Friday, September 30, 2016

How to Have a Family Dinner in an Empty Nest

It's so easy! IF everyone, or even one of them, lives close enough to come by the house. Yes, I've brought back Wednesday night dinners.

Wednesday night dinners are even better now that Baby M takes part!

When I was growing up, we had dinner at the table every night. Even when we were teenagers and brother T had football practice, we all ate together AFTER football practice. It was the same when the lovelies were growing up- we had family dinners every night. I've never known dinner any other way. Until the nest emptied. Not that I don't enjoy eating with Tucker but all he really wants is what's on my plate. He is a bit lacking in conversation. Unless you prefer one-sided conversations...  While it's true that I do love solitude, dinner time is not the time for sitting alone watching television. Dinner time is a time for interacting with one another, laughing, sharing your day...

Be careful, though. Hilarity is likely to ensue...
I hosted these fun dinners after the last lovely headed downtown to attend the College of Charleston and things were, at that time, too quiet around here. Every Wednesday night, the two lovelies who lived downtown would come over with a couple of college buddies to eat dinner. They got a home cooked meal, and I got entertainment. And noise.

Because someone will pick up some junk mail and start the ball rolling by reading a blurb from the advertisement and it's ON! Seriously, it was hilarious, y'all. 
Now that one lovely is living at home and two are living within 20 minutes of home, I decided to bring back Wednesday night dinners. And the ones who live 8 hours away? We rub it in...I mean, we put those goobers on speaker or Skype. Just like we did with Birdie when she was in grad school in Texas. There are good things about technology, y'all!

These two were MIA. But we rubbed it in real good. 
What if your all-grown-up-kiddos live too far away? Try hosting for some college students who are far away from home and could use a surrogate family and a home cooked meal every so often. If you'd rather not have college students, look around your neighborhood or church or senior center for folks who would enjoy having a meal with friends. It's almost like the supper clubs some churches have around here. I like the idea of hosting some college students just to give them a family-feel and maybe give their parents some relief knowing their kiddos have a surrogate family close by they can turn to if needed.

While the ad discussion continued, Baby M showed zero interest in her shape cards. 
Regardless of who comes to these dinners, it's always nice to have a meal with others and enjoy some conversation, laughs, and good food.

Goobers. The lot of them. 

Oh, what was on the menu? I was so busy trying to remember to take pictures of everyone that I forgot to take any of the food. We had breakfast. My grandmother did that sometimes when I was growing up and I loved it! The lovelies enjoyed it when they were growing up, too, so I decided to prepare a breakfast feast for dinner.

Have you brought back family dinners?


Peace, Peeps!


12 comments:

  1. We all ate together as a family when I was growing up and tried to do it with our boys after Joe and I were married. Now it's just the two of us unless the kids come for a few days. I much prefer cooking for a crowd. I love your Wednesday family dinner night idea. Awesome!

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    1. I always know when I check the blog for comments that you're going to be the first one, Terri! I love seeing your name pop up! :) I prefer cooking for a crowd too and they love eating what I prepare. Win, win! Next time you and Joe come up this way, come on Wednesday so y'all can join us!

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  2. That's such a nice thing to do and a win win! We're so far out in the boonies I'd have to put an ad in the paper. But I love it that you do this.

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    1. We do enjoy it and I love cooking for a crowd. But I'd also like to live out in the boonies. I was talking about you this week and how beautiful it is where you live. I think the lovelies would still come to dinner on Wednesdays. They might even stay over night. :)

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  3. I always love it when the family can all get together ... good times, good memories.

    All the best Jan

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    1. I do too! It's the stuff that makes life grand, isn't it? :) Thank you!

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  4. I think this is a wonderful thing to do and sounds like so much fun. People just don't know what they're missing when they don't have a family dinner time, choosing to spend it in front of a screen instead.

    What a blessing this is for your family and could be for so many others. Thank you for sharing this happiness with all of us. :)

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    1. Thank you! I've always known family dinners at the table, sharing our days and loads of laughter. That's one of the biggest things I miss in this empty nest. Bringing at least one night back seemed like a good idea. I'm blessed to have most of the family close enough to do this.

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  5. Growing up we ate as a family when dad was home, if he wasn't we would often eat in the lounge room in front of the telly, with my children we ate as a family at least 4 nights a week and the other nights I would let the girls eat in their rooms in front of the telly if they wanted to. Now I often do a Sunday lunch and we all eat at the table

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    1. I thought about doing Sunday afternoons. I think I just went with Wednesday nights because that's what we did when they were in college. It is nice to have at least one day that everyone gets together, isn't it? :)

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  6. Now that is a great idea! So glad that is working out for all of you.

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    1. Thank you! I really enjoy cooking for a crowd. Old habits die hard. :)

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Thank you so much for taking the time to comment! It makes me feel connected to everyone even though we may live far apart! Have a wonderful day!

 
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