You readers wholeheartedly agree that smart phones should stay powered off and off the table when you're out enjoying the company of friends. But now we're curious about your at-home rules. Are iPads banished from the breakfast table? Do iPhones have to stay at the door during dinner?
In our laid back techie household, we'd never ban gadgets. At home, it's all about whatever makes us comfortable.
Breakfast in our house means grabbing a bowl of cereal before running out the door. Dinner time is spent whipping up something tasty right out of work and relaxing however we see fit—whether that's checking Facebook, watching TV or sitting in silence.
That's what works for us. Things are different, of course, if we've planned a special night or are having friends over. But for the most part, we're happy living in a very connected house—even at mealtime.
How about you, readers? Do you ban phones at the dinner table? Is it OK to read the morning news on your iPad over breakfast in your house? Let us know in the comments!
(Images: MacLife, Thomas Pindelski)
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Comments (13)
Pretty much anything goes in the morning. Usually we all just get together and watch tv while we eat. However, if we're at the table and conversation is going on nobody should be glaring into their phone. It's disrespectful.
As a working mom, breakfast & dinner are precious times to connect w/ my daughter, not all my friends on Facebook. For me (no judgement on others! Everyone has their own way,) it seems right to put my smart phone down for 30-60 minutes to see what's up in my daughter's world and enjoy the food. When my daughter gets old enough for a phone, I'd likely ask her to put it away for meal time.
Queenofthefall.blogspot.com
Husband works long hours, and his day starts early and ends late. He and his smart phone are never apart except for bathing and bed. Some days he is on the phone ALL day long. Sigh.
No tech whatsoever. I don't even answer the phone. That's what voicemail is for. People can wait twenty minutes or even an hour for me to finish dining.
We aren't morning persons, so in the morning we read the paper/check facebook/watch tv and leave each other alone. However, dinner time is social time. So no phones/reading/watching tv..
Breakfast is pretty do-your-own-thing, but there's no tech at dinner for me and my fiancé. Um, except when we're eating with his parents, who will bust out their smartphones at restaurants.
During our main-meal together - dinner - we may answer a phone call (if we feel like it), but otherwise phones stay put away.
Growing up, breakfast was always very informal and not necessarily together (my dad doesn't even eat breakfast), so no explicit rules about technology. Of course, this was before any of us had a laptop or a cellphone, so it wasn't as much of an issue.
Dinner, however, was a tech-free zone. No answering the phone, and certainly nothing computer-related. Now when I visit my parents, who are both fairly tech-savvy, it's the same rule, and I like it that way. I find it very rude when someone pulls out their phone at the table.
We (my husband and I) eat usually at our coffee table and watch tv so we definitely don't mind things like that but eating, if he pulls out his iphone I most likely will say something. Hes guilty of me catching him out to eat all the time too with it in his hands and when were eating, its gotta be put away. It baffles me to hold a fork in one hand and play a game on that thing while watching tv in the other. I can barely walk and chew gum at the same time!
we don't own a tv, and haven't for almost a decade, but i have to say i despise it when people have it on all the time. if we're doing a pizza and (laptop) movie night it's one thing, but to have technology as your dinner companion is a big no no.
Breakfast, anything goes, I like to read the news and my feeds before I get to work as the 3g reception on the train is shonky at best. Dinner however, I tend to leave the phone out of the equation, but I do have a habit of having it on the table. Texts and FB notification I'll ignore, but if the call looks important, I'll take, or at least quickly answer, tell them I'm eating, and that I'll call them back.
If we're eating in the kitchen - heads down in the laptops :) At the table in the dining room? Nope.
Funny thing is that if we meet up somewhere for dinner out we're both usually on our mobiles. Catching up with the world after work and sharing with each other what our friends and family are up to.
The temptation to look something up is so strong for me that I'm the one who suggested the ban. It's been a really good thing, although sometimes there's a rush to a phone at the end of the meal. My M-I-L was visiting recently, though, and we had to explain the ban to her and gently ask her to get off the damn phone and join the grandkids for dinner.