Two adults, one working FT, one at home. Two DC, both almost 11yo and 1yo.
We seem to have got into a ridiculous situation whereby everyone eats at different times and we are cooking 4 different dinners most nights, which isn't sustainable, and also mostly crap/convenience foods.
On top of that DH has been told on medical advice that he must eat less meat and fatty carbs, and more vegetables.
Currently this is what everyone does:
Baby - wakes up from afternoon nap around 3, but needs dinner around 4-5pm to go to bed for 6 which is when he tends to be tired. From 5-6 one of us has to occupy him, bath him, etc. I tend to do "lunchy stuff" for tea for him and he has his main meal at lunch time.
DS1 - Gets home from school at either 2pm or 4pm depending on day (we are not in the UK, shorter school day). Has school dinner but doesn't eat much of it. Does not want to eat dinner immediately but is usually ravenous for snacks. We have a casual rule that he is allowed to go to friends' houses or hang out on a whim as long as he is home by 6pm for dinner. If he is eating there, he can stay longer. So tends to eat between 5-6.30 depending on whether he's here and when I get around to making food. On school nights, needs to have shower at 7pm and be in bed for 8pm as he has to get up early. At weekends shower is at 8, bed at 9.
DH - Gets home between 4 and 5.30 depending on how busy he's been at work. Tends to eat big lunches at work so not very hungry, though may change this in response to medical advice.
Me - Take baby to bed at 6pm. He has a pattern of waking up after about 30 minutes and then going back down so I tend to have a little nap. If I'm really tired I'll sleep until 9 or so. If I'm less tired I'll come out of the bedroom by 7/7.30.
So for DH and I to eat we will either separately make our own stuff at some point between 7-9pm, which is a habit from baby being much littler when we used to eat in shifts, or one of us will make dinner for both of us.
How can we do it?? DH reckons if I just make "the kind of food that everyone can help themselves when they want" it will work out fine but I'm not convinced there's enough variations on this theme to work for every single weeknight? So it might make more sense to have two "sittings" either a split of 2:2 or 3:1 eating at the same time. 2:2 being kids/adults, 3:1 being either the baby eating alone earlier (though with slight issue of what time to eat to allow me to participate) or DH eating alone later.
Anyway if I can get this to work it (in my head anyway) means nice family dinners rather than everyone retreating away to various screens, which is the other bugbear of current arrangement.
Please tell me what you do! Any ideas of suitable meal ideas would be handy as well.
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What time would you do dinner (in this situation) and what to serve?
10 replies
BertieBotts · 16/07/2019 21:35
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MrsMump ·
16/07/2019 21:53
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