I used to think my parents were behind the times - now I'm in my 60s and I realize they understood things my generation is only starting to figure out - Silicon Canals

"Those dinners weren't about the food. They were about looking each other in the eye and asking about the day. They were about my father teaching us things without making it a lesson. They were about my mother keeping tabs on what was really going on in our lives."

"My parents understood that the family that doesn't eat together slowly becomes strangers living in the same house. They were protecting something I didn't even know needed protecting."

"When I started my own family, I tried to be more flexible. More modern. We'd eat when it was convenient. Sometimes together, sometimes not. Kids had practice, I had late jobs, my wife had her things. We'd grab something quick, eat in shifts. You know what we lost? Everything important."

A sixty-four-year-old reflects on dismissing his parents' values in youth, only to recognize their wisdom decades later. His parents enforced non-negotiable family dinners at 5:30 every evening, a practice he initially resented. As an adult, he adopted a more flexible approach, allowing family members to eat separately based on schedules and activities. This convenience came at a cost: the family became disconnected. Family dinners served purposes beyond nutrition—they facilitated genuine conversation, allowed parents to monitor children's wellbeing, and transmitted values naturally. By the time he recognized this loss, his own children were teenagers, making the habit harder to reestablish. The author acknowledges his parents understood that families who don't share meals gradually become strangers.

Read at Silicon Canals