In my house, my parents' house, television always accompanied us at lunchtime. When I lived with partners later and as a couple, also We used to take advantage of lunch and dinner to watch TV. But now I have barely seen the news for a while, about the time my oldest daughter has, four years.
Now we don't have television in the kitchen, which is where we eat, and although I miss that little bit of information, which I try to supply with the news at other times of the day or in other media, I think having the TV turned off during meals is a good idea.
And this despite the fact that television had been on more than one occasion a good "method" for girls to remain seated, something that is difficult for me to achieve and that sometimes, when we are in a hurry, it makes me desperate.
But having no television, we look at each other more, which seems silly, but it is not the same as looking up from the plate just to see the screen. And above all we listen and talk more in family. We want to know what they do in school, talk about food, what they want to do in the afternoon, the best moments of the day ...
As I say, maybe the TV would make my daughters not get up so much from their chairs, something that, if they haven't done it before, at dessert time it seems inevitable and the spring is activated that makes them get up and improvise model passes , circus numbers, jumps, juggling or any other physical activity not very appropriate for the table.
But neither can we pretend (or I don't) that with two and four years be an example of patience and static at mealtime (or at any other time). If sometimes even I need movement! What I would have given to be able to get up and juggle the oddly tedious meeting ...
Well, I recognize it, when we eat all three of them alone I have also danced with them halfway through lunch and what we have laughed! Now I try to see that it may not always be, that sometimes there is hurry, and that in places with other people they can bother.
But ultimately, no, we don't have television in the kitchen, and we will not be very informed of the last hour, but nobody takes away those moments of communication and fun that would not give us the news, The Simpsons or SpongeBob.
