Does this scenario sound all too familiar? Too many households are forsaking their dinnertime in favor of eating on the couch. We at the Save Our Dining Tables foundation believe that you can make a difference. Break out the duster sweeper, throw on a lovely tablecloth, and you will suddenly see the difference between the place you used to eat at during the holidays and the place where you should be eating at every night.

What is the point of a dining table if not to use it? Don't say you could only use it for company! Dining tables are very useful all year round. Make a habit out of setting the dining table. Buy flowers and show them off in an exquisite vase that sits on the dining table. Force your children to sit at an actual table instead of either retreating to their rooms or gathering around a blue table made of plastic. Encourage your family to talk while they eat instead of silently staring at one another, waiting to finish so they can move on to video games or football games or any other game. These moments, when you get home from work and have time to spend with your family-these moments are precious. Do you really want to look back and remember all those times you ate dinner in front of the TV?

Maybe there are only two of you in the house, no rug rats running around. Don't let your dining table succumb to letter table status! It has more dignity and class than that. It's an heirloom! Or maybe it's a great deal you scored at an antique shop. Or perhaps it's brand new and from that store that sells contemporary dining room sets. Wherever it's from, its purpose is to be used correctly-for wining and dining! Set up a date with candles and the fine china, dress up for dinner, and go sit at the dining table. You'd be surprised what romantic lighting and an intimate setting could do.

The time has come for action! Why else would you keep a dining room set in your home if you had no intention of using it other than a place to set down your purse or somewhere to store your bills? Dining tables are meant to eat from, to enjoy conversation around, to make memories with. Act now and save your dining table before it's too late and termites get to it!