When do you have dinner?

bearkatjen · August 2012

DH, DS, and I get home each weekday around 5:45 and 6 pm. We try to eat dinner right away, so we usually have dinner sometime between 6 and 6:30 pm. We've been doing a lot of take out this summer though, and want to get back to more home cooked meals. This is going to push dinner time to 6:30 or 7 which seems really late. DS's bed time is 8. I'm just curious when dinner is in other working mom families.

mben1119 · August 2012

Dinner is around 5:30-6. We get home by 5:15 at the latest though. I do a lot of crock pot meals, so that all I have to prep is a side, and we're good to go. DH grills often, so that is quick as well.

LoCarb · August 2012

Dinner is usually btwn 5:30 & 6 pm. I try to prep or fully cook a meal the night before and reheat when I arrive home.

KathrynMD · August 2012

I rarely get home until 6:45/6:50, but DH makes dinner most nights. We eat right around 7-7:15. DD goes to bed around 8.

semdkm · August 2012

Mostly 6 on the dot-but only because two days a week I work from home and the other three my husband is home in time to prepare it (I don't get home until 6 those three days, so I walk in the door and go immediately into helping him get dinner on the table). I have to say, though, we eat a lot of "easy" meals --the days I go into work we usually have eggs, soup, pasta, or I pick up Panera's on my way home or we order pizza one night.

septmom11 · August 2012

anywhere between 6-7 usually closer to 630-7 DD goes to bed around 830

bearkatjen · August 2012

I guess if I want an earlier dinner, then I'm just going to need to do something about my schedule. Later this year we will move closer to Dh's work, so he and DS and DC 2 will be home by 5:30. I might be able to work 7-4 and get home by 5, and then sitting down for dinner by 6 should be doable. I really wish 6 hour work days were the norm. I love being a working mom, but I really need a couple more hours at home and for errands.

chardonnay24 · August 2012

Same as you. We both get home between 5:45 and 6 and I start making dinner. We usually eat closer to 6:30 if I'm cooking that night, but around 6 or so if it's a freezer meal that I just have to warm up.

financialdiva · August 2012

Dinner is at 7pm most nights and DS goes to bed at 8pm. I get home at 5:30, but DH usually doesn't get home until between 6:307:30. Sometimes I will wait to eat until DH gets home and then DS goes to bed a little later, but most of the time I just start w/o DH if he's going to be late.

TLizzy · August 2012

I am not working yet (going back on the 17th)... but our plan is for dinner to be around 5:30/6:00. I should be home with DS by 5pm and DH usually gets home around 5:30pm.

I am working on a list of easy weeknight meals as we speak.

preggyamy · August 2012

Right now, we eat after LO goes to bed, which is 8:00. DH is European, where they typically eat late. LO is still young (6 months), so she's not eating "big people" food yet, so sit down and eat with us. But those days are coming soon. The problem is DH and I don't get home until around 6:30, if we're lucky. That means dinner would be ready by 7:15 at the earliest. Guess I should start thinking about make ahead meals....

groovygrl · August 2012

We are not at a dinner as a family point b/c of their bedtime & MH's work hours. He typically is not home until 630 or 7 or sometimes later & we start bedtime routine b/w 7 & 730. On occasion he will get home early enough for us to eat together but for the most part the kids eat around 6ish and we eat after they're in bed. Sometimes I make a separate meal and sometimes I make something for all of us & just keep it on the stove for us to eat later. I usually do a separate meal if what MH & I are having is something I know the kids won't eat (shrimp, too spicy, etc) or I just don't have time to make it for them so I might serve it to them the next day as leftovers. I also do a lot of making their stuff in larger quantities to freeze for easy meals after work, espeically things like mac & cheese (I make it from scratch), pizza, casserole type things, meatballs, etc.

kirac · August 2012

I guess we eat late. Usually 7pm. If DD is hungry, I'll feed her earlier.

Strunella · August 2012

On the three days I go to the office, we tend to eat late. DH preps dinner when he gets home, but we're often not eating until 7:00 (sometimes a little later). DS is in bed by 7:45 - 8:00 these days. We try to grill things which is easy and fast.

flyingsaucer · August 2012

We eat at 6.

You prepare and freeze meals on Sundays. For ex, you can make a lasagna but just dont bake it (or bake and freeze) then just stick it in the oven when you get home.

Also, shrimp and fish take like 10 minutes to cook. EASY!

KathrynMD · August 2012

I try to remember that a rushed dinner, just for the sake of having dinner, kinda sucks and defeats the purpose and I know DD eats a good lunch every day. So. .. if dinner some nights is ham and cheese sandwiches w/ canteloupe, that's fine. Or, if things are a total cluster, DD will get some nuked chicken nuggets and watch Olivia. She still eats well and is smart and active.

skyejo · August 2012

DH and DD get home around 515pm and we eat the second I walk in the door at 530pm. DD is usually hungry and fussy after daycare so it's either eat asap or deal with tantrums. I'll take an early dinner.

I do a lot of crockpot meals so I don't have to cook when I get home. If not that, I prep and cook the meal the night before so we just have to heat it up.

