How is the seating around the table done in your home? Does each person sit in that one place for meals, or maybe even every time you gather together?
When we were kids on the farm, my foster grandmother would sit at one end of the long kitchen table, with my grandfather at the head. Come to think of it, for some reason he sat with his back close to the cooking stove, while Grandma, even if she was doing the stirring and serving, would be at the end farthest away. The rest of us, all foster children of various ages, would be spread out on each side, but not just anywhere; each of us had a specific place at that table, and we would stare aghast at anyone who dared sit in OUR chair. Guests would be allocated a space that was not already designated for one of us. I don’t believe there was any set rule; that is just the way it was.
The question came to me when I wrote yesterday about the squirrel’s attempt to work its way through the ceiling, and the ensuing mess that fell on Karen’s chair. There are 10 chairs at this table, but that one is where you’ll find Karen when she comes upstairs. I’m at one end, the one giving me a view of outside, the whole dining room area and the kitchen, the stairs going up to the guest bedroom, and the bird cage and the dog couch, as well as the television. My choice is more or less a necessity.
When my youngest son was living here with the 3 Rugrats, they also tended to gravitate to the same place, meal after meal, as did my children when they were little. On occasion I would find one of the boys on my chair, and I suspected it was a bid for attention; most of the time I was right. Even now, my Little Flea will slip into that one place, Mémère’s chair, knowing that we will share it (she cuddles on my knee), or when she is waiting for me to finish whatever I am doing because she has something to tell me and wants to make sure that I listen.
I doubt this is unique to our family. Do you always sit in the same place at your table? What about other members of your flock? Is it restricted to meal times, or do you have a specific place when in your living room too?
It comes down to habit, I suppose, and as is my habit when I sign off, I’m sending y’all SMILES, hoping they will warm your day…or your chair.
LUV FROM THE BUSH IN QUEBEC.
Tales from the Bush in Quebec 