Kids eating dinner before you and DH?

bim38106 · March 2011

We typically eat dinner as a family around 7/7:15 when DH gets home from work. The girls get a snack around 5, but both get super cranky right around 6:30. Especially DD2! I'm thinking it would be good for both of them to eat dinner at that time, then DH and I eat together when he gets home at 7....

I guess I'm just kind of thinking aloud here, but does anyone do this? What do the kids do while you and your DH are eating? Watch a show? Have dessert? Play?

DD2 goes to bed at 8:30 and DD1 9:30, so it's not like we can just put them to bed then eat dinner...

And since DD1 is a super slow and picky eater, I'm also thinking it would be less stressful for DH to get home and not hassle her about eating...not to mention give them more quality play time. But at the same time, I wanted us to have family dinners. Maybe that should wait until they're older?? What do you do?

eaglesfan700 · March 2011

My H doesn't get home from work until around 7. The kids eat around 5:30 and when he gets home, he wants to spend as much time as possible with the kids before bed.

He does their whole bath and bed routine and I prep for our dinner (if it's a more complicated recipe, I prep during the day too). We eat after they go to bed

I do believe that family dinners are super important, but right now it is just not feasible. When they get older, we will work something out where we all eat together.

mrsadamswife · March 2011

DH gets home sometime around 5:30... sometime being 5:30 or maybe 8:30. LO eats dinner about 5:30, if I push it past that she is a bear, so she will either eat what we are, leftovers from the previous night, or one of the meals I have on hand for her. If Dh is going to be late the two of us will eat together.

hokies94 · March 2011

My kids are a bit older (8,6 and 1 1/2) but we still don't do family dinner nights during the week. There is no way DH can get home at a reasonable hour in order to have dinner with the kids. On a good night he's not home until 7:30/8 and they're in bed by 8. For him to be home by 6 or even 7 he would have to leave work by 5:30 or 6 which is just not realistic or feasible right now. Leaving at that time puts him in rush hour traffic which doubles his commute, makes him stressed out, makes the girls cranky b/c they're hungry and tired and makes for a pretty miserable dinner. We've tried it and it just doesn't work right now. DD#2 is also super picky-meals with her are not fun or enjoyable. I'll make stuff for them that I know she will eat (basically kid food although she is branching out a bit).

We have family dinners on the weekends. DH usually spends Sunday afternoons cooking with the girls and then we all eat together around 6.

They're in bed, or in their rooms reading by 7:30/8 and we eat after they're in bed. Sorry, not much help there.

Stacyc625 · March 2011

eaglesfan700:

My H doesn't get home from work until around 7. The kids eat around 5:30 and when he gets home, he wants to spend as much time as possible with the kids before bed.

He does their whole bath and bed routine and I prep for our dinner (if it's a more complicated recipe, I prep during the day too). We eat after they go to bed

I do believe that family dinners are super important, but right now it is just not feasible. When they get older, we will work something out where we all eat together.

ditto this exactly. DH just gets home too late for family dinners to be feasible (during the week). I have the kids fed, bathed and dressed for bed before he gets home- then he plays with them and we put them to bed. Both of my kids are early to bed kids- keeping them up later just does NOT turn out pretty. If Gisele is up passed 730 it just gets ugly. So they are both in bed by 7pm

MamatoJackson · March 2011

DS goes to bed too early for this to work for us. DH and I eat after he goes to bed, if we're eating together. Right now, DH and I are on two different diets so we're all eating separately.

kcisthebombdotcom · March 2011

Many evenings DS wants to eat earlier than the time DH gets home. I give him leftovers from the night before. Depending on what time DH and I want to eat, we do one of three things. If DS is fussy and wants attention, we eat in shifts so one person is playing with DS. If DS is in a good mood and sociable, he will sit at the table with us and eat a snack/play with a toy in his high chair. Or if we're not really hungry, we eat after 7pm when DS is asleep.

Mc_Newlywed · March 2011

I feed her sometime between 5-6. Then my husband and I usually eat around 7ish. She sits at the table with us and usually has dessert (sometimes a sweet and sometimes it's just fruit). If she has already had dessert or isn't hungry anymore then she'll still sit with us and chat. We have some of our best and funniest conversations around the table!

He's a fast eater so when he's finished, he's excused to go and play with her. I truly don't mind being at the table last because 1) I'm a slow eater and it's been the norm all of my life and 2) I get some semi-quiet time. After I'm finished, I clean up the kitchen while they play. And she knows when I'm finished in the kitchen that it's time to go upstairs and start our bedtime routine.

alli2672 · March 2011

We are in a sort of similar situation. DH's schedule is a little unpredictable. We (the kids and I) usually eat around 6pm. If DH is there, he eats with us. If not, I save him a plate, and he eats later. Sometimes he waits until after the kids go to bed to eat. Sometimes he scarfs down his food while I play with the kiddos in another room or between games of hide and seek, and sometimes I sit the kids back in their seats and they have chocolate milk or ice cream, and I have coffee, while DH eats his dinner. I usually do the last one when I have made something particularly good, and I want some compliments

healthynut · March 2011

My kids eat super early - 5 the latest, so DH is never home to have dinner with them. Even if DH is home very early, it's still 5 or later. About half of the time we all eat separately: the kids around 4:30, myself around 5:30 while they are playing for a bit after dinner, and DH after the kids go to bed around 6:30. My littles ones love to crowd and beg from your plate, even if they're full, so eating after they go to bed can be a little more relaxing for DH. On days when I can suck up the hunger and could use a more relaxing dinner time, I will wait until the kids go to bed too.

I also think family dinners are very important, but they just don't work for us right now. The weekends are all together, but that's about it for now. I believe we will make this a priority when the kids get older.

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