I was forced to sit at the kiddie table once. The next time they tried, I threw such a fit that one of my uncles sat in my place at the kid's table, and the next year there wasn't one. Mission accomplished.

i almost hate to admit this, but because i am 28 and single, i am still often seated at the kid's table during the holidays.

P.S., when my uncles started having kids (my Dad was significantly older than them), they re-instituted the kiddie table. My little cousins seemed to be ok with it, and I took some healthy ribbing from the family. I still hate the kiddie table, but I do understand that sometimes it's necessary because of space issues.

At our family gatherings, we throw a fit if we don't have a kid's table! Granted, the youngest "kid" is now 20, but the conversation at the adult table is always so boring (health, medication, people I've never heard of), all of the youngest "kids" (through age 30 for now) demand our own space and conversation! We joke that when we have kids of our own, we'll make them sit at the adult table so we can maintain our kid's table.

What?! Kiddie tables are awesome! They're fun when you're a kid because you don't have to behave for the adults, and they're fun when you're an adult because you don't have to tone it down for the kids.

I think a big reason kiddie tables came about was simply practicality. Often, tables are packed full with all the chairs possible, and throwing the kids at a coffee table or folding table was the easiest way of spreading things out. Seating half the adults at a card table in the kitchen just wouldn't have gone over well, but throwing all the kids in there was an easy way to make sure the adults were accommodated appropriately, and the kids could make a mess without it being a big deal, since most people always had carpet in the dining room and an easier to clean floor in the kitchen. Aside from this practicality point, and the sans children peaceful meal point, I think kiddie tables are just antiquated. Children are as much a part of the the festivities as anyone else, and should be included. It's not an adult holiday that children are being allowed to participate it, so I think they should be included when it makes sense practicality wise.

We always had the kiddie table when we were small and it allowed us to spend time with cousins at Thanksgiving that lived far away.

Now, the kiddie table is there at Thanksgiving and they like having their own little space. There's never any arguing or fighting, just the occasional request for more milk. So it works for us.

After reading the other comments, I can see how it might be more fun at some of those kiddie tables. I think I was just lucky enough to come from a family of boisterous, humorous, silly people, so mixing all of us up at the table tends to work out in a good way...no one is bored at our family table. :) Though, someone did once laugh so hard they wet their pants...and it wasn't someone who would normally sit at the kiddie table, either. :)

In our family, there was no room for all at the "big" table, and the kiddie table kind of turned the corner from the dining room into the living room of my grandparents' house. The oldest teen was stuck "babysitting" at the head of that table. It was very loud. It was fun for everyone but that soon-to-graduate to the big table teen.

My daughter likes the kiddie table at my Mom's w/her 2 cousins because she only sees them a few times a year. We have room for the 3 of them at the main table, but they like to make their own decorations all afternoon for their table.

I am strongly opposed to kiddie tables. For one, children are so entertaining. Secondly, how are children going to learn to behave at a table with adults if they're not allowed such exposure? And isn't Thanksgiving about family anyway? I think it's a strange tradition.

We never had a kiddy table growing up. Everyone say where they sat (we don't do a formal thanksgiving table) but the one year we went to my Uncle and Aunt's and she made a separate table for my brothers and I, I clearly remember being in a foul mood and feeling insulted that we weren't good enough to sit with them.

As an adult I see pluses to both sides, but I agree with purdygirl, thanksgiving is about family, not segregation :)

I never liked the kiddie table. I have to admit I don't understand what the point of it is. If they are in the same room, they are going to be "disruptive" anyway. And if they're hidden in a separate room, I'd have to wonder why someone would have kids at all if they didn't consider them a member of the family.

I always kind of thought of the kid table as a shot to my self esteem. I remember feeling left out a lot. And it haunted me into my teens *laughs*. I've definitely been put at a "kid" table during a wedding which was really awful. I wanted to sit with my family and be part of conversation, not stuffed at a table with people I hardly knew, some of whom didn't even speak many words yet.

I'm a huge fan of the kiddie table, both as a (former) kid and parent. My brothers, cousins and I were very close as kids and we loved having our own space to be together and get rowdy. Now my brothers, cousins and I all have kids and we love seeing them contect without our intervention.

