Using TV Trays to eat dinner on in front of the TV (added bonus, Meatloaf and Mashed Potato TV Dinners!).
i had to explain to ds (22) the other night why the kids on 'the kids are alright' were so in awe of one of them being allowed to eat a hungry man tv dinner. he had no concept that 'back in the old days' tv dinners were for many households a luxury and that the hungry man brand was the gold standard. it's only been in recent months that he mentioned having tried salisbury steak for the first time-then it occurred to me, it's not something commonly served in school cafeterias anymore like when i was growing up (which led me to never buy it as a tv dinner).
for us growing up food wise-
fast food was something you might get when traveling (but mom usually also packed a cooler) or a RARE treat,
coffee shops-again mostly while traveling
actual restaurant-special occasions only (i had friends in high school who had never been in a restaurant b/c that wasn't something 'kids' were included in within their households)
3 kinds of cereal only-adult's (corn flakes or grapenuts), kid's (whatever had the best toy-but it had to be emptied before the next box got bought), cream of wheat (kept on hand for bouts of stomach distress)
mom's grocery shopping being done on a balancing act of best price vs. best blue chip stamp promotion (every bed had a blue chip stamp blanket, we had the same 'painting' in our living room as everyone else did-from the blue chip stamp store, mom putting away groceries while i sat at the table licking/affixing stamps into the little booklets.
