Do you eat together?

[bobsmum]

Ds is 13 months and I would really like to start eating together as a family. It just seems a nice thing to do together, rather than having ds sitting alone in his high chair while I just watch him munch.

Dh comes home from work around 5:30 pm ish, sees ds for a bit of playing around, then it's bathtime, milk and bed for 7pm ish - ds is knackered by this time - so it's all systems go. At the moment ds has his tea at 5pm. Dh and I eat after ds is in bed.

How do you time things? In order to get bedtime running smoothly, ds' bath is at 6pm. Do any of you actually have "dinner on the table" when your partner gets in? How do working mums do it? When do you start preparing an evening meal if you want to actually cook a proper meal for everyone?

[GeorginaA]

I tend to share lunch with ds and dinner. I will then recook or reheat for dh when he gets home about 7pm. It's more hassle the evening meal than doing it separately, but ds does eat better as a result. I also find I get hungry by 9pm so have to have a snack in the evenings too.

It is very nice eating together though, and I feel it's worth the effort. You could potentially push back ds' food for 5.30 to time with dh coming home? (Then push back the rest of routine half an hour too... you never know, you might get a half an hour extra lie in the morning!!) Even just sitting down to lunch together is a nice ritual to get into, I feel, and that is much easier to organise.

[M2T]

Bobsmum - We split it half n half. Sometimes we eat together and sometimes we don't. It depends if I can be bothered preparing a meal. I don't get home until 6.15pm so I usually prepare food at the weekend and freeze it. Like good old mince and tatties! Or perhaps I'll just throw on some pasta when I get in the door. We sit down and eat it at aroung 6.45pm. The ds has a bath (not every night though) then in bed by 7.45pm.

It just takes a wee reshuffle. You have to think about moving his bath perhaps half an hour later?

[fio2]

We dont because dh doesnt live with us in the week. I find because my dd goes to school all day she is too tired to wait for my tea so her and ds have theres around 4.30pm, then bath at 6.30pm bit of supper and bed at about 7.30 - 8.00 pm. I usually have my tea at 5-6pm. On the weekend when dh is home its a bit more hectic and we do tend to 'eat' together then.

I think its lovely if you can find the time to eat together I will be striving for this when we eventually move in together again!

[WSM]

We try. DD eats her tea at 5ish but DH doesn't get home from work until 6. So during the week DD tends to eat at 5, and the rest of the family (me, DH DS1 & DS2) wil eat together at about 7ish when DD has gone to bed.

We do try to work our day so that we all eat together on weekends.

[whymummy]

i start cooking dinner at 6pm,dh comes home at 7.30 and we all eat together,children go to bed at 9 to give dh sometime with them

[doormat]

Its 50/50 sometimes we all eat together. sometimes we dont.It depends on the circumstances ie visitors calling etc.
I usually start either in the morning or afternoon and have it ready for about 6ish.

[Angeliz]

we try to eat together most days but when dp and i fancy a take away dd eats alone! Don't think she's that bothered, anything i cook she usually doesn't eat anyway! But it is nice to try and sit and eat together. We eat about 5.30 when dp gets in but to be honest i'd much rather eat around 7 myself.......oh the sacrifices

[Mummysurfer]

We do it at weekend. during the week I do as GeorginaA, I eat with dd & ds at 5/6 ish then dh reheats his when he's home. They eat so much better when eating with an adult. Not just more food, but they catch onto the knife & fork business and general 'table behaviour'.

[Furball]

I always try and eat lunch with DS (2) and usually we'll have the same sort of thing - beans on toast, soup, sandwich etc and the evenings is a bit odd, sometimes he's absolutely starved by 4pm and other days he's not fussed until after 6pm. I do try and 'eek' him out til DS gets home at 5.45ish and we all sit together. If we all sit together, we all eat the same. I prefer it and he definately eats better.

[Blu]

I get in at 5.30 and rush like a bat out of hell to get DS's supper ready so that he eats it before he gets all gribbly, then DP comes home at about 7-7.30 and starts our meal while I am reading the umpteenth story etc etc and settling DS for the night. In the week we try to have 'family breakfast' and to have breakfast and lunch together at w/e.

[FairyMum]

We only eat together as a family at weekends, but then we always sit down at the table and have nice meals or go out to eat as a family. During the week my Dh cooks for me after the kids have gone to bed. I feel like a little bit of me-time after a long day. We eat in front of the telly and just chill out. It's lovely eating in piece and quiet (+ we can have lovely desserts our kids are not allowed...he he he).

[Clarinet60]

I tend to eat earlier with the children, then eat again later when DH comes in. I'm not the size of a house, but it's a wonder!

