We use ours every night. Apart from the odd occasion (if the meal is takeaway pizzas, or a good football match is on, etc.) we rarely eat in front of the TV....in fact the idea of eating in front of it every night seems really trashy to me.

We've actually got two, a posh expensive one in the dining room and a glass topped cast iron one in the conservatory and we use both of them.

I had one similar to yours Pat, it was a very large (humungous in fact) oak extendable, oval dining table, with those lovely leather chairs that went right down to the floor at the back......but I sold it when we sold the house, and I don't want one here thanks, even though I've got a large conservatory and a big dining area in the lounge.

It encourages me to have friends round for meals that I have to cook, so I'm going to fill the conservatory with a nice rattan coffee table and chairs, and then I will just open the tin of biscuits lol!

Thing if the past in my view. Sometimes I only used mine at Christmas. We always slum it with trays on our laps, but then there's just the two of us and we like the telly, and my mum told me not to talk when I'm eating so what's the point of sitting there staring at Dave stuffing his face opposite me?!

We use the dining table for every meal breakfast dinner and tea. Think its very important with children to sit together around the table for meals. The puppy isnt allow to join us she sit in her basket or in the conservatory, that's one of my bigest rule when we got her (horrible aren't I).

We eat at our table every day for every meal. We don't have a tele in there and I don't have the radio on at meal times, it's our talk time...no phones no nothing, a time when we can catch up on our day. Once in a blue moon we will have a takeaway in front of the tele but I hate it.

we have two, neither really get used, we all work hours that aren't conducive to cooking/eating together, and would rather just slob in front of the telly tbh

We all sit at the table for every meal time. We have a 6 seater table in the kitchen (pushed into the corner with a few chairs upstairs unless people come round and then we pull it out!)

At every meal we sit there so there is no TV and we all sit and chat...granted though we are not always round the table t the same time due to shift work but the baby is sat at the table for every meal. We had that as kids and its great to just chat and have time out from the TV noise in the background and its been fab for Ellie as she loves going out for meals and sits so well for a 2yr old at the table.

My parents did this too...I still have shudders about the congealed Sweet and Sour Chicken (vomit)

With Alex, he does not have to eat everything on his plate. I do not even insist that he eats certain things, IMHO kids eat what they need. He is served a healthy meal (most nights )

If he does not eat all of his meal, he still gets pudding. Pudding here usually consists of fruit and yoghurt, or something fairly healthy.

we don't insist on empty plates either, nor do we insist my son stays at the table until everyone is finished. In fairness I normally get up first because my son never shuts up; takes him half an hour on a good day to eat one course Pudding tends to be eaten later these days as he wants to go do homework before he sits down to enjoy it. When he has friends round they eat on a tray in another room. That's because I used to hate sitting with friend's families as a kid, for meals, I found it really difficult!