What ever happened to family meals together?

I have to admit that I sometimes feel like an oddball in this society of ours. My husband and I have put a priority on eating every lunch and dinner meal together as a family. We do all we can to minimize outings where the kids or one of us are gone at meal time. Occasional exceptions occur but they are rare. What has happened to family meals together?

I once read an article by a Christian author on keeping the family together. It was surprising to me that they suggested making a priority to eat at least one family meal together each week. EACH WEEK!? This is extremely sad to me.

Yet, it is frustrating to me how often people plan activities that run right through the dinner hour, 5:15pm to 6:15 pm. It's like they don't think anyone eats dinner before 6:30 or later at night? Are we oddballs or something? I get that feeling sometimes when I tell people that is our dinner hour. It's like a regularly scheduled dinner hour is foreign to them.

And then there is the lunch issue. We always eat lunch together. This one really seems to blow people's minds. I fix a regular meal, every day at noon and my husband comes for lunch. We have done this for the past 25 years with few exceptions. Of course this puts a little more pressure on me. I have to be more scheduled about my day so he isn't late getting back to work.

There is something to be said about a regular schedule. Everyone knows what to expect for the most part each day. Everyone knows what time meals are and can plan accordingly. Meal time is when we connect with our kids. We have so many good meal time conversations that otherwise would not happen. Yes, it means we have had to say no to many worthy activities & clubs that might meet every week or have extra activities beyond a weekly meeting, but in the over all scheme of things, I guess being an oddball is worth the trade off.