How do you do dinnertime for yourselves and your toddler?
Structenggal
member
We're struggling with our current dinner time routine. It's just not working for me anymore.
I pick the boys up at daycare and we get home around 6-6:15. Both boys are in bed by 8.
Right now, when we get home, we make E dinner (either our leftovers from the night before or something else, but it's always quick to prepare), do baths, milk, teeth brushing and then bed. THEN we start on dinner for ourselves. DH and I are not eating until 9pm and that needs to change.
I'm not sure how to get everything done by 8 if we get home at 6 and then have to prepare dinner. Plus, from 6-8 is really the only time we see the boys during the day, so I don't want to spend an hour in the kitchen. We plan to use the crockpot more and to have DH prep everything for dinner before I get home so that it's less time for me in the kitchen, but does anyone have any other suggestions for how to get it all done so that we can have a "family" dinner and not have DH and I eating dinner right before bed?
Re: How do you do dinnertime for yourselves and your toddler?
We're in a similar boat.
I pick Q up and we're home about 5. I feed him at 5 because he's starving and his 'dinner' is pretty lacking. Quesadillas or cheese and crackers usually. He and I start bedtime at 6:30 and he's left to fall asleep at 7 or 7:15. DH usually gets home now at the end of bedtime. THEN I start working on dinner for us and we're eating about 8pm. We're going to pick up fast food for dinner more than I care to admit. A few times I've been able to get something going that can cook unattended while we do bedtime like this cheesy skillet chicken and rice or minestrone soup (especially if I've started it the night before) but even grilling feels like it takes too long!
I wish we could all eat together because Q doesn't try new things and I think we'd have a better chance if we were all eating as a family but his bedtime's too early and DH doesn't get home early enough.
The key for us is prepping ahead of time or coming up with 20 minute meals. Oh, and ALL eating the same thing. When H eats something different then the night gets dragged out.
The other difference in our house is that we are home at 5 and bedtime isn't until 8. So, we have a bit more time. I can usually have a decent meal on the table by 6. H gets a snack at school at 4 and if he's hanging around the pantry while I'm cooking I'll let him have a cracker or piece of fruit to hold him over.
With two, that's going to be a whole other challenge. I have a feeling we'll be eating a LOT of soup.
Then DH heads up to bath and teeth brushing while I clean everything up and then I do stories and bedtime and DH relaxes for a bit.
Tell me how to fit the gym into that and I'll kiss your feet!
This is one of our families biggest working parent challenges -- dinner together and bedtime when the child is tired (not overtired). Sitting at the table together is very important to me and has been from the get go. DS is home every afternoon with my mom (or DH) and getting him a healthy snack that doesn't ruin his dinner is an issues we have yet to solve reliably. I get home between 5:30 and 6 pm. For most of DS's life, DH got home first. When DS was in a super early bedtime routine, DH would do his bath at 4:30, then make him dinner (usually a reheated pasta, with some veggies and maybe meatballs or cheese). DS was eating at the table with DH but was eating alone.
I'd get home in time to wash his face, brush his teeth and nurse him before he went to sleep. That was a low couple of months.
For the last year, DH has worked until 7pm two nights a week and it's a real struggle for us. DS is hungry and tired and will say he wants to wait to eat until Daddy gets home. Bleh. Even if I have dinner ready to eat we are still eating too late and getting to bed late.
Since DH has been home for a week, we've eaten family dinners every night at a normal hour (6:30) and DS has been going to bed earlier and waking up earlier.
So is there anyway for the parent home first to have dinner on the table or ready to serve when you walk in the door? If you need to prep it, can you have it ready to heat for your DH so he can have it ready when you come home?
I am adamant about dinner time together during the week. Tough because we get home around 5:45 and both my boys are in bed and fast asleep by 7:30- we aim for 7 PM with both of them.
Two of those days per week, I also have to leave by 6:30 to go teach Jazzercise. Totally tough esp with 2.
We all eat the same thing or we don't eat. We'll supplement if they don't like it with yogurt, cheese, extras like that but no extra main course. I am not a short order cook!
I make our next night's dinner the night before. I also use freezer meals a LOT. We are super lucky that my DH is home at 4:30 even though we are not home until 5:30, so he heats everything up and literally has it on the table when we roll in. Bathtime at our house is 6:15 so we have to have it that way.
That said, lately dinner is a nightmare and NOT enjoyable at all. I cherish occsional weekend nights when DH and I eat after the kids go to bed. But to me, it's important, even if it's hard and it sucks. I hate being up at 10 PM cooking for the next night but there really no other way to do it, especially if you want to exercise.
Good luck! It's hard.
We've been using a food prep service (Dream Dinners) and its made a big impact. DH is typically home by 5:50 and started on dinner prep. I bring the kids home by 6:10 and we go straight to the table. We eat together and eat the meal for dinner. DS2 is an exception as he still mostly eats jarred foods, but I try and have him try some of the softer things from my plate. DS1 is to try everything on his plate. More often than not he will eat more than just a bite, but he is required to try a bite from everything. Then he can go to his staple of instant oatmeal or yogurt.
