- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Working Moms
MBandBud
member
I just fell apart. Dinner. Yeah, really.
MBandBud
member
in Working Moms
Okay, so my biggest thing is wanting to eat before 9pm. I know, lame, right? NINE. Not 7, not 8. Anyhow, we agreed that while DD was not eating yet and still getting into a routine, we would wait until she went to bed before eating dinner. Which I am fine with. BUT we need to then not have meals that take forever to make. DH says he wants to eat things hot. I get that. And he is the one primarily cooking. Maybe I should have just been happy with that. Maybe I need to start sneaking snacks and then think of dinner as breakfast. I don't know. We even had hamburger helper on Monday and it was still after 8:30. I'm exhausted and feeling like I am not good at this at all. Goodnight.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: I just fell apart. Dinner. Yeah, really.
If it's any consolation, we rarely eat dinner before 9 or 10. For one, we get home late. Then DD goes to bed late, usually 9pm or later. And we also don't eat until after she's in bed. By that time though, we give up on any real cooking and just dig something out of the fridge. ;-)
Anyway, I don't have any tips, just wanted to say I know how it is and you're not the only one. You'll get the hang of things and figure out what works for you. Hopefully so will I.
Why do you need to eat after DD goes to bed? I always put DS in his bouncy seat or swing in the kitchen and whipped up a quick dinner. I would rather be happy and well fed and spend the rest of the evening with DS relaxed than stress about getting him to bed so I can make dinner and go hungry.
One thing that has also helped me is to cook ahead a bunch of chicken on the weekend and then I can just throw it in a pan with some spices to heat up and then I put it in fajitas, casserole or over rice with teriyaki sauce for a quick dinner during the week. That plus some of the quick cooking frozen vegetable packages make a decent dinner and take 20 min or less and are relatively healthy.
I cook dinner basically every other night (before DD goes to bed). It is something quick and I keep DD in the kitchen with me while I cook and I talk to her. I make enough food for leftovers for the next night, so I don't have to cook that night. I do though save the cleanup from dinner for once DD is asleep.
DH and I are in bed by 10 so eating after DD goes to bed wouldn't really work for us since she stays up until 9:30ish.
Please keep your LOs RF as long as possible
I wondered the same. We've always done dinner while the kids are awake (or mostly awake - sometimes DD2 is asleep). Everyone is in the kitchen during dinner, even if they're not eating.
Well, this probably goes back to wanting to enjoy the meal. DH seems more into it than I am. It seems everytime we went to eat when we tried this she fussed and was ready for bed. Esp with the time change. This is so lame. We don't get home late. We just seem to have complicated meals. I don't think there is a need for it. DH says they are not complicated. Baked chicken with rice and gravy and carrots and cranberry sauce is not simple. Homemade deep dish pizza with mushrooms and sausage. Not simple. Homemade meatloaf. Tonight we will see. I honestly would be happy eating rice and peas. It might come to that after last night because I fell apart. Wish me luck!
Truth, though: how much are you enjoying the meal now? By the time it rolls around, it sounds like YOU are the crabby one (don't get me wrong, I would be too). Either way, it's not enjoyable for you. True?
Some of these would be easier if prepped in advance (e.g. Sunday) instead of that night. Could the pizza be prepped and kept in the fridge a day or two? The meatloaf could be mixed on Sunday, baked Monday or Tuesday (this is how we do it). Can he have one or two nights of these complete home meals, if another night or two is more low key? It sounds like there needs to be a compromise in there somewhere, and remember it's all temporary and will get easier as LO gets older.
Yowza, there's no way I could wait until after DS goes to bed to eat, and he goes to bed fairly early (7:30). Those meals don't sound fancy, but they do sound like they take a while.
How about a compromise where you wait on weekends or one or two nights a week, and then do either quick meals or eat before DD goes to bed (or both!) the rest of the week? Or, like pp suggested, stuff made up the night before and then cooked the night you're going to eat it?
Agree with PP that it doesn't sound enjoyable to you right now. I could never eat that late, I would be starving. At times since DD was born, DH and I have not eaten dinner together and that's ok too. I've been making dinners the night before so for example, I made homemade meatloaf on Monday night for Tuesday and just reheat. Then i just have to make the veggies. Then Tuesday, make the pork tenderloins for Wednesday, etc.
Also, as your child gets older, it's inevitable that your meals will be interrupted. When DD was fussy, this is when we would tag team. He would eat, I would tend to DD and then we switched.
I'm sorry! It will get better when your LO is a little older.
For a long time we just foraged in the fridge for dinner, ate cereal, etc.
You might want to try one of those meal prep type places like "Let's Dish" you can go and have all your meals prepped and then when you are ready to cook, most of them take another 15-30 minutes to be ready.
Also - is your DH cooking/prepping while you are caring for LO?
We're not eating great right now (frozen pasta bags, rotisserie chicken, take-out, etc), but it isn't forever. Your baby will get easier, be able to stay up later, participate in meal times. Just uncomplicate as much as possible just for now-- maybe DH will go with it, knowing it is just temporary.
Another thing that worked for us was I would play with DD while he made dinner and he'd play with her while I cleaned up. Then we'd have a little family time and I'd put her to bed.
Hm, I actually don't think your dinners sound all that complicated unless he's making the gravy from scratch or making some amazing meatloaf I'm unable to imagine :-p When I make meatloaf I mix the meat with some spices and throw it in the oven....
You guys obviously need to compromise. If he wants a hot "fresh" meal then do that a few nights a week. But I don't think you need to resort to rice and peas haha
Those meals do not sound complicated.
But it sounds like he's not even cooking until after she's in bed??? That's the crazy part.
Start cooking when you get home. Even better, after dinner, do the prep work for tomorrow's dinner so it can be ready even faster.
Also, I just found this site for menu planning. They have you prep all the meals in one hour on a weekend and then everything is ready for the week. I haven't tried it yet, but they give you a free sample menu. Even if you don't want to subscribe, they way they do stuff would probably help your DH prepare for the week.
DD #1 passed away in January 2011 at 14 days old due to congenital heart disease
DD#2 lost in January 2012 at 23 weeks due to anhydramnios caused by a placental abruption