Family Dinners

As a kid, I was fortunate enough to assume I would have a home cooked meal every night. My mom has always enjoyed cooking and has always enforced sit down dinners every night. When I would be picked up at the bus stop, the farmer's market or grocery store would be a stop before we arrived at home. While my mom would be cooking, my family and I would usually sit around the kitchen and keep her company. My dad would be more consistent with this, but my brothers and I on tended to do this on occasion. We would usually be getting a start on our homework. The aroma of the meal being cooked downstairs would find its way to my bedroom and make me anxious for dinner. I would run down and ask, “When is dinner going to be ready?!” and notice the steak or chicken has not been grilled yet. The most typical response would be from my mother, “Once your dad puts the meat on the grill, dinner will be ready in a half hour.” I would then have to relay that message to my dad who would be sitting in the living room playing guitar or reading the newspaper. A half an hour later, my brothers and I would be called down for dinner. Around 8:00 p.m. dinner was served. To this day, we serve our selves from the pots still on the oven top or the pasta in the strainer in the sink, buffet style.
My dad is always the last to be seated so we all wait for him to begin our meal. My dog, Riley, drools from the minute he smells the steak grilling until the lasts of it are in the garbage can. He unfortunately has a slow metabolism or maybe I offer him too many treats, so he has to watch his weight and sometimes has to miss out on the extra scraps of meat. His bad habit of begging is quite annoying. Since I am the only one in the family who disobeys the “don’t feed the dog at the table” rule, Riley waits at my feet for food to accidentally drop.
Sitting down as a family almost every night really made me appreciate family time and good food. My brothers are now off working in the real world and it is not often we are all eating dinner together anymore. When we are reunited, though, my mom makes sure the five of us eat together. This is a tradition I will hope to bring to my family in the future.