I had a moment of clarity tonight

[DotAndBuzz]

After I'd gotten up for the 17th time at dinner (milk, 2nd servings, extra cheese, etc), I realized that housewives of generations past knew what they were doing.  Sure, serving dishes on the table, as opposed to serving from the stove and going to sit at the table, were pretty and nice looking.  But they served a PURPOSE.  They kept you from having to get up every 3 minutes to get your kid something, and you can eat your dinner!

We may start doing this.  Totally worth the 2 or 3 extra dishes to wash. 

Deep thoughts and revelations on Saturday night.

[flipflopsandwine]

My mom does this. She has the cutest bowls and platters. Whenever we have dinner over there she gets it all out. It does create extra clean up, but is also really nice to have everything on the table.

[Deleted]

You are wise. 

Good food for thought.

[Jalapeñomel]

We do this in my household.

[Deleted]

I always put everything on the table and then dish it out. I'm always getting up to get a wash rag or retrieve a dropped sippy cup or something though.

[janiejones]

We always had everything in serving dishes.... sometimes just big correll bowls.

[julesf84]

I do that occasionally. It is a good idea to do more regularly. I'd take a bit more clean up over having to get up a million times!

[sookiestjames]

I remember doing this growing up. My grandpa used to cook dinner every night, and he always put all the food on the table.

[jenna]

I ate that way when I was younger.

H likes to make up our plates in the kitchen, and bring them to the table. This method allows him to make sure his 12 year old eats the veggies on his plate, and doesn't load up on mac-n-cheese.

[gretchenindisguise]

We do probably 1/2 and 1/2. Our table is small though.

[sewpinkgal]

I can totally see doing this as J gets older. This is how we do dinners when we have other couples over and it's nice to be able to hang out around the table and continue noshing on stuff without having to go back in the kitchen to get more.

[Deleted]

Oh. And most of the time I just bring the skillet or pot etc. to the table. I don't bother with serving dishes unless the cooking receptacle is unsuitable for the table.

[cleo29]

We do this too.

And, you made me think of the line from A Christmas Story:
"My mother had not had a hot meal in 10 years."

[ginger]

about 85% of the time I just put the pot on the table with a potholder underneath. I'm fancy for my family this way.

When we have company though, I obviously put it in serving dishes.

[Deleted]

That's how it happened at my house. And no need to use serving dishes. Pots and pans directly on the table!

[Deleted]

Doesn't this make you eat more though? Like, wouldn't you be more likely to just mindlessly dish up food?

[moolarkey]

My family always ate like this and everything was always passed. The first time around you took a serving spoon or two of whatever you wanted but not more. After everyone had gotten some of the food then it was a free-for-all on whatever was left, it was just the first time you had to make sure everyone had their chance to have some.

H wasn't raised that way. I didn't pay a lot of attention to it when it was just the 2 of us but as the kids grew and started eating regular food at the table, he'd start scooping out of a dish and just keep scooping until there wasn't enough for the rest of us. For several years I made everyone's plates in the kitchen and put them on the table. I also put the bowls with any remaining food on the table for seconds. H would get kinda ticked about it and I just kept telling him it was because he didn't know ANY limits or how to share. He blamed it on being the middle kid of 5 and wanting to be sure he got his before the other kids or there wouldn't be any. I content his parents (not just mom) should have taught them ALL better. His parents had no manners themselves even though they were really social snobs. It took quite few years but most of the time I can put the full bowls/platters on the table and everyone gets there share, I only occasionally have to remind him to share and to wait his turn.

[Deleted]

my mom solved the getting up every 2 seconds thing by just saying "i'll get that when i get up later." and then we had to eat whatever else was on our plates (usually the healthy things we'd been trying to avoid) while we waited, got full, and then dinner was over.

i have distinct memories of that when i was in elementary school, not sure how early she started it. or why it worked. she was kind of a evil genius at parenting.

[thinkofthesoldiers]

My mom just put everything on the table in their pots/pans. We were fancy when she would throw a dishtowel in a basket to keep the rolls warm. Serving dishes were saved for company and holidays.

And Elle, just serve everything with measuring cups. Voila.