Thank you all for your input. I genuinely appreciate it, especially from those of you who have been there and done that.
I am curious about how you would handle the following:
My son would like to be excused from our traditional Friday night dinner, since there is some ritual involved. But he would still like to eat the traditional food that I work so hard to make. Just in another room while the rest of us sit at the dining room table. Am I being childish when I tell him that he does not need to join us, but that he cannot share in the traditional Jewish food which I make only because it is the Sabbath? I guess I resent having him take advantage of the effort I put in, without his being willing to sit with us at the same table.
Once again, honest answers are appreciated.
I don't think there should be any "resentment" on your part. He simply does not want to participate, but I don't believe he should be excluded from the meal because of it? He is old enough to have a free will. Having a teenager in the house (DSS19), I know they don't mean to hurt our feelings, it's just that we as parents take some things too personal.
but take it with a grain of salt ... I personally am an atheist so can't completely relate.
