Growing up

I was born and raised in Germany.I am the fourth of five children. We had your typical German "eckbank". I do not have a picture of ours, but this is what these look like.

Us kids would sit on the bench in the back and our parents on the chairs. This was always the busiest place in the house. All our meals were eaten here. There was no eating in front of the TV. The length of the table could be extended, so when we had guests, there was plenty of room.
My Mom would iron cloth on this table. She'd cover it with this heavy wool blanket and then a sheet. The blanket almost covered the floor. And we played underneath the table. It was the perfect place for my older sister and I to play house. We had lots of fun.
We also had to do our homework at the kitchen table.None of us had our own desk.
One of my fondest memories is baking cookies with my Mom. Obviously we didn't bake at the table, but we kneaded and rolled and cut cookies on the kitchen table. I'll be glad to share some of our recipes, but that has to wait a little bit.