Evening meal 6.30 for 9&11 yo DC's is NOT 'too late'...

[wol1968]

I'm fed up of DH chuntering and grumbling if I don't get the DCs' dinner done before 6pm. I do aim to do it, and we all do have dinner eaten and cleared up before 7pm on most nights. But with the best will in the world, I get days when my timing slips. Interruptions happen, preparation takes longer than intended, sometimes I'm not on form, I get sidetracked and my organisation is crap. AIBU to get really annoyed when 'D' H starts rolling his eyes and making critical mutterings about what I should have done when and know darn well exactly what I should have done when but I was being crap and didn't ? AIBU to be even more annoyed when we then get an 'unexpected' phone call from MIL (who always did 'tea' at five when hers were kids) in the middle of our meal, and H then has to disappear into the next room with the phone, pretending to have eaten, with me being the one to keep the kids quiet in the kitchen?

He says he does this so his mum doesn't tell him off. I told him it was none of his mum's business what time we had our evening meal. And I don't think 6.30 or thereabouts is that catastrophic for 9-11 year-olds anyway, is it? 7.30 might be taking the mick a bit on school nights, I suppose...

Off to keep up with the ironing.

Can't we all be different?
We eat any time between 4 and 7 depending on activities/work. We eat together. If I eat late then I snack before so I prefer to eat early and it works for me if I'm exercising/working later. If the kids eat early they'll have a snack when they get in later too.
I have lots of friends who eat late, but feed their kids earlier. Or all eat later. I used to think people who ate later were either foreign or posh, but then I grew up a bit!
I think the real issue is your dh, ruled by his mother and quite happy to treat you like crap.

those dishes done yet OP?

I like to have our meals between 5-6.30pm depending on what day it is and what we are doing.

My dd (9) goes to bed at 8 and doesnt snack after tea & neither do i & i go to bed much later than that.

I do think eating after 7pm every night is too late for children especially if they have to get up for school the next day. However once in a while wont harm them.

We are trying to move the time of our evening meal back to 6-6.30pm and I have 2 4.5 year olds. When they go to school in September, we want to eat together everyday, and 5pm is much too early for me and DH......

"I do think eating after 7pm every night is too late for children especially if they have to get up for school the next day. However once in a while wont harm them."

Out of interest, why is it too late?

I must be really odd as we have always eaten at 6:30ish, occasionally earlier and also later, once we had children we just continued to do the same, it didn't occur to me to move mealtimes earlier.

I am a sahm so technically the children could eat earlier but then I would just have to cook again for myself and dp later or reheat DPs dinner when he got in from work and I can't be arsec with two dinner times!

The madthings get a snack on way home from school, we often aren't in till 4:30-5pm anyway if we go to friends/park or they have clubs etc. It would be a mad rush to have an earlier dinner and it just never occurred to me to do.

I work full time so my 7 and 9 yr old go to childminders or get collected by my mum after school. The days my mum collects them it's either dancing or gymnastics so they get a snack aft school then dinner bout 7. On childminders days they usually given drink n biscuit n fruit about 4.30 then get dinner bout 6.30/7. There is nothing I can do about feeding them earlier so there's no choice in the matter and they are totally fine, happy n healthy. You have just got to do whatever works best for u and your family not what pleases the mother in law.

My 14yo would 'die of starvation' but frankly since he arrived home today he has had THREE meals already and it's only 8pm

If your hubby is that bothered he can get off his a** and do it. My 14yo is well aware that I will make one dinner, work permitting, and everything else he can get himself - if a CHILD can do that, why can't your adult DH?

And lying to mummy? I really can't process that without imagining your DH in frilly bloomers, soft blue hat and lacy collar crying "but muuuummmy"

I'm so with you about the phone SAH that would drive me mad. It did with exh this bloody phone that had to be answered no matter what. I don't answer the phone or the door if I'm
Busy

My kids are ravenous after school, so by the time they've devoured the contents of the cupboard at 4pm (when we get home) I doubt they'd be hungry at 5!

MILs are weird- I remember mine telling me off whenever we stayed at their house for feeding 1yo DD at 5pm because that was her normal dinner time. She always has dinner on the table at 6 and therefore that is the only time anyone is allowed to eat in her house!

When I'm at home , as a rule , we eat at about 6pm , give or take a bit , which fits nicely round the after school swimming / before cadets / taking DS1 to work etc , and allows everyone to sit at the same table and eat , and gives everyone a decent bit of space to do their thing , before a wind down for bed .

When I'm at work , and DH takes over , it's a bit later than that , but it seems to work for him .

I suspect that whatever time we ate , my cupboards and fruit bowl would still look like the locusts had visited .

Ime the visit from the locusts is inevitable: it's just a question of whether it comes before or after dinner. Though ds doesn't really see why it has to be either or

I take that in order to improve the issue , the DH will hereafter be doing all food related tasks himself ? Because he would be here .

DH rolled his eyes at me once . In 1991 , with my back turned . Except he did it opposite a mirror and I caught him . That was the day his dinner went to the dog .

Like LaC's DH my DH would probably keel over with shock if I had dinner ready and waiting for him.

We usually eat about 6.30 -7pm and my two are only 6 and 3 years old!

LaC? I meant LaQ...

Plomino, you sound like a formidable woman

Ditto cory sometimes I think I will explode a blood vessel if my DS claims 'starvation' again 10mins after already eating.

It is good practice to get kids and mummy's boys to get their own food if they are too hungry to wait and to stop unnecessary interruptions at mealtimes. I'm fine if someone inadvertently calls during dinner - can't be helped occasionally - but pretending not to be busy/eating? Um not after the first couple of times!

Our usual dinner time when DP is working is around 6:15 to 6:30. We've done this since DCs were young and they are 13 and 9 now.

They have a snack when they get home from school and we like to eat together as a family.

And unless it's urgent, anyone calling us when we are eating gets told we'll call back.

DD3 is 4 1/4 and we eat supper around 7 on school nights. Weekends it'll be anywhere between 7 and 9.

@ Plomino

We eat at 7.00pm every night, because that's what time DH gets in from work.

DCs are aged 21 - 7.

On the weekend we eat at 5ish but 6ish during the week. But I'm in the frozen north and we need sustenance early to stay alive.

We eat at 6. But your husband is a cock. Tell him to get his pinny on if he wants it earlier.
Good Lord, sometimes I come on here and thank my lucky stars I don't have some knob of a husband to answer to.

6:30 is NOT too late. Tell him to sort it out himself if he wants it earlier.

What is with some men honestly.

We always ate later than most people, DD has made it to 19 without any issues or dying of starvation.