Karen’s Chat – Things my Mother Taught Me

Our parents teach us manners and etiquette when they bring us up. Some stay with us, and others become blurred over time,

For this post, I’m looking at the things that have been challenged, mixed up, or changed.

1. Table manners – we were taught to eat with a fork in our left hand, and the knife in our right. The forefinger should rest along the top of the latter to give leverage while cutting.

I still do this. It makes eating easier.

2. Never talk and point with your utensils, or point them upwards whilst you eat.

This still feels rude, so I would never do this.

3. When finished lay them in the centre of the plate.

I must admit, I don’t always. But my utensils are alway side somewhere together on my plate.

4. Always dress the table with a cloth to make it look appealing.

No, I don’t do this any more. Its’s pretty though, and if I had a decent table cloth I probably would when we have company.

6. Never, ever use a milk bottle on the table. Always pour it into a jug to serve.

As we don’t eat at the table so much, it’s not relevant. When we do, we always have our drink afterwards away from the table.

5. No elbows on the table.

Sometimes it’s comfortable.

It never occurred to me as a teenager that others did anything different. In fact, it came as quite a shock when I found they had their own etiquettes.

1. My husband was brought up to hold his knife underneath like a spoon.

2. On television, I saw in American films that they ate with just a fork in their dominant hand.

3. I’ve even seen someone eat with the knife and fork in opposite hands.

4. I’ve been watching The Diplomat on Netflix, which is very good by the way. The main character actually eats with her fingers a lot.

Occasionally, I’ll I eat with just a fork, if nothing needs cutting. Even so, my mother would have been horrified.

My sister-in-law is a great cook. She still enjoys dressing a table, not always with a table cloth. With glasses, serviettes, utensils and food. It always looks appetising and welcoming

American  author Diann Floyd Boehm also loves to dress up her dining table. Anyone would want to sit and enjoy good food and here, don’t you think?

I found a couple of very old photos where I’ve laid the table. Which, incidentally, was one of our jobs, as a child. Mum would ask someone to lay the table, someone to wash up, and someone to dry and out away.