JonathansMommi2010 · August 2012

We try to eat dinner around 6ish but sometimes it will be about 7 or 8 before we get to eat my son is a very picky eater so when ever we do make dinner it is a fight for him to try anything so I usually end up making him something separate from what we are eating.

ras26 · August 2012

KathrynMD:
I rarely get home until 6:45/6:50, but DH makes dinner most nights. We eat right around 7-7:15. DD goes to bed around 8.

So happy to see this perspective, Kathryn. Thanks! We eat late (like 8:00-8:30) after DD is asleep, and I know we will have to change our schedule as she gets older, but there is no way, ever, that we could eat at 6pm. I feed DD between 6 and 6:30, but the prep for that only involves peeling off the top of the puree container and throwing some cheerios on her tray. :-)

bookgirl717 · August 2012

We shoot for between 6 and 6:30. I get home with DS (use daycare at work) right around 5. If DH is home before me, he will get any dinner prep started. We tend to take turns during the week on who cooks and who keeps DS entertained until dinner time. His bedtime is also 8, so I completely understand the time contstraint of not wanting to eat too late. 6 and 6:30 seems to be not so early that he's not hungry and not so late that he's gotten really hungry and fussy. If DH gets home really early (he's a student, so sometimes he's home by early afternoon) he will go ahead and have dinner ready when we get home. I try to take time out on Sunday afternoon to plan our meals for the week, go grocery shopping, and do any small prep work I can before the week starts. It helps so much in avoiding fast food or takeout during the week.

MrsWindyCity · August 2012

We get home pretty much the same time (5:45ish), and eat dinner soon after. I plan our meals weekly to avoid getting takeout, etc. as much as possible, and just make sure I plan for quick meals (20 minutes or so) during the week. Sometimes that means doing some prep the night before or in the morning before work. We usually sit down to eat around 6:20 during the week, and DS's bedtime routine starts about an hour later.

Nechie122 · August 2012

DD usually has dinner at 6. DH and I sit at the table with her, but we don't eat. DH usually cooks or heats up our food during this time. After we put DD to bed at 7, then DH and I sit down and have a nice, uninterrupted meal. Once DD gets a little older, then we'll probably eat as a family together around 6:30. DH usually cooks a large meal on Sunday nights so usually the only thing he's really preparing is leftovers or maybe a large salad.

LiebeMama · August 2012

Wow, I'm going to be the odd ball of the bunch! We don't have a set time for dinner. The average time is no earlier than 8:00. We've been known to eat dinner as late as midnight, but DS is in bed by then. Because of my 3-11pm schedule, it is easier for my DH to put DS to bed later so that my son doesn't wake up super early.

shannm · August 2012

During the summer, we leave work at 4:30-5. Pick up kids at about 5:30. DS has swim class from 6:00-6:30. Depending on whether or not I take him, we eat at 7-7:30. DD goes down before dinner and DS goes to bed between 8 and 9.

krissi813 · August 2012

Haha dinner at 5:30. I'm 37 weeks pregnant and will be a working mom after maternity leave. I have no idea what we are going to do for dinner. Maybe cereal? Hubby and I don't get home until 6:00pm or 6:15pm on a normal day. Then he likes to work out or we have errands to run. When I do get the chance to cook a real meal (which I love to do but I hardly get the chance) I don't start cooking until 7 or 7:30 and dinner is at 8:30 or 9:00. When baby comes I think dinner will be something we used to do. As long as my little man eats I'll have whatever is in the fridge.

BigIsland07 · August 2012

We try to be done with dinner by 5:30. We get home right around 5 and I usually try and make a meal the night before so it's a quick reheat and eat. DD is going to bed around 5:30 right now, and DS is going to bed at 6:30. So evenings are a rush. About 35 - 40% of the time, we just feed DS and then put the kids to bed -- and we eat later -- it just depends on how DD is doing and how her day was. Sometimes we can push her to 6, sometimes we need to put her right to bed.

rubber_chicken · August 2012

krissi813:
Haha dinner at 5:30.

Dude. The earliest I ever leave work is 5:30. I'm usually not home until 7:00, and we usually eat around 8:00.

beachdweller1 · August 2012

Maybe I'm awful, but we don't eat as a family with DD (17 months). I feed her dinner between 5:30 and 6:00, then do bath and bed, then DH and I eat about 7:45/8:00. No way I could eat dinner at 5:30, plus I like the alone time then.

brewcitybride · August 2012

I'm pretty much over trying to have one big family dinner every night. When the kids get older, yes, it's a priority, and with my daughter, yes, it can work with the three of us. With DH, the preschooler and the 8 month old baby? It just rarely works. The baby goes to bed around 6:30, so I feed him around 5. There's no way I could have dinner on the table for everyone else at 5.

So, we end up doing a few different things. Sometimes, I feed the baby, and then DH plays with baby, so I can get dinner on the table by 6 for the rest of us, baby sits in highchair and plays while we eat, but sometimes DD is hungry at 5, too, so sometimes it' just DH and I eating at 6, and that can be REALLY annoying, trying to shovel food down your throat while caring for two children at the same time.

What works best is feeding the kids both at 5-5:30, putting DS down to bed by 6:30-7, and then DH and I eating around 7, while DD sits with us, or watches tv. It's still survival mode right now!

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