The family meal.

I know in England this past time has become just that. A family meal is a rare thing. I understand that times have been difficult so in a lot of families parents are working much later and the children are generally eating with the child minders or other carers who do not actually sit down with them.
For me its not a problem that its not family, its a problem that they are not sitting down all together.
In France people have a two hour lunch break, this is generally spent with the family (unless the children are at the canteen due to distance etc). The children in the evning after school will be given a gouter, this has two purposes 1. to keeptheir energy levels up 2. to keep them going until about 7/8pm when bothe parents are there to sit down for a meal as a family.
I have to say I like this idea, real quality time which is so important we miss out on so much so why not sit down and talk with our children to find out whats going on at school and find out if they are having any difficulties. I also feel that if everyone is sitting together the children will eventually pick up on expected behaviours, for example how to use cutlery properly, how to sit properly and how to conduct themselves in the right manner. They will also pick up good eating habits such as eating up their greens. I am sure if your child is eating at a friends per-say you want to know that they are conducting themselves properly.
As I stated its not a question of who it is grandparents, friends, child minders, or even the next door neighbour, the important thing is that everyone sit together and eats as a "family". Whoever it is could also involve them in the process of cooking if they so wish or just getting them to set the table.
The most important thing for me is that it is a time to talk so NO TELLY, maybe a bit of music, radio, CD or ipod. But nothing too distracting, especially if you have children who are easily distracted.