I always hated the kiddie table as a kid -- it always seemed very patronizing to me. I understand now that it was probably done to minimize the influence my strange aunts and uncles and first cousins once removed might have had on my upbringing, and I'm thankful that I don't know most of them very well today, and that they aren't now clamoring to friend me on facebook.

Barring the presence of weird family members, though, I'm opposed to the practice.

I hate kiddie tables, but that's because I was always an awkward middle age and still seem to be placed at them. With my parents, 3 pairs of aunts and uncles, plus my older brothers and their wives, I tend to be the odd one out (literally) and some how still get demoted to the kids table. I have a college degree! Not cool!

We have 40+ people for Thanksgiving so there are two seatings. The first one for "kids" (all 18+) and the second for "adults" (parents). We also play a game of kids vs adults football in the morning and as we all get older the adults keep trying to recruit the older kids for their team. It's quite a growing debate as to where to draw the line :)

There were kiddie tables at a recent wedding reception I attended. There were a couple slightly older kids segregated to that side of the room and it was obviously embarrassing for them!

I like the idea of everyone sitting together, because ultimately, someone is going to have to watch over the kiddie table anyway.

In my family you have to be pushing 50 to join the adults table since there are so many of us. My fondest memory is sitting at a kiddie table at a family wedding. It was the roudiest, funnest time ever! Sadly, it has been a while since our last holiday, reunion, or wedding so it's been a while since my cousins and I got to be rowdy together. I'm all for the kiddie table!

I come from a small family but all children were well behaved at the adult table so there really was never a reason to separate. That being said I can see why a kiddie table could be fun to a child. I might make use of it for a family birthday party or other occasion, but not for Thanksgiving. That's time for my family to be together, from babies to great grandmas.

I'm a full supporter of the kiddie table. Overall it seems to keep both the adults & kids happier. Mostly the adults...who are putting the whole thing together in the first place!

Kiddie table = win.

I think kiddie tables can be great in the right context, but only if you have enough seating at the adult table to accomodate all of your adult guests. As a single 30-something I was once the only adult relegated to the kiddie table (which was in a separate room from the main table). The "kiddies" were all in their early to mid-teens, but since it wasn't a close family event, I felt awkward, embarrassed and more than a little insulted. I made the most of it that night, but I definitely declined my invitation to the next year's party.

I hate the kids table SO MUCH. The possibility of having to sit there is like a black cloud over my Thanksgiving excitedness. I'm 23 this year and I will be at the adult table if it kills me.

We had a kid's table mostly because of lack of space at the main dinning table. It wasn't a big deal and was fun to have kid conversations with my cousins.

I think it depends on how many "kids" there are, how close in age they fall, and whether they enjoy one another's company. Don't stick a teen with a 5-year-old, or force two kids who don't know each other to make nice. In my family, all of the "kids" are around the same age, so we preferred to be "isolated"...and still do, though we're now all in our 20s.

My family never did a kiddie table. I can see the merit of putting a passel of tots at a coffee table if space is limited, but for small quantities of children, I favor integration at the main table.

It is important teaching of my family that good-mannered children learn to be quiet enough that the grown-ups forget not to tell the really GOOD family stories in front of them. There's a great deal of family history I wouldn't know if I'd been seated separately.

I think we had a kiddie table once, and as the oldest cousin, I found it lame, as I'd always sat with the adults. We usually all crammed together at one table which I think was nice for everyone as some great family stories came out of it. There was the time my brother rapped "Green Eggs and Ham" at Thanksgiving, and that was in the early 80s in suburban Virginia. We still all work it out so that everyone can sit together, even the ones in highchairs.

I remember being placed at the kids table when I was a kid visiting relatives in the US with my family. I didn't like it, but that might have been because I knew none of my cousins and great-cousins.

As an adult, I am a strong supporter of the kids table, however unfortunately it is rather unpopular in Germany. I just HATE being at dinnerparties with kids next to each parent, because it kills every sensible conversation.

