One of the beautiful memories from my childhood days was dining with my family. Whenever I look back at those years, I feel blessed because of the impact those times had not just on me but the family as a whole. Those years weren't the best of times for us as a family, but we had several simple practices that kept us together, one of which was dining together.
We were always looking forward to dinner and the bonding starts from the kitchen. While preparing the meal, we chat about different things. Mom tells us some life experiences, especially about herself, and I always enjoy listening to her. Sometimes we talk about how the day went, and it's always interesting bonding together after a stressful day.
Once the food is ready, Mom has a big plate she serves dinner with. Everyone would sit round the plate since there was no dining table and eat from the plate. This happened for so many years before Mom changed the eating style, and that's because her kids were getting older.
I and my immediate sibling couldn't stop the habit and still ate together until we had to live separately, which was one of the difficult times of my life because the family I lived with did things differently.
Only my guardian wife cooks, and whenever I try to help, she tells me that the kitchen isn't a place for boys. The family eats separately and barely does things together except praying.
Over a decade has passed, and somehow, we still get to do our thing like those years. Although we don't eat from a plate, we cook together and enjoy the meal together, mostly on weekends.
From experience, I can confidently say that this practice is one of the things that helped my family build a very strong bond. We (children) had this deep connection with our mom, and there was nothing we couldn't share with her, especially during that kitchen time. She became her children's best friend, and that's one of the best decisions she made with raising four boys.
The connection I had with my siblings was on a different level, and that bond just keeps growing till today. A friend once asked if it would be possible for us (siblings) to live separately, and I just laughed because it's not the first time someone asked such a question. Definitely, we can live separately because we have done that before and it didn't take a pinch away from our bond.
Since I am a testimony of how this practice works, doing the same thing with my wife and kids is certain. I want to see them bond so well that we will be inseparable no matter what life brings our way.
Building a strong family bond definitely doesn't end with just things that happen at the dining table, but it plays a huge part in bringing the family together, especially in this age and time when family members are always stuck in their rooms with different devices. They eat in their rooms, and it's so bad that some even communicate via text despite being in the same building.
The importance of family members living under the same roof gathering together at least once daily can't be quantified and you will agree with me that dinning together is a perfect way to bring everyone together.
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