Do you eat as a family with teenage / adult children?

[YouCouldBeSisters]

We have always eaten dinner together in the evening, however I'm wondering if this is the norm?

I feel that everyone getting their own food when they want it will be more expensive, and create too much mess.

I tend to do the cooking as I am better at it, and usually first in from work. I also pay closer attention to healthy eating. I think I am just fed up with always having to do all the planning.

There's a big difference between everyone doing what they want and one person coming in late and making themselves an omelette, we don't do the former but the latter is a fairly regular feature. We don't get waste though, if we know someone is making their own we don't cook for them.

Yes, once the DC were old enough to eat at 7.30 we ate together .

Mine are 17 up we ate together and if someone was out due to work ( me or dh) or sports activities (kids) a portion would be set aside for them to eat when they returned.

There was every now and then days where I called sort yourself out but even there it was often 2-4 eating the same one made for them all. It was not often and usually when I wanted leftovers used up.

Usually we eat together about 7ish but sometimes ds isn't back from the gym by then so he will then eat his later.

Not often, we're just not organised enough and everyone wants to eat at different times.

Mine are 11, 13 and 15. We all eat together nearly every evening.

Mine are now 20 and 21 and currently at uni, but we have always eaten as a family at the table and continue to when they are home. It’s a time for chatting about our days and other stuff.

If one isn’t in at lunch or dinnertime they will either sort themselves out or I (or the DC if they are cooking) will save a plate of food for them to warm up. There is v little waste.

99% of the time we do. Sometimes if DS(15) doesn't fancy what we're having and isn't hungry he'll get himself something later on.

@MrsPsmalls

When adult ds is here he cooks on Fridays dh cooks on Tuesdays and me the rest. We eat together on our laps, watching a neflix series that we only watch together. Have done the office, Brooklyn, and now onto parks and recreation. It can be the highlight of the day!

We do this with our ds,15 and it's a lovely fun but relaxed evening meal and something to share as a family. We've done The Big Bang Theory, Friends, Joey, Bancroft, Fawlty Towers, Brooklyn 99, Arrested Development and we're currently on Community. We love it!

Nope. I wouldn't want too either

We have always and hopefully will always eat together.

If planning is the issue then when you are sitting down to dinner write out a meal plan for the month together

We do - when they were little, DH was always working/commuting so I would sit with them, and then DH and I would eat later.

Now we all eat together and I try and time supper to work around their activities. Sometimes that doesn't work (we have four children) so even if the rest of us eat together, I will then sit with the one who is eating early or late so they aren't on their own.

Yes, we eat together most evenings, unless teenage ds is out. At the moment though it's on our laps in the sitting room, which isn't ideal, but when we move house in a couple of months anyone who's in the house at 7-8pm will be expected to show their faces at the table. Anyone who's out will have a warmed-up plate in the oven waiting for them.

It's the only time we all get a chance to catch up with one another and we really enjoy having a chat. I'm not in any way domesticated otherwise, but the thought of everyone sorting out their own evening meal every night and just eating whenever is faintly depressing.

Lunch or breakfast, though, you're on your own

Yes we do - it's lovely and almost sacrosanct.

BUT I don't do all the planning and cooking! We (me and my 2 teenage daughters) all choose 2 meals to cook each week, take it in turns to do the online shop (they like to do it so they can buy the food they like!) and then cook twice a week each. (and my ds cooks once). When dd1 is home from university she is added to the rota. It's lovely to be cooked for and to not have to do all the thinking.

Have you thought about sharing the load with your family?

It depends on who is up to what. The exception being Sunday when we all sit down together for a roast.

Always!

Our kids are all grown up now. All through their childhood /adolescence we always ate together at the table. DH and I both cook, the children started "helping" in the kitchen/cooking as soon as they could stand on a chair. By the time they left home, they were all good cooks, could cook a whole meal from scratch, and enjoyed cooking for their friends (they still do).

Now they have their own partners and children and who-ever's house we're at, we still all eat together at the table. We still cook with and for each other and the GC are learning. Eating together teaching children to cook, sharing recipes etc is one of the joys of family life.