{"id":120,"date":"2023-05-09T00:39:08","date_gmt":"2023-05-09T04:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/modernmomming\/?p=120"},"modified":"2023-05-25T14:23:28","modified_gmt":"2023-05-25T18:23:28","slug":"our-round-kitchen-table-dramatically-changed-our-family-dynamic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/modernmomming\/2023\/05\/our-round-kitchen-table-dramatically-changed-our-family-dynamic\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Round Kitchen Table Dramatically Changed Our Family Dynamic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
A Room with a View<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Mealtimes for our family of four have always been a source of stress for me, ever since our children were small.<\/p>\n
Whether it\u2019s the grumbling over the soup du jour, my husband\u2019s loud criticism of our kids\u2019 table manners, or the incessant requests to shut off the electronics while we are at the table, mealtime with the family is not something I looked forward to.<\/p>\n
As we have assumed more \u201ctraditional\u201d roles in our home, it\u2019s really up to me to make family mealtime happen.<\/p>\n
Because of the tension at dinner, our meal times during the week became staggered.\u00a0 The kids would eat casually at the kitchen counter, and my husband would later.\u00a0 I typically do not eat dinner, especially when I cook, which is pretty much every night.<\/p>\n
On Friday nights we typically we sit together at our rectangular dining table for a traditional Shabbat dinner, where my husband blesses the bread and the wine before we eat a better-than-average Friday night meal.<\/p>\n
The eating at different times during the week is not ideal, especially when it\u2019s well known that family dinner is a very important bonding time for a family.<\/p>\n
Still, I was all for minimizing dinnertime tensions by spacing out our family\u2019s mealtimes.<\/p>\n
That all changed with the purchase of our new circular kitchen dining table.<\/p>\n
Change of Scenery<\/strong><\/p>\n
We searched and searched for the perfect table and narrowed our focus to a few we liked from a newly opened furniture outlet.\u00a0 I wanted a round or oval table, as our kitchen space is not that large, and all our other tables were rectangular \u2013 it was time for something different.<\/p>\n
Sitting at our new table has been transformative.\u00a0 Suddenly, there\u2019s no Head of the Table, we are all equals \u2013 each making a contribution to the conversation.\u00a0 Each of us are able to see one another eye to eye, and breakfast, lunch, and dinner tensions have diminished.<\/p>\n
Now, we can open the double doors that lead from our kitchen to the backyard, and it\u2019s as if we are dining al fresco.<\/p>\n
In the morning when the kids are off to school, sitting at the table alone, drinking coffee \u2013 is peaceful and calming.\u00a0 The need to escape for a coffee run has disappeared.<\/p>\n
A Roundabout Decision\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
While my motivations for wanting a round table are practical, there is actually some Jewish wisdom and even superstition that\u2019s applicable to the decision.<\/p>\n
First, it\u2019s the avoidance of sitting at the corner of a table, which may inevitably happen with a square or rectangular table.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a popular superstition in Judaism and throughout Eastern European culture that says that a person who sits at a corner will not be married. In Russian tradition \u2013 the person may not get married for 7 years.<\/p>\n
Even though it may sound silly, I can\u2019t help but feel badly for a hapless guest who many find themselves squeezed to the corner of the table when there\u2019s enough room at a regular seat<\/p>\n
Perhaps the other rationale for choosing this shape table is the metaphorical connection with the Circle of Life \u2014 a common theme in most every religion or spiritual school of thought. On the Jewish New Year Rosh Hashanah, we eat a circular challah to remind us of the circle of life.\u00a0 And when we are celebrating a simcha, we dance in a circle.<\/p>\n
It does not matter how I look at it \u2013 when I sit at the circular table, whether its alone or with my family, I feel a sense of fullness and contentment.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mealtimes for our family of four have always been a source of stress for me, ever since our children were small. Whether it\u2019s the grumbling over the soup du jour, my husband\u2019s loud criticism of our kids\u2019 table manners, or the incessant requests to shut off the electronics while we are at the table, mealtime […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4980,"featured_media":135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[30,12,33,39,36],"class_list":["post-120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-family","tag-judaism","tag-mealtime","tag-shabbat","tag-symbolism"],"yoast_head":"\nOur Round Kitchen Table Dramatically Changed Our Family Dynamic<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mealtimes for our family of four have always been a source of stress for me, ever since our children were small.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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