Working Moms

how do you handle dinnertime?

We get home from work at 6:00 and immediately put DD in her highchair for dinner...she is usually eatting leftovers from the night before.  While she is eatting we are cooking our dinner and then we eat....by then DD is sick of being in her highchair and wants down.  So a lot of nights I take her out while DH eats and then we switch.  I always wanted to have family dinners but we just can't seem to make it work. 

How do you make it work?  Any tips or advice? 

She goes to bed at 8:00, bath at 7:00 ish right after we finish eatting. 

Daughter born July 2008; Daughter born March 2010 Son born August 2011

Re: how do you handle dinnertime?

  • We eat together every night but it takes advance planning.  DH gets home before me so he starts dinner while the older boys watch Curious George (sorry, but it works).  We try to cook every other night so there is only warming up that needs to happen which cuts down on prep time.  If your LO is starving when you get home you could give him a small snack to hold him over until dinner is ready.
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  • Sorry - you LO is SHE!  =)
    image

    My twins are 5! My baby is 3!

    DS#2 - Allergic to Cashew, Pistachio, Kiwi

    DS#3 - Allergic to Milk, Egg, Peanut, Tree Nuts and Sesame

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  • I try to make our dinners super fast so that we can all eat together.  We eat leftovers every other night, and I try to plan ahead or use the crockpot so that it doesn't take long to get dinner on the table.  Sometimes if he's really hungry, I give ds a little snack, or sit him in the highchair with some puffs/cheerios to play with while I finish getting ready.  Maybe you could give her a little snack in the car on the way home so that she can hold out a little longer for dinner?

    I can't remember how old your dd is but sometimes giving ds a spoon and a bowl to play with helps keep him interested in being the highchair a little longer.

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  • We eat together every night but its takes pre-planning. We plan our menu on the weekend and do as much prep work the night before as possible including cooking some things that can easily heated up the next night. The girls always have a snack on the way home from daycare so they are not starving and can wait 30 mins to eat if needed.  We try to eat by 5:30 each night.  I get home with the girls around 5 and DH is home at around the same time give or take 15 mins either way.  We have the girls help with dinner prep sometimes which really helps and if they are really hungry, we have veggies out for them to snack on.
    Jenni Mom to DD#1 - 6-16-06 DD#2 - 3-13-08 
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    We eat dinner as a family - everyone sits down at the same time and eats the same thing.

    If there's not enough time to make it right then, I suggest making it the night before to heat up or cook when you get home.

  • Honestly, we eat a lot of convenience foods.  I get home with DS around 6, and sometimes I'll call DH on the way (since he gets home a few minutes earlier than us) to tell him to get water boiling for pasta or to get the oven preheated. 

    But a lot of what we eat during the week is stuff that can be microwaved.  Frozen pre-cooked chicken, frozen vegetables, we swear by the Green Giant frozen rice/veggie entrees, hot dogs........that sort of stuff.  I have a quesadilla maker, so it's easy to throw together a quick bean and cheese quesadilla. 

    I'd be over the moon if we could have healthier, homecooked food more often.  But it's just not feasible right now - DS runs right to his chair when we get home and usually snacks on goldfish crackers while we're throwing together dinner as it is, we don't have time to make anything more.  And we prioritize sitting down as a family to eat more than making something seperate for me and DH.

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  • We all eat dinner together.  Our schedule is similar to yours.  We get home around 6:00, and we are all hungry as soon as we walk in the door.  We usually all eat leftovers or something that was prepared the night before, pick up something prepared on our way home, or every once in a while my husband gets home early so he has dinner ready or we have something in the crockpot.  Planning is key.  We really enjoy our dinners together.
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  • I don't think that we are going to get to have family dinners for a few more years.
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  • DH usually gets home around 330 and I can be home anywhere from 530-almost 7 depending on my schedule that day.  We do sit down at the table and eat though.  It is easier though I am sure since ds doesn't rely on food for nutrition.  We do give him some solids when we eat because otherwise he stares at us in a creepy give me that food sort of way.  DH cooks probably 75% of the time.  Otherwise it is the crockpot or something quick like a Bertolli frozen type thing or something.

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  • I would try the crock pot like someone mentioned. Maybe you could make a pot of soup or stew over the weekend of in the evening for later in the week?  Those would be easy to heat up and quick to serve.  I also have a quesadilla maker (although you don't need one, just use a fry pan) and put anything in a quesadilla and add cheese.

    Otherwise, is it possible to LO in a swing or let her crawl around nearby while you put something together?  Then she won't have to be in a high chair for as long.  Or maybe you can give her a toy of some sort to play with while you're cooking and she is in her chair (don't remember how old she is, but we use to do playdough at table while our mom cooked).

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  • I think it will get better as she gets older.  When DD was a toddler I used to really beat myself up because I couldn't pull off the family dinner.  But once she got older and could wait a little bit for her food I suddenly realized that we were doing it.
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