You all know that conversation is important in the Coughlin home! Back in July I wrote a post called, The Table and in September, Teen Talk.
Now Paul and I have written an essay for this brand new release, Come to Our Table, a Midday Connection Cookbook, edited by Anita Lustrea & Melinda Schmidt with Lori Neff.
Check out what dinnertime is like around our table!
Dinner Talk: Children Seen and Heard
Dinnertime is the most stimulating and important part of our day. After prayer, we go around the table and tell each other what happened during our day. This includes our children’s guests. It’s their time to share what’s on their minds and to answer a few good-willed questions if they want. This is how we stay connected. It’s lively, a time to let down our hair, and for many of our guests, it’s a source of entertainment. There is always lots of laughter and joking.
Some of our young guests aren’t used to this amount of banter while eating. A few have been literally speechless at first, but then a desire to be known by others takes hold and they start talking. Some like this new experience so much that they talk so long their food gets cold. Being listened to makes them feel honored.
The volume of our free-flowing conversations tends to be a few notches higher than what they’re used to. And sometimes the conversation isn’t exactly “right” or “proper,” the way we tend to think of these words in church. But this is the time when we get a chance to point it out without condemning them. They feel comfortable sharing their hearts with us – even when their hearts, like ours on occasion, are in the wrong place. In that way, our dinnertime is also confession time.
Dinnertime at the Coughlin’s is where children are seen and heard. Even when what they say is exaggerated and negative. We help them handle their feelings instead of saying they shouldn’t have any—a fallacy many of us learned as kids.
Like you, we’re exhausted at the end of the workday, so there’s a desire in both of us to have a much more low-key dinnertime experience. Quiet dinnertimes are far easier, far less time-consuming than robust dinnertimes. But we wouldn’t change it for the world.
Dinnertime doesn’t feel right unless we’ve had a good talk, shared our day with others, and had family fellowship. We can’t afford not to listen to, learn from, and love one another during these special gatherings.
How do you value conversation around your table?
One year ago, Paul and I were guests in Chicago on the radio show, The Midday Connection, with Host and Executive Producer Anita Lustrea. She interviewed us about our book, Married but Not Engaged.
A few months later Anita contacted us to see if we’d be a part of this new Midday cookbook, just released by Moody this month.
The book shares time-saving tips, hospitality ideas, and inspirational readings and prayers, along with awesome recipes from their favorite authors!
This is a great gift idea for cookbook lovers!
(My “Too Much Tradition” post made it over to Crosswalk. Check it out! )
Hi, I'm Sandy. Five years ago I stocked up on beautiful glasses from the Dollar Store. As I started writing about dinner parties, I realized that this “icon” portrays a great message. 
