Are You Unknowingly Guilty of Table Time Hogging?

Oh, how all of the romantic ideas used to float on clouds through my head. And then, I got married.

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Listen, I'm not saying that the romance in my marriage is dead but I am saying that when I'm able to actually sit down for a meal without my child needing me, work calling me, or someone having a catastrophe that they can't possibly get through without keeping me on the phone, the very last thing I think about is setting the table with our good dishes, lighting candles, and gazing into the loving eyes of my husband as he sits next to me.

No, mealtime in my house is more or less me sitting down long after everyone else has already eaten, to graze on a semi-cold plate of leftover food, eating as quickly as I can before someone needs me or something needs my attention.

My younger self fantasized about what it would be like to be married and go on restaurant dates where my husband and I would share a meal side by side Lady and the Trampesqe.

It's a good thing our marriage never even made it to that point before we became parents because we would have found ourselves the most hated diners in the restaurant.

According to my friends in the restaurant industry, it's not that they're not happy that you're all lovey-dovey, it's that when couples sit next to each other they spend more time wistfully gazing into each other's eyes while engaging in PDA than they do eating and that translates to table time hogging. In the middle of these weird pandemic days, being able to turn tables over and get people in and out quickly means a better flow of revenue for a restaurant.

Just a little something to think about the next time you go out for a meal with your love.