Same for me, a book or a gameboy at the dinner table would result in a clip around the ears. My parents weren't strict in the slightest, but dinner time was the 10-20 minutes where we all sat down together as a family and put up with mums political views.

My elder child frequently tries to bring a novel to the dinner table, as I'm sure I did at their age. But we don't allow it.

Of course, the image of the paterfamilias at the breakfast table with his nose in the newspaper, ignoring his family, was a constant in the 19th and 20th centuries.

I do think you might talk to me, Charles. I've had a very exhausting day! Take me out of myself!