When we stop and think about it, most of our memorable moments at home happened in the kitchen. It’s where conversations flowed. It’s where laughter erupted. But it’s a bit unusual because, in reality, it’s just where we spend our most mundane moments with our family. We eat our meals there. Our kids do their homework there. It’s where the adults sit, sip their coffee, and gossip.
How did the kitchen evolve from a place where the food is cooked to a place where the family bonds? Before, the kitchen is just where the help would commune. It’s their workplace. It’s where they gossip about their bosses. But now, people’s lifestyles have changed. Some of them may still be wealthy. But it’s a custom anymore to have an army of helpers around the house. Today, they also use the kitchen to cook their own food and bond with their family.
So how exactly did we get here? How did the kitchen become the heart of every home?
The Open Plan of Kitchens
The biggest reason why family members flock to the kitchen is that it’s inviting. And the open plan of the room helps with that. On a normal afternoon, your child might be doing their homework at the breakfast nook. They can shoot you any questions that they may have as you prepare a salad on the kitchen counter. Some kitchens even have space for children’s toys. Your child might play with their Easy-bake Oven toy while you bake something in the actual oven. They might sprawl over the hardwood flooring, playing with their toys, while you fold the laundry on the table.
These may be very mundane moments for you and your family but you’re already bonding because of that. The open plan of kitchens ensures that everyone in the family can easily communicate with each other while they do their own thing.
Food and Family Bonding
Food is one of the vital ways to build relationships with the family. It encourages the act of sharing with another. It sparks family memories. Just one bite of your family’s famous apple pie and you could be immediately transported back to your childhood.
But you might say that bonding through food is also done in the dining room. So why is it that families bonded better over food when they’re in the kitchen? And it’s because kitchens give off a much less formal vibe. In it, anyone can grab a snack from the refrigerator. Anyone can cook up meals for everyone at dinner.
Eating in the dining room is shared with guests during formal events. But eating in the kitchen on a daily basis is only for the family. So, in a way, it’s much homier.
The Changing Roles at Home
Back when there are fewer women in the workforce, many of them are working as homemakers. So they spent most of their time in the kitchen. They made sure that their children have three full meals a day with snacks in between. They make sure that their husbands have their morning coffee and have a hot meal waiting for them after coming home from work.
But today, the roles at home have changed. The job of ruling the kitchen is no longer set on the women. Even some men have taken up the role of the homemaker. If both parents have full-time jobs, then everyone at home is a homemaker in their own way.
Because of this freedom to cook whenever they wanted to, everyone is comfortable in the kitchen. They can cook food together. Thus, it opens opportunities for them to bond as a family.
Because the kitchen is the heart of the home, it’s so much more than just a place where people cook food. It’s a haven where there are good food and family members to bond with. It’s where families make most of their memories.
