They say, "A family that eats together stays together," which simply means food brings us together. "I'm not gonna doubt that, though."
I grew up in an average Nigerian home, where my siblings and I would always eat together, there were times I would feel like eating alone but my mum would be like "Nope, you have to wait for the others" The only time I can remember eating alone was when I wasn't feeling fine "I enjoyed those moments" not the sickness part of it (don't get me wrong hehe!).
Now those moments have started dancing in my head like they happened yesterday, I can vividly remember when my older sister and I would fight dirty in the house and refuse to talk to each other, the gathering that we would see each other was in the dining table, no matter how angry we get, there is only one spot that would bring us together and that is "diner" in the process of eating our eyes will be doing the quarreling while our hands are busy dishing out that food into our mouths.
After a while of eating, we would engage each other in conversation, and that would be the end of our fight, so I'm gonna agree with the statement I made above that "food brings people together, especially me," except for those that don't like eating "what would bring such people together?" Just thinking out loud though.
Currently, the search for greener pastures has thrown my siblings and me into different parts of the nation, thereby making it hard for us to have family dinners frequently. But then they said, "Distance isn't a barrier," so we decided to make time for ourselves despite the distance. We've made every festive season the time to dine together as a family and reconnect with one another after a long period of being absent from each other.
This act of sitting and eating our favorite meal has numerous benefits, "no doubt," and it's very important to us. Also, we've made it mandatory since Mum passed that we would be coming together every festive period to reconnect and create amazing memories. These are moments where we share our life experiences and how we got to know each other better because when you stay away from people for a while, you get to realize new aspects of them you didn't know existed, those moment helps to re-know each other and make our bond stronger.
My family has made this festive family dinner so important that defaulters are charged for being absent and "Blame it on my big sister." So I'm looking forward to this year's family dinner with my amazing family.
I don't think I would love to change the way the family dinner is being done in my family, because it's even being done at the right time or even if I want to change anything, it would be the absence fee that is being attached to those who won't be available for the dinner "can't my absenteeism be free" hehe!.
Dining as a family is very important not just for the meals "well that is very important to me" but for the quality time spent together, the memories that would be made, the conversation, and the laughter that would be shared. And besides, food tastes better when eaten with loved ones.
Thanks for reading 🧡
