I was a child of this environment, and thankful to have it for my family including my 12 year old son. My main concern now is his future family - that is why he is homeschooled.
I grew up in a very typical Italian decent family in the 40s and 50s. Everything revolved around family especially dinner and weekend activities. We did not take separate vacations either.
When I had my own families, both headed by divorced mothers, I insisted we have joint dinners, NO EXCEPTIONS. It worked quite well in that there were discussion of the days activities/school and we had a chance to monitor any behaviors that perhaps were going astray.
Though neither mother was of Italian decent, both had been raised in a similar environment but were not continuing with it before we got together. Yet, both noted it was a positive affect on home and family life. Were I raising a family today, I would do the same again.
This should not be confused with being a helicopter parent.