More Than Food: Lessons From A Kitchen Table

The kitchen table is a powerful piece of furniture in your home. It's the place where meals are served and families can come together and talk about what happened during their day. It's also serves as a place where memories are made — from making real exploding volcanoes, to practicing your times tables or learning to take apart and rebuild your home computer. What did you learn at your table?

In my own home, we used the kitchen table practically every night. That was back when there were only 40 channels of television instead of 400 and it was easier to pry yourself away and have a decent sit-down meal as a family. We'd discuss all the things that happened that day: my father's work, my mother's stories, the gross thing my brother found on the way home from school, or the cool thing I made in art class that week.

Now, as spaces seem to grow smaller and many are without garages or workrooms, your kitchen table is even more often the main work space for many. After family chats, my kitchen table was also where I learned to latch hook my first rug (yeah I'm a craft nerd). It was where I rebuilt my first lawnmower engine, and also the place where I learned how to sew.

We think about the kitchen table and the food-related memories it offers, but it's always good to remember the balance that this strong piece of furniture can bring to the lives of our children and ourselves as well. With back to school season in full swing, it seems like the appropriate time to reflect upon such memories. What did you learn at your kitchen table? Share your thoughts below!

(Image: Flickr member rubberpaw licensed for use by Creative Commons)

Comments (5)

Where i learned binary number systems, studied for every spelling test i ever had, how to reload, the history of ancient mayans, my thoughts on religion, that my dad can draw cartoons, that i can make my family fall out of their chairs laughing on a good day, and rudimentary spanish and french. Among other things. I love my parents.

My dad was always really appreciative of any meal my mom made, and said so. I learned that if someone goes to the trouble to make you a home-cooked meal, that equals love, and you should say thank you.

Kitchen table is where we have our silent conversation,.share just glance or daily tid bits

Our table growing up was used daily- family dinners were the norm, around 6 o'clock, and my Dad would tell us of his day riding the trolley into downtown pittsburgh to and from work. It sounded so far away as a child, as I got older and learned it was 8 miles into the city, I was surprised. Our table was used for Uno and War card games, and sitting around listening to my Father and his brother play the bouzoki, a Greek string instrument.. Dinner to dessert and coffee on the weekends with friends and family would have us sitting at the table for hours- looking at old pictures of relatives in greece, (my father is obsessed with Geneology) reading old letters, listening to tape recordings of kin long gone. That same table has moved from Pittsburgh to Dallas and it is now used for the grandkids to come each sunday and sit and talk all about their week, and eat dinner to dessert and laugh and share and make memories. What a table!!

When not dining, our table was used for games and puzzles. The game was usually Yatzee played in marathon sessions with lots of laughter and trash talk. Puzzles were the perfect opportunity to visit and perhaps hide 1 piece so you could be he one to place the last piece.