66° - 2:30 pm
By Ty Higgins, Ohio Ag Net
Most guys will tell you that the most important piece of furniture in the house is their huge flat-screen TV or the La-Z-Boy recliner they kick back in to watch that TV. For me, there is no more valuable part of a house than the kitchen table.
Your first thought is that I love to eat, right? Although that is true, it isn’t the main reason for my decision but it’s a good place to start.
Every time I sit with my family around my kitchen table for dinner I learn a little bit more about my kids and my wife. The conversation can go from what they learned in school that particular day, to how they got that scrape on their knee after falling off a bike, to a funny conversation with a friend over the phone. No matter what the topic, that time around the table can reestablish families after a long day away from one another and moreover, bring them closer together.
It’s that same table where you play games like Hungry Hippos, Connect 4 and Uno. I remember letting the kids win a time or two, then they would start to get the jest and begin beating you fair and square. No matter what side of the outcome you were on, we’d shake hands and say “good game”.
Not only are life lessons learned at that table, but school lessons are too. In fact, every night my daughter scatters papers all over the place as she works on her homework. Some of the subjects she’s dealing with scare me already. How did I ever get past fractions? I tell her to wait until letters become numbers and we both shutter in fear.
As I look ahead I see me sitting my young man down to talk about what Dads and Sons talk about and sitting someone else’s boy down to explain to him just how he is to treat my daughter. It may be that same table that a young man gets my drift and wants to treat her that way for the rest of his life.
It will be much worn through the years, but it will be just sturdy enough for my wife and me to sit down to supper for two. Of course the conversation will continue to be about the kids, how proud they make us and how fast time went by.
The kitchen table is truly amazing. The time you spend around it, for whatever reason, is time well spent.
I can relate to the kitchen table. My kids are grown and married now,but all meals were eaten at the table and TV was turned off. Many games were played also then and now when they all come home for the holidays. Cherish your time with those kids it will go fast.