It is nice to eat all together sometimes, though. If we've been out and got back late, bedtime gets pushed back and we all sit down together.

[suedonim]

We've always eaten together, since having ds1, 28yrs ago. We usually eat between 5.30 and 6.30pm. When I'm in 'efficient mode' I start preparing a meal after lunch. In 'average mode', I start about 4pm. When I'm in 'grossly inefficient mode' dh does the cooking.

[suedonim]

We've always eaten together, since having ds1, 28yrs ago. We usually eat between 5.30 and 6.30pm. When I'm in 'efficient mode' I start preparing a meal after lunch. In 'average mode', I start about 4pm. When I'm in 'grossly inefficient mode' dh does the cooking.

[pidge]

My dd eats her supper at 5:30pm - far too early for me. I know it's good to eat together, but I also love the quiet supper (and glass of wine ) that my dp and I have together at 8pm ish after she's gone to bed. We do eat breakfast together and lunch too on the days when I'm not working.

[aloha]

We don't because ds is still (at two!) very labour intensive - ie he is rubbish at feeding himself. Actually might start another thread on that. He also still has a nap so we often even at weekends eat our lunch as grownups while Ds sleeps. we like the time together. Also we love to sit and open a bottle of wine and eat together after ds has gone to bed. I love the idea of all eating together but in practise we only do it in restaurants and not very often.

[donnie]

my hubby doesnt get home until around 6.30 by which time dd has eaten, our routine is then similar to yours bobsmum.Besides, we arent hungry enough to eat when she eats anyway, and that bit of time togethre when you and dp can eat and chat without disturbance is precious IMO.

[Freddiecat]

DS is 18 mths and is given tea at 4:30 at nursery every day. He has a snack when DP picks him up and they get home about 5:30. I get home at 6 and usually start cooking immediately (DP is a great cook but likes watching the Simpsons at 6pm...). We then eat around 7 with DS pestering us. Eat together about 6 at weekends.

M2T - you must be Annabel Karmel all this cooking and freezing - wish I had the time!

Thinking about sitting up at table to eat with DS about 7 on week days - there's no way we'd make it eating at 6 unless DP drops his Simpsons and lager habit. (DP likes sitting at coffee table withg TV on which I don't like for variuos reasons but at least we eat together and I manage to enforce dinner table at weekends) Do you think DS is a bit young to eat at 7pm? Goes to bed about 8:30 and wakes at 6:30 with 1.5 hours nap after lunch. Often drops off before lunch if given the chance but we can't get him to go to bed earlier or sleep later?

[Tortington]

we try to eat together as much as possible - i get cross when either the kids or hubby doesnt make the effort. the TV goes off and its officially family time where we discuss school and work

[Blu]

Aloha: please start the thread re your DS not feeding himself...we have the same problem!

[Azure]

I would love to all eat together, but I don't get home from work until 6.15pm (picking up DS on the way) and DH is not normally back until 8pm. I wish we were all home by 5.30pm. As DS has tea at nursery he often only wants a snack (toast or pasta at most) before bath, milk, bed. At weekends we eat lunch together (normally out on a Saturday and a roast on a Sunday), as well as Sunday tea (too full for dinner), but Saturday night DH enjoys cooking a nice "adult" dinner and opening a bottle of wine.

[GeorginaA]

It's sociable eating that's the key, I'm sure. So (to me) them eating with other children in a nursery setting is just as good for their eating habits as it is eating with you (in some ways it's better - I found ds ate fantastically at nursery!)

Okay, they may not pick up knife & fork usage as quickly, but they'll see that at the weekends with you, and there's more to table etiquette than cutlery...

[Freddiecat]

Definitely agree GeorginaA. DS comes back from nursery eating everything and they say he feeds himself really well (sits up at the little table with the big kids now!).

At home he prods the food with a fork before throwing it on the floor.

Went to a friends house and he sat up at a little table with their daughter who is nearly 3 and ate really well - I was amazed!

He also ate really well (fed himself and ate everything) when my parents had him for the weekend so I think the key is to get other people to sit up at the table with him!

[tinyfeet]

You are lucky Dh comes home so early - Bobsmum. I get home from work around 5pm. I was holding off on giving DD her dinner until DH came home - usually around 6:45 pm, but then DD started throwing tantrums aroudn 5:15pmish, so now, she and I eat together as soon as I get home, as I realized that she was hungry. DH eats on his own when he gets home. It is a bit early for me, but as I am pregnant now, I'm usually hungry all the time, so not a problem. We do eat together on the weekends.

[bobsmum]

Tinyfeet - I know I'm very lucky. Dh's company is very big on "work/life balance" at the moment - they all get chased away from their desks if they're still working after 5:30pm - they've got to justify why they're still there!