I cook for my family every night. And if you saw my Instagram feed, you might see pictures like this.
Or this.
Or this.
I absolutely love cooking. And I know that not everybody feels this way, but for me it’s relaxing. The hour I spend in the kitchen every night is my favorite hour of the day, so I choose to spend my time and energy making a nice dinner each evening. Because it’s enjoyable for me.
But the whole “sitting around the table” thing?
It probably doesn’t look the way you think it does in your mind.
Because while I used to be a stickler for the whole “sit around the table like you’re supposed to” thing, I’ve significantly relaxed in that department. Part of it is because I felt like the whole “family dinner” thing had become an unhealthy source of pride in my life; I was kind of legalistic about it and I started to find my value and identity in how well (and how healthfully) I cooked for my family.
The other part of it is that I’ve kind of just relaxed about everything in general.
So while I still cook every night, it’s because I honestly enjoy it, and I enjoy serving my family this way. But we don’t always sit around the table. Sometimes we sit on the couch.
And sometimes when we sit around the table, it looks like this.
And this.
I know I should probably clear the table every night before we eat, but I just don’t. And we eat in chaos.
So that’s my mom confession – and also my gentle reminder. Don’t assume things about the way other people live, and also give yourself permission to relax on occasion. Because you don’t have to do things perfectly to do them well.
For me, that meant changing up the way we did dinner.
What does dinner time look like in your home? Please tell me there’s someone out there whose table looks like mine!
