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I completely agree that the family meal is an important ritual that brings a family together at the end of the day. Without these rituals we do see how so many families are struggling. I am greatly impressed with the mother who maintained her family's connectedness after the father adandoned her and their daughters. She was very fortunate to have the family members, her oldest daughter and son-in-law, who took them into their home.
I would like to say that the father does still bear responsibility for supporting his children! As you may know, there are many women who are supporting children on their own when the father decides to disappear. Many of these women do not have family members who are willing or able to open their homes to them. My point is that family meals, although they are extremely important, can become a lower priority when the mother must now work long hours &/or two jobs to make ends meet! There are laws intended to require parents to support their children after divorce; however, these laws are often not enforced! We all suffer at the hands of the deadbeat parent, as these children now grow up with half of the parents needed and the taxpayer often bears the financial burden through government programs! It is a crime to abandon a child; yet these laws are rarely enforced! Justice is intricately intertwined in the character of a country's success when it views women and children as less valuable a part of society.
I speak to this issue because I raised my son alone when his father disappeared to avoid financial responsibility, not because he couldn't afford to support his son, but because he chose GREED over his son! If he robbed a bank and got away with $300,000.00, do you think he would be prosecuted; or do you think the authorities would give him a pass? We both know the answer to that question. In the case of the deadbeat parent there is an innocent victim with no FDIC as a safety net!