? for those whose hubbies work late/crazy schedules

Mereou12 · March 2011

DH has the most insane, unpredictable schedule. He's in the Air Force and is at the whim of the flight schedules, so his hours are all over the place. Sometimes he's on days (7-7ish), but the next day he's on nights (4pm - ???), and then back to days. He's home for dinner *maybe* once a week.

So, for those whose Hs/SOs work late or crazy hours, what do you do about dinner time?

Obviously, eating as a family on a regular basis simply isn't an option for us. For the longest time, I would feed DS his dinner at 5:30, and then DH and I would have a completely separate dinner after DS's bedtime, around 7:30. But as he's getting to be a pickier eater, I'm realizing that he needs to be eating the same meals that we eat, preferably at the same time. I'm trying to eat my meals with him instead of waiting for DH...but I'm having a hard time getting past the convenience of getting dinner together after DS goes to bed.

Blackvelvet · March 2011

DH works a lot of hours and his schedual changes alot. He usually works 6-6 but sometimes it's night and sometimes it's days we try to have dinner at 5:30 or just after 6 but if DH has to be late DS and I eat without him.

ak1234 · March 2011

My DH is rarely home to eat dinner with DS. So, I make DS a separate dinner, but it is stuff that we would eat anyway. Sometimes it is leftovers of what we had, or we buy a rotisserie chicken from Wegmans (no crazy stuff, just seasoning and lemon) and he has chicken, frozen veggies (they are awesome for just taking out a serving to make), and a carb. That could be pasta, crackers, cheerios, bread, etc.

I do notice that my DS eats better (more) when others are eating at the same time. Since your hubby isn't going to be home for dinner, why not just give DS some of what you are eating?

Mereou12 · March 2011

ak1234:

My DH is rarely home to eat dinner with DS. So, I make DS a separate dinner, but it is stuff that we would eat anyway. Sometimes it is leftovers of what we had, or we buy a rotisserie chicken from Wegmans (no crazy stuff, just seasoning and lemon) and he has chicken, frozen veggies (they are awesome for just taking out a serving to make), and a carb. That could be pasta, crackers, cheerios, bread, etc.

I do notice that my DS eats better (more) when others are eating at the same time. Since your hubby isn't going to be home for dinner, why not just give DS some of what you are eating?

The problem is that I hadn't been eating with him -- DH and I were always late dinner eaters, so I'd just wait until after he goes to bed, even on the nights that DH was working later. But then I noticed exactly what you noticed -- that he eats more and is more adventurous if someone is eating with him....so I'm trying more and more to eat with him.

*sigh* Sometimes I just wish that he had a regular old 9-5 job!

Mereou12 · March 2011

ExpectantSteelerFan:

When ds was in flight school (he's a flight surgeon so had to do an abbreviated version) and had the pilot's crazy hours, I just kept our 'old' dinnertime and ds and I ate together. I'd often have a snack with dh if he was home later to eat. Ds sometimes gets really fussy while I'm making dinner, but I've found that as long as he's not starving he's usually better at entertaining himself, so we often do a snack about an hour before dinnertime, and if he does get really fussy, I quickly heat up a dinner-type food (like the frozen veggies we often have as a side) and let him start eating that while I finish the rest of the dinner.

It's a shame we don't live near each other, I think we have a lot in common!

I've thought the same thing on several occasions! And I've been meaning to tell you, your son is just TOO stinkin' cute. I want to squeeze those cheekies.

Not sure if you saw my reply to your post on the Sept board, but feel free to page me or PM me if you ever want to chat. I've been through numerous deployments (in fact, DS is a post-deployment baby.... Wink ), so I can most definitely sympathize with your situation!

ETA: However....I don't think we can actually be friends, seeing as you're a Steelers fan! I'm a born and raised BROWNS fan! Stick out tongue

erin922 · March 2011

DH works mostly overnights, but the days I don't work he is usually doing overtime and either working the day shift or evening. Either way, he's either not home or sleeping. I work 2 nights a week, so we really are only home together for dinner maybe twice a week. One of us usually makes one meal that will last 2-3 nights and then the other makes one to last 2-3 nights. DD eats everything we eat, or we at least try to get her to eat what we eat and we sit down at her time between 5 and 5:30.

SusieQ1982 · March 2011

We eat Victorian-style as well. I don't have a problem with it.

sleepingbeauty825 · March 2011

My hubby is gone for dinner 5x/week. I make and serve dinner for myself and the kiddo. We both eat around 530, although I am usually just eating for show then I eat more later.

emberlee3 · March 2011

DH and I both work crazy schedules and one of us regularly misses dinner with LO. Whoever is home sits and eats dinner with DS, and the other one eats separately. We decided that eating dinner with DS is a priority. I try to cook ahead so I have leftovers or stuff in the freezer, use the slow-cooker, make simple meals, etc.

BFab11 · March 2011

Generally I eat with DS; DH isn't home from work until we're in bed

Mrs.Keith2B · March 2011

Seeing how I'm a SP, DS and I eat dinner together around 5:45. He's in bed by 6:45-7:00 so it works out nicely. That gives me the rest of the night to clean up the mess from dinner, get his lunch/snacks/diaper bag packed for DC the next day, do my homework for the 2 courses I'm taking, work out, laundry, cleaning etc etc etc.

Even before I was a SP, DS and I still ate dinner together. STBXH worked odd/long hours, so sometimes he would be home at 5pm, other times he would be home at 8pm. I didn't want to work our schedule around him. Somestime he had dinner with us, other nights he heated up leftovers.

saturdaynightdoubletree · March 2011

DH is in the Coast Guard and we have similar schedule conflicts... he is either working 6am-6pm, 6pm-6am, or somewhere in between (tonight 2-10pm). On top of that he has a rotating schedule where he works M,T,F,S,S one week and W,Th the next. I've finally started only cooking one meal, crock pot meals are great for nights he'll be home around 6 but DD needs to eat earlier than that. The nights he goes in at 6pm, we try to eat early, or he has to fend for himself. A lot of times if I know he won't be home for dinner I eat a frozen dinner, or peanut butter sandwich, and just heat up frozen veggies and chicken nuggets (or something easy) for DD. I also cook a bunch of chicken at the beginning of the week to keep in the fridge for salads, or easy meal for DD. Hope you are able to find something that works for you!