The parents are engrossed in talking to their oh-so-cute kiddies - which they see and talk to every day - and don't even bother if the kids yawn, eat with their fingers, yell at each other, start eating before everyone else and get up before dinner is over. If I see friends and family only once in a while I want to have a decent conversation with them without being interrupted every 5 minutes.

I think I wouldn't mind sitting at a table with well-mannered kids and stricter adults, but I haven't met any yet. I have cancelled dinnerparties because I knew everybody was bringing kids - I want to meet my friends, not their kids!

I always thought the kids preferred and enjoyed the kid's table. They can make silly jokes, talk with their mouth full and make a mess without getting the adults upset. Whoever thinks kids need to be always with adults just doesn't get it. IMHO.

I agree with some previous commenters that it all depends on the kids (and adults) involved. I was one of those kids (around age 5+?) who enjoyed sitting at the adult table and listening, and I think my manners were appropriate. Also I didn't feel like I needed to be next to my parents at the adult table as long as I knew the people sitting near me.

That being said, I was okay with sitting at the kids table if the group of kids was interesting and of similar ages to me. I almost got stuck once or twice at a kids table when I was a teen and the rest of the kids were 6-ish, but my parents got me moved to the adult table at least once when that was about to happen (at someone else's house, obviously).

The kiddie table was ok growing up, but I don't recall what made it work. What HAS worked, though, now that we are all grown up, is a male table and a female table. They get to throw food at each other (no, really), make fart jokes, and talk about sports, and we get to have conversations they'd never put up with, eat civilly, and have a break from our "kids" ie men.

Call me crazy, but it works.

I agree with Purdygirl's comments. We always had a kid's table when I was growing up. Both sides of the family (we switched every other year). At my grandparent's house, there were a lot of us kids, that's true, so for logistics, we had to have more than one table. Typically segregated into "adults" & "kids". But I kind of liked it, because I did get to hang out with my cousins that I didn't see all that often. At my aunt's houses, depending on where we were, it was okay. But, as I was reading through the post and comments, I was thinking that I didn't totally like it growing up... I can see both sides of the argument, though. It can feel super weird to sit at the kid's table as an adult (you know, well into your 20's) and there is that longing to be at the adult table....I feel that, too. I'm not a total kid hater...but I'd rather enjoy a good meal with family, not surrounded by a bunch of 5 or 6 year olds who throw mashed potato at each other...I'd rather spend time with the adults that I don't see, and won't hit me with the green beans.

Big get-togethers like Thanksgiving were always served buffet-style in my family. Since there was no set 'table' at all, there was no need for a 'kids table' either. We all just sat wherever and talked and watched movies. In fact, I'm not sure I can remember ever having a sit-down dinner for a big get-together. I think it was because no one ever had a table big enough! Everyday dinner was always at the dinner table though.

It depends on the kids involved. Some children would prefer to sit with the adults and can behave themselves appropriately at the table. Others find grown-ups dull company and would prefer to be off on their own. There's no right or wrong way to handle this situation.

Honestly, I think it's a bad idea. Kids need to be included with the adults they need to see what we eat, eat what we eat. Not to mention that when we move them to another table we immediately assume they're not listening to our adult conversation. If they're in the room they are listening!

Damaris
www.kitchencorners.com

Oh, this so brings up bad memories for me. I HATED the kiddie table. I couldn't stand it, felt insulted (even at 5!), and I really wanted to sit and listen to the grown up talk at the big table. I was a nerd, though, and always liked serious, adult talk.

To every family, their own.
Can. not. freakingwaitforThanksgivingdinner!

At big family holidays, my parents brought in the picnic table to extend the long dining room table, and a card table after that, through the double doors into the front hall. We all ate at the "same" table that way, but where you sat depended mainly on your size!

Doesn't matter where you sit, it is wonderful to be offered a seat with loved ones.

I can see both sides. Personally i hated the kiddie table. I did not get on with my cousins and would rather have been included in adult conversations. Getting stuck with them was torture. I'd escape as soon as I could. If the kids all get along then go for it.

I don't like them. I find them exluding.

