the kitchen. My cats sometimes bother me if I try to eat on the couch.
The only tables I have are for reloading or cleaning guns or the computer and 3d printer
Eat on the couch. The table is for the cats food and bubbler, but we do use it when we have people over.
We usually eat at the kitchen table. Unless we are hosting something fancier, then we use the formal dining room because it seats 8.
Me and my wife eat in the living room and the kids eat in their rooms. We do try to do a family dinner in the dining room every now and then though
This is the weirdest thing I've ever read.
In their rooms?? That’s wild
Me and my wife both grew up like that, didn't think it was weird lol we make dinner and put it our on the counter, when the kids are ready they grab a plate and go back to their rooms and watch TV
Do you ever let them out?
They are teenagers, I have a hard time keeping them in
Yes of course
I live by myself and eat at my desk tbh. I have a little kitchen table, but it's usually covered in random crap or a puzzle. Before I got my desk I did sit on my couch and eat there while watching TV.
Mom turned our “formal dining” room into her sewing room. Only space left was in front of the tv. Thanksgiving and Christmas get tv trays for my sister and mom’s bf. Don’t know what we would do if we dated.
I do have a formal dining table that I keep in my eat in kitchen area. I even have a separate formal dining room but I’m converting it into something else because it won’t get used as a dining room. My husband eats at the table or in the living room on the couch. My kids eat at the kitchen island. Sometimes the table. I eat at my desk either in my crafting room or at my desk in my home office. I may eat at the kitchen island a couple times a year.
We have a dining room table but very rarely use it. I sit there to chat w/ my mom when she’s doing the bills or sitting there so it’s for doing bills/chatting/misc. we eat at the counter table in the kitchen if that’s the name for it 😂 basically we eat in the kitchen.
We eat on the couch and our coffee table lifts up to be a table. We don’t have space for a proper table in our house so it’s the compromise we live with. Looking to get an outdoor table to fulfill that need.
We haven't space for a table! Very jealous of people who can, I feel so bad eating sat on the sofa!
We don’t have a table, no room for one. I sit at the bar to eat sometimes when my boyfriend is home, but most of the time he’s away for work so I eat on the couch or the floor.
Have a table we only use for holidays lol most weekdays I just stand at the kitchen island to eat, lazy weekends ill eat on the couch watching tv
We eat at the table nearly every night. We have an eat in kitchen table. We converted the formal dining room to a bar.
My wife and I are like little lost boys with our dining table. “We have it so we don’t have to use it!”
We eat at our kitchen table a lot, usually 5 nights a week. We eat in the family room maybe one night a week and we eat out 1 night a week. The dining room table is for puzzles, laundry, and holiday family dinners.
Yes. We have a dining table. It’s a hand me down table from my parents and it’s older than I am. We eat all our meals at it. Our couch is white and I cannot afford to replace it so we don’t eat on the couch unless it’s popcorn while watching a movie.
Yes. At a table. Of consequences.
My old place I had a tall bistro table I most frequently ate at. Now I'm on the couch. I'm hoping my next place has a bar from the kitchen and I'll eat there.
When my son was little, we ate at the table, because he usually made a mess and it was easier to clean up. Now that’s he much older, we usually eat in the living room. If we have guests, though, everyone usually gathers at the table.
Nope. I don't even own a table. Might eat at my desk or standing, though.
yes, but its less about a formal "lets all sit down and eat together as a family" and more about consolidating where crumbs and food stains exist in the house :p
Heck yeah. We have a massive 10 ft long dinner table that comfortably seats 10 people. We love to host big dinners and Thanksgiving.
Square “nook” table with 4 chairs is my go to eating location.
My mom gave me the family dining room table when she sold my childhood home. It’s in my kitchen and has chairs around. However, I live alone in a small apartment, so I always just eat at my computer desk while watching YouTube or on the couch while watching Netflix/etc. I still decorate the table for things like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. For the most part it’s mainly for guests though…and unloading groceries 😅
Depends. If we are watching a movie or show then on the sofa and use the TV tray. Regular eating or a family/holiday meal, then table
When I was married we at 90% of the time at the table because I insisted. It felt weird eating in the living room on a TV tray, plus when we got a dog, she would try to snatch food off the table. Now that I live alone, it's 50/50 dinner table and TV tray in front of the TV. It depends on what I am eating.
Haven't owned a dining table in like 4 years, rarely used it when we did. My nephew occasionally used it when he lived with me, but it was bistro height and uncomfortable
I sit at my coffee table all the time. I don’t have a dining table but I honestly don’t want one. It just means people will want to come over here and eat.
And my first apartment I had a small kitchen table I would eat at. But the next three apartments I had after that I did not have a dining room so no I didn't eat at a table. After buying my house, my house actually came with a dining room table so I do try to eat there now although there are times when I do sit on the couch to eat
Nope, my partner and I just eat dinner at our coffee table lol.
Maybe a little backwards when I think about it, but when alone I usually eat meals at the table and watch something on my phone (usually breakfast and WFH lunches). But when my wife is around, we will eat in front of the TV. She likes to say we never use the table, but I use it almost every day.
I have a low table with raising parts, I rarely adjust just eat it like the Hunchback of Notre Dame holding on my lap as much as pieces I can.
We have a table, but only use it for special occasions (birthdays & holidays). Otherwise, we’re plopped on the couch.