Hey everyone, it's been like forever 😊
I took an unavoidable break from writing but it feels good to be back and writing this now.
Soon I will be brief you guys on my absence and all that happened.😉
Image is mine
Food and eating patterns appear simple but oftentimes have a deep meaning to a person or group especially as we are what we eat, especially health-wise and the pattern of eating may influence our beliefs of self or even influence the sense of belonging to a group.
The concept of eating and dining in my family has taken various shapes over the years, being modified severally depending on the house and number of family members around as well as the diet in question.
While growing up, the norm was eating together especially in the mornings and at night. This was made more possible because of the constant presence of all the members of my family at that point in time. Soon after, things changed as my dad got employed in a different state and some of the children moved into the boarding school.
At this point, those left at home ate when they became hungry and no uniformity was intentionally maintained except for a few coincidences.
Although during holidays, celebrations, festive season or any scenario that brought the whole family together, we reverted back to eating together as a family at the same time.
The image is mine
Currently we eat together most times when we are together except if someone is not a fan of the meal in question and as such would eat either before the rest of the family or after others are done eating. The usual cause of this is for health reasons.
It's important I mention that following the years spent apart in boarding schools, a few of us now prefer to take their food into their room and eat alone as opposed to eating together, even though with insistence or persistence they succumb often.
The image is mine
Personally, I don't really mind the pattern in use because I feel that the most important thing is to give our body the nourishment it desires but I also cherish those days when we all sit together and eat as a family.
Writing this has given me some nostalgic thoughts as I reminisce on those days, it was really something special.
And because of this realisation, I will make it a point to try to maintain this format at any point we all gather together again.
The image is mine
I remember that while eating together on some occasions, my parents have been able to observe that one child or the other was not happy and this usually lead to probing to find out the problem. One time, this probing helped my dad to discover that one of us was facing challenges in school and he quickly intervened.
In as much there are pros and cons to everything, I believe the pros outweigh the cons and as such I will stick to it.
I know the saying "a family that eats together, stays together" which I believe to be true.