If I had weeke time, I could pre-prep meals myself, but I don't, and this service is allowing us to try foods I would never otherwise cook at home. Dishes come about to be about $5-$8 per person, so not super cheap, but much cheaper than ordering out, and it's made a big impact in us spending time together.
DS2 goes to bed at 7. DS1 goes to bed at 9:30. While I put s2 down, g and DH clean the kitchen. The routine is working pretty well, but it is heavily dependent on someone 'cooking' at 5:50 ahead of the rest of us coming home
Photo by Zemya Photography
I had mentioned to DH last night that he was going to have to start making dinner before we get home (DH gets home around 4:30) and he claimed that I don't like anything he makes. I KNOW he can make anything that I can, so that's just bogus. At the very least he'll have to start prepping everything so that the whole process is much faster. And the idea of making freezer meals for the week on the weekend is a good suggestion if I can find the time- I'll have to look into that.
Thanks for the suggestions and thanks for letting me know that we're not the only family struggling with this.
If you don't already have a 2nd freezer I would highly recommend the investment, and you can get a chest freezer for less than $200. I swear I wouldn't survive without the extra freezer. Whenever I can manage it I make enough to freeze. Pasta sauce, meatloaf, meat part of taco's and fajitas, mashed potatoes ect. The first thing I would do is make a meal plan, plan on doubling up anything that can be freezed and easily doubled for the next couple weeks or do a couple weekends of big cooking.
Plan it out like this....
Tacos ( meat out of the freezer, bag of cheese (or you can grate ahead and freeze as well), extras.
-come home, toss meat in microwave, put cheese in bowl, cut up tomato and avocado, shred lettuce, warm tortillas......and done!
Meat night
-Steaks or chicken on Forman Grill (takes 5-7 min, worth the $40 if you don't have one) warm up mashed potatoes taken out of freezer night before, vetagable or salad...and done!
Pasta
-Boil noodles, heat sauce, veggie, bread!
I'm also a fan of TJ's for a quick and easy meal and figure that we never eat out so that's sort of our "eat out" quick and easy plan. I pretty much always have their gnochi on hand (all 3) potstickers and quick and easy (rice a veggie and done in less than 20 min). They also have great curry and peanut sauces that make it easy to cook some rice, take a bag of pre-cooked meat (or previously cut up strips for fast cooking) and warm up in sauce to be done.
I'd also check out your stove, if it's new and higher end you may have a timer feature. I'd never even noticed mine but it would allow you to put in a cassarole or something, set it to start at 5:30 and be done in time to eat as a family.
I also see nothing wrong with waffles, omlets, quiche, ect for dinner. My boys think breakfast for dinner is one of the best things ever and if you break things up to breakfast 1 night, TJ's one night, 1 night of entire meal out of freezer, 1 night of part of your meal out of freezer and 1 crockpot then you've made your work week!
Ok, I just saw your DH gets home at 4:30, yeah time for him to get on the ball. Since he complains that you don't like what he makes then I would definitely get a freezer, make a meal plan (giving him 2 days of the week to plan the meal and 3 to prep your plan) and have him getting things started.
I know making freezer meals seems daunting but there is honestly a lot of stuff that you can just make extra of and toss it in there, then you are cooking anyway so your time is not different just extra food and a little extra clean up (packing way ect). Before DS #1 was born I meal planned the entire first month (never having done it before) for all 3 meals a day! I had 1 meal of pizza every week and used TJ's stuff but it was still 80% me and all of that cooking took my two pretty solid weekends.
I think once you find a routine, checking the plan at night to make sure you take stuff out, DH making sure he's getting stuff in the oven on time, that you will be really happy with it. Maybe even start him off slow with something like taco's. And if you are guilty of complaining a little, give him those 2 days and let him own it to get his confidence up.
Here is a website I have used for cooking in bulk. https://onceamonthmom.com/
Also you can pre prep a lot of your food on the weekends. Like buy ground beef/turkey in bulk and cook it. I do that and then freeze it in alb bags. I do the same with some of my chicken. That way if I want to make pasta and meat sauce I just throw the water and re-heat the meat with the sauce.
Also I do as much as I can at naps (obviously I am home but you could do it the night before) So I fill the pot with water and put it on the stove. If I am making tacos I line the baking sheet and put the box of shells on it...I pull out a put and put the can of beans in it. I grab out all the measuring spoons I will need.
Also could you bathe them every other night to give you a bit more breathing room?
br
Thanks for all of the ideas! We do have a second freezer (a lifesaver!) and I usually do meal plan each week. I'll definitely have to start doubling and freezing to help out. And maybe if I take the time each week to spell out exactly what DH needs to do for each meal he can get the bulk of it done before we get home. He's actually a fairly good cook, but left to his own devices, he chooses recipes that I don't always care for. So maybe if I take more control of that, we'll both be happy. :-)
And I'll definitely check out that link! thanks!
Since I've been working M-F and not my usual rotating schedule; I've been prepping/cooking 3-4 meals on weekends and then reheat them during the week. There is usually enough in those meals to have leftovers for a couple of days too.
We don't usually get home until 630-7 depending on the kids class/activity schedules and the kids are usually out by 830 so it's a mad dash as soon as we get home. Most meals usually reheat pretty fast and we're usually eating in about 10 minutes.