Family

Do you remember when we used to sit down as a family to enjoy a meal together at dinner?  I do and I wish people still did that…

We lived in a very small community which was still 5 km from a small town, we had one car which my dad used for work, Monday to Friday 9-5.  My mom used the car once a week to go shopping on Thursday nights.  She drove all the way downtown, about 40km one way, went down the aisles with her list in hand and put cans, produce, bread, condiments, meats and dairy in the cart.  At the cash, they used to put everything in paper bags, give you a ticket and then you’d have to go around the corner with your car to the loading zone where they would kindly ask you to pop the trunk and they would load the groceries in your car for a small tip.  She would drive home, unload the car and reload the cupboards for another week’s worth of meals; breakfast, lunch & dinner.

My mom would be the first one up in the morning making breakfast.  Eggs for my dad, pancakes for me, something light for my sister and a boiled egg with half a grapefruit for herself.  Each of us would get what we wished for and miraculously we would get it all at the same time.  Everything was hot, yummy and home-made.  Thinking about it now makes me wonder how early my mom would actually get up in the morning to make it all happen so flawlessly…

Dinner was always served at the same time of day, my dad would come home, I would come in from playing in the woods and my sister would get off the phone. We sat together at one table to enjoy a hot meal, we would discuss the events that took place in each of our days and we would listen to stories, ask advice and take our time eating the meal mom made.

When did it all change?  When did we become too busy, when did we stop sharing stories with our children and when did we start buying convenience foods to replace mom’s cooking?

Next time you are out and about, take a minute and look at your surroundings.  When you’re near a fast food restaurant, look at the drive thru line-up.  When you’re in the grocery store look at other people’s carts and see how many pre-packaged foods they buy. When you send your children to school, look at what they have for lunch, is it a brown bag or is it money in their hand.

How do we get back to basics with the way we eat?  I’m open to suggestions…