After all, with local pools closing for the season, along with experiencing a few unseasonably cool days, discerning Midwesterners can sense that winter is just around the corner. When the frigid temperatures and snow keep us indoors, summer barbeques and dinner on the patio will become a distant memory. That\u2019s when many individuals hunker down in their homes on icy evenings, but it wasn\u2019t always this way.<\/p>\n
Just look at the recent feature, \u201cBairs Share Secrets of Long Love,\u201d by Melody Vallieu, TDN editor. The story documents the 70 year marriage of Casstown residents, Frank and Betty Bair who were part of the annual Miami County Fair\u2019s Golden Couple Anniversary photo. \u201cThey got to know each other during the long Ohio winters where families would take turns hosting evenings of food and games,\u201d writes Vallieu.<\/p>\n
If it wasn\u2019t for sharing a meal and conversation during those bitter cold nights, perhaps, the Bairs might never have fallen in love. That\u2019s the point, as a society we used to not only break bread, but we also spent time talking about the things that mattered to us at the dinner table. It was even more entertaining, when we were joined by a few interesting guests. ![\"photo](\"http:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/photo-9-225x300.jpg\")
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In today\u2019s society, we don\u2019t always take time to sit down to share a meal either. Instead we grab a sandwich on the run. Sweet’s book\u00a0reports that, \u201cWe eat one in every five meals in our car.\u201d How many busy football and soccer parents out there can attest to the fact that sharing a bag of fast food in the minivan is a way of life?\u00a0Even if we are seated at a table, how possible is it to have a significant discussion with another human being with our cell phones ringing and texts beeping? That\u2019s why at the Sweet family table, technology isn\u2019t allowed.<\/p>\n
Still, not all parents are willing to make suppertime a no technology zone for themselves. A 2014 Psychology Today<\/em> article by Anne K. Fishel Ph.D. explains, \u201cAccording to our Digital Family survey responses of over 300 parents, only 18% of them allow their children to use technology at the dinner table, while almost twice that number of parents believe that [it] is OK for them to use their phones and screens at the table.\u201d As a nation, we seem deeply concerned about issues like obesity and food insecurity. But have we considered how our new way of eating meals is affecting our kids? Sweet cites information compiled by sociologist Cody C. Delistraty for Atlantic Monthly,<\/em> \u201cThe #1 factor for parents raising kids who are drug-free, healthy, intelligent, kind human beings? Frequent family dinners\u2026.The #1 predictor of future academic success for elementary-age children? Frequent family dinners\u2026\u201d etc. From Tablet to Table <\/em>is also a deeply spiritual book that only church futurist Sweet could write. The consummate theologian always points us back to relationship whether it is relationship with others, or ultimately our relationship with a God who wants us to dine at His table.<\/p>\n To improve our culture, maybe we could institute a guideline like the unwritten Code of the West found on www.legendsofamerica.com<\/span><\/a>. It reads, \u201cRemove your guns before sitting at the dining table,\u201d updating it to say, \u201cRemove your technology before sitting at the dining table.\u201d If you don\u2019t, someone might call the sheriff!<\/p>\n If we\u2019re honest, most of us are foodies, but we don\u2019t think of ourselves that way. The online Free Dictionary defines a foodie as, \u201cOne who has an ardent or refined interest in food; a gourmet. Also called foodist.\u201d There … Continue reading ![\"Christina](\"http:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Christina-at-The-Caroline-150x200.jpg\")
Christina Ryan Claypool is an Amy and Ohio Associated Press award-winning\u00a0freelance journalist and inspirational speaker. Her Website is www.christinaryanclaypool.com<\/span><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"