HOW DO WE ENCOURAGE FAMILY BOND

There is a saying that says a family that eats together stays together, we have seen in movies how families probably a western thing where they gather to eat dinner even when they are grown, left the house and have their kids, they still come together once in awhile some weekly depending on how close the other members of the family live to have dinner.

Most of these days are when the family get to bond and have quality time to discuss and get to know about the happenings in the lives of other family members and how they could support one another. Sometimes, these family dinners are planned for a specific purpose, such as to catch one or more family members off guard in love.

Growing up, we didn’t have a dining table in our house until I was age seven, if then we only ate breakfast together as kids, which was because we were all preparing to go to school at the same time, or in other circumstances when everyone was hungry and had been waiting for the meal to be served. Although at some point, my parent will serve my sibling and me on the same plate so we could eat together, which does not count to me as family eating together.

Most houses in this part of the world I live in didn’t grow up having a dining table in their home that will warrant them to eat together, it is a typical case of having parents save their children's meal as soon as the meal is ready, and not a case where we stick to a particular time for meals, having a set time for breakfast, lunch or dinner, I only learnt to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner a specific time because I went to a boarding house for my secondary school where I learnt the culture
of eating my daily meals at a particular time due to the school's schedule.

I can barely recall having dinner together with family or even anyone in particular, I presently live away from my family and cant remember the last time we as a family were all together under the same roof for a whole day, right from the time we came due for secondary school, my elder brother was first to leave the house for a boarding school after which I followed a few years, we only come back home during the holidays, only eat when we are feeling hungry or want to eat. Our father, for instance, has always been away when we were kids, not having much time to spend with us, not to mention sitting down to eat with us. When he is home, it is already late, and we kids will be in bed. And it will be difficult to make it a tradition now that we are all grown-ups and have left the house to start our own lives.

Having watched many movies, I have seen many behaviours I would love to emulate about family life when I am blessed with my family and kids. The first thing I will do is to establish a set-down rule for the family to always eat together as long as we are all around, and make it a norm to see that everyone finds time to make it to the family dinner once they are grown and have left the house to start their own lives.

Thank you for reading. My name is @rishagamo, and this is my response to the Hive Learners' weekly Featured Content Week 177 Episode 01: “A FAMILY THAT EATS TOGETHER”.