What time do you eat dinner/evening meal?

[chubbachub]

We are a family of 5. Children 9 and under. Youngest almost 3.

We usually eat around 5.30pm.
A friend has kids a similar age and eats around 8pm which results in a later bedtime.

Just wondering what time is dinner for you? And what time would your young kids that age go to bed?

Our youngest is usually in bed around 7.30/7.45. Older two around 8.30/8.45pm.

It depends.

On my WFH days we eat together about 5.30/6pm. On office days DD eats between 5-6pm with DH and I eat later about 9pm.

Weekends and Mondays it is 6-7pm but also might be main meal at lunchtime with a lighter tea.

DD is lights out by 8pm, up about 7am for nursery (she is 4). I’m up about 6.30am. DH later as he is completely WFH.

Around 6pm. Dh gets in around 4:30 and I get in at 5pm. Ds is 10. We like to ear together

We get up at 7am.

If we're eating with DDs we normally eat around 5.30-6pm. When they are at Brownies this is later at 6.30pm so they have a snack before they go.

DDs go to bed around 7.30pm and if we're not eating with them DH and I will eat around 8pm. I could not eat dinner after about 8.30pm, at 9pm I'm starting to think about going for a shower and to bed! Plus I'd be starving.

I've got three aged 10, 7 and 3. We aim to eat at 6/6.30 most days, but three evenings a week one or other of the kids have swimming/clubs and it ends up being closer to 7. It does mean a later bed time. 3 year old goes to bed around 8.30 😳 (tbf, she sleeps till 7.30/8, so gets enough sleep), 7 year old is asleep by 8.30 and 10 year old has lights off at 9.

Personally if I had it my way we'd eat dinner at 5.30/6 but with both me and my DH working full time and all the kids clubs it doesn't happen except at the weekend!

Around 5.30-6pm if we all eat together. Weekends and occasionally during the week DH and I will eat later (any time between 7 and 9).

Kids age 6 and 8. Bedtimes 7.30ish and 8.30ish. We get up around 7.

My ideal is probably later, 7-8ish, but I prefer to have one family meal most nights so it has to be earlier

Toddler eats at 6ish. Partner and I eat the same food but usually at different times in the evening between 7 and 9ish.

DS 4 eats at about half 4/5. Us, usually about between 6:30-7

When DC small, we ate around 7ish to get them in bed at a decent time. This gradually got later as they got older so that they could do homework etc before dinner.
Now we eat 9 to 930 normally, sometimes 10

Some of the responses and variations have surprised me but all very interesting. I find my kids just tend to start getting hungry at this time so they must be well used to dinner at the same time each day.

Can I ask those to who have similarly aged children, who eat later say at 7pm, does your child have an after school snack to tide them over? It could be useful one or two days a week if I could stretch dinner slightly later but as I said they are ravenous by this time.

Up at 6, eat dinner once my 3 year old is in bed for the night so usually around 7pm. I find cooking for one a real faff so some nights don't bother which is a shame as I used to love cooking when DH was here.

DC age 10 and 8 eat around 6.45 (they have a snack after school)

DH and I eat around 9 once they are in bed

On weekends we all eat together around 7 unless DH and I are going out or a DC is eating at a party or a friend’s.

I would love to have family dinner more in the week but DH isn’t reliably home before 8 and DC have activities requiring a super quick sandwich tea twice a week

I eat between 5 and 6. If DH and DSs are around, they eat with me, if not, they’ll have what I’ve cooked later on. I don’t enjoy eating later.

I live alone so can please myself. As late as possible; 8.00-8.30. This is because the steroids I have to take make me ragingly hungry later in the evening. I pass the time by cooking from scratch, which I rather like.

3.30/4pm. I go to bed at 8pm though and get up at 4am so my routine reflects that.

Before COVID when DH didn’t get home until late, the DC and I ate at 5.30pm. Since COVID and DH is full time WFH we eat at 6pm so he can join us. DC are now 18 & 15. Before COVID the kids would have been in bed by 8pm so no way we could have eaten later than 5.30pm.

When my dc were young, we ate at 5:30 or 6 pm.

Now we eat around 7-9 pm.

7.30 for years now. When kids were little and DH had a long commute kids ate at 6pm, DH and I ate at 9pm. We wanted that adult time together when we could chat over a meal and maybe a glass of wine. Generally a different (spicier) meal.

yes to after school snack, so do I sometimes ! Usually something like a flap jack or cereal bar, if at home crisp bread with Marmite often with piece of fruit.

In late primary there were clubs after school 4 nights a week so often not home till 6 or so. Snack would be on the move then home for dinner.

Or a long afternoon having dinner so late! 😂

When we had tiddly children we used to eat at around 7pm. I negotiated starting work an hour earlier than my colleagues plus had compressed hours. We still waited for DH to be home so they had a snack after nursery or school. It was very important to eat together, food is a very big thing in my non English culture plus babies are not put to bed really early. Some of my English friends put their children to bed at 6pm which surprised me. DH then always did bath and story time. I had already had some time with the children by then, very often a quick visit to the park on the way home and when older a quick bike ride. When they were tiny I had a playpen in the kitchen so I could cook safely and when bigger they would do homework at the table in the kitchen.