When Susan Dominus was in the fourth grade, she spent two weeks living with close family friends whose dinnertime rituals she found both intimidating and intriguing. At the end of each meal, the father would grill his children about current events or ask them to solve math problems. Dominus, included once in this rite, burst into tears.
At her childhood home, Dominus writes in her new book, The Family Dynamic, she and her siblings enjoyed a more relaxed environment. They watched sitcoms, “wolfed down our meals, goofed around, or debated once more the question of why my sister always got the corner seat.”