My family never had to worry about it, really. Only the very oldest members of the family got a seat at my great grandma's teeny kitchen table. There was a big dining table, but it was always covered in food, buffet-style. The 30+ rest of us grabbed a folding tray and found whatever empty chair, couch, or step we could find. I remember there being enough kids of varying ages that we formed "factions" and our own seating territories. Hehe :) Good memories.

Love, love, LOVE the kiddie table. I'm 26 and still love sitting with all of my cousins and siblings at big family meals. I guess that speaks more to my family, than it does to the idea of a kiddie table, though. Either way, I can't wait for holiday meals!

I love "kids" tables now that the kids are all 25-35.

I know they are started so that adults can have nice adult conversations, but those kids' tables are think tanks for mischief. Several plans were hatched without adult supervision.

most of my life growing up, we lived several thousand miles away from extended family and didn't celebrate holidays with them. Thanksgiving at my house was always just my parents and my 4 siblings. Then I married my husband and suddenly had HUGE (for me)Thanksgiving dinners (this year we're at 22) and tons of little kids. I am hosting this year and planning on a kid table. They all get along great and have fun. We're moving next year and so it will probably be back to tiny dinners. For now, I'm all in favor of kiddie tables!

Kiddie tables are FUN! At least, they were in my family. And it wasn't meant to separate us out - there just wasn't always enough room at the other table.

So if there isn't enough room, kiddie tables are 'yay' from me. If its just to keep kids out of the way...'nay.'

I loved the kids table when I was a kid. We just didn't have room around the regular table for all the kids. All my cousins and I got along really well, so that may have been part of the reason why we didn't have a problem with it.

I wish we could all sit at the same table. Certainly, for regular dinner parties, the kids sit at the table with the grownups. But, Thanksgiving is huge at our house. This year we will have 11 adults crammed into our tiny dining room, so the 3 toddlers will have their own table. BTW, I think it will be seen as a bit of a graduation for them, as the infants at this year's dinner will be balanced on laps. The one 20 year old at our gathering will be where he belongs- at the adult table. I can understand why all you 20-somethings forced to sit at the kids' table hate the concept!

i like this topic. it´s nice to read all the coments. at my family we had a really really long table and at one end it was the kids section and in the middle it was the teenagers and younge adults and then at the other end the adults. it always seemd to work, parents had an easy access to there kids, the teenagers always seem to help with the small ones and not mind to much. and we could listen in on the adults conversation or go and play if we wanted to. i would let everyone else go and play, and then scoot over to my mom´s lap and lay my head while i´d listen to the adults talk. good times.

Yay, because there's no room at the big table anymore. My two sisters each have 2 kids, though the youngest was only a baby last year so he got to sit at the big kids table ;)

We called it the "little table" in my family, and everyone semed to be fine with it. Of course, Nana's pickles always disappeared from the little table even before anyone sat down -- a tribute to the good taste of small children! Now that the occupants of the liitle tabe range in age from 8 - 25, the custom is slowly disappearing. Means we need a BIG "big" table, though!

As a kid, I didn't mind the kiddie table when it was with my mom's family. All of my cousins and I are pretty close in age, and I seem to remember it being fun. Anywhere else-- including with my dad's family and family friends-- I hated it. I was a weird middle age, and found it very insulting to be stuck at the kiddie table well into my late teens. Thankfully I qualify as an "adult" now, at least in most situations ;)

I think in most families kiddie tables are generally for space reasons, not because kids are disruptive. If you have a lot of people, you have to have a separate table somewhere, either tacked on the end, put in the kitchen, wrapping around the corner of the living room etc. Depending on the holiday and which side of the family we were with, we sometimes had a kiddie table and sometimes not. I think the mix was good--when we were with lots of cousins it was fun to sit at a separate table and get to have our own conversation. Other times when there was less of us, it was also fun to be included in the adult table. Now that I have a toddler, I often get sat at whatever extension that needs to be added on to the table to accommodate everyone with the rest of the little kids and parents, and I don't mind a bit. I'd rather talk to the kids!

We have an old people table (since there are more younger adults than old people).

I like the idea of an old people table if it is necessary to split up the group due to size limitations - they seem to love to talk about health issues, pensions, deaths of friends, etc. I'm 'old people' and know how boring we are.