Waiting to 6pm and no later for dinner together

[LovelyBath77]

My husband is self-employed. He gets a bit huffy as he likes us all to eat together, but I say we usually wait till 6pm is and go ahead with the children's dinner as they get a bit hungry by then. I usually have something with them.

AIBU?

Cordychase as far as I can tell, southern Europe children are not in worse shape than their british counterparts

I feel really odd on this thread as we don't have a set time for dinner... its when we fancy it, and when it fits in! So on days the dc have after school clubs it will be later, on days where we are out in the evening for Cubs or whatever it will be earlier. I think we eat dinner anywhere between 4pm and 9pm with a snack either after school or before bed. 4DC between 9 and 2 and its never been a problem for them to eat when dinner is ready, whatever time that is!

I must admit I'm very interested in the difference between UK children's bedtimes (where we're told 6-7pm ish, though mine are more like 8pm) and continental ones, where children stay up til 9, 10, maybe 11. I assume they're all perfectly fine in the mornings and they all survive, so what is it with our long sleeps? Are we just fond of getting rid of them for an evening... ? ;)

where i live, kids school starts at 730 am....so most people leave the house around 645....the kids need to be in bed early enough to get 12 hours...hence a 7 pm bedtime....

Outside of London, plenty of people commute, especially poorer people who have to rely on public transport.
But if you finish work at 5pm, 6pm is the earliest you could realistically eat. I totally understand why plenty of people can't eat at 6pm and need to eat later.

Now we eat at 7ish when dh gets home, but I have a 12 & 14 year old. When they were younger they ate at 5pm and sh and I ate once they were in bed at 7pm (this were the days!!). If dh is out I'll make an earlier dinner for 6pm-ish. We all have a snack after work/school (obv dh doesn't as he goes straight into dinner!).

Italy here - Children start school at 8.15am - Dinner here is 7.30-8pm and bed by 8.30/9.00 . BUt they also have a proper meal at school .
Our out of school activites finish about6.30 some evenings .

OP hasn't mentioned the ages of her DC.

When mine started school they used to eat at around 6pm as they needed an early bedtime. But now they are older (youngest is 10) we are back to eating around 7:00-7:30.

Children anytime between 4.30 and 5.45 (5 and 6) depending on day (after school clubs/ weekend/ knackeredness) - no way we could eat that early! One/both with them whilst they eat and we talk. Usually me with them/ one (step family) but DP and I have our supper later when they/one are asleep and I usually wait for him as we like to discuss adults topics together. We both do some of our work from home though so this works for us.

5 - 6pm for my kids. I don't always eat with them. But they have to sit down and eat regardless. Going to bed on a full stomach would make me feel sick, fat and I'd sweat a lot.

Yes but OP is talking about 6pm supper which would be fine for the children but my point is that it is fine for children to have a separate supper time from their parents! Adults eating at that time isn't generally going to work - we might be home but we are usually working!

5 year old bedtime is around 9pm here, he wakes 7.30-8am for 9am school start. 11hrs sleep is fine for a 5 year old and perfectly adaquate.

I have literally just walked through the door with him and my 6 year old. They have homework to do, eating, bathing , playing, chatting before bed, so bedtime at 7pm (in 40mins just wouldn't happen)

Sorry, missed the post where the OP said the ages. Was trying to multitask and read the thread while making dinner!

Mine were perfectly happy eating at 7:00 at that age. Tonight DH and I both got home at around 6:00, I picked DS2 up from his drama rehearsal on the way home. DD is currently at choir practice and DS1 is at football training. They'll all be home by just after 7:00, so we'll eat around 7:30. They are 10, 12 and 14.

Kids eat supper at about 6.30 during the week, adults at 9.30ish (which is too late but OH not back from work until then).

At the weekend, we all eat together at about 8.

I have 3yo and 1yo and we all eat together at 6pm. I'm not cooking twice every evening!

When I was a kid - which, admittedly, is a long time ago - Mum used to do 'tea' for me at around 5 - after children's telly finished - something like fish fingers and beans, or whatever, and then she and Dad would have their dinner later (Dad commuted, he didn't get home until around 7). On Saturdays we had a sort of picnic tea together - sandwiches and fruit salad in front of Dr Who at about 6 pm, and then Sundays we'd all eat a proper roast dinner together at lunchtime, and just have something light in the evening. Nowadays, not having any children involved, we (husband and I) tend to eat any time after 7 - could be as late as 9 some evenings, all depending.

6pm is late enough but I understand for some it just can't work like that. Eating late is not good for anyone so the earlier the better. We eat at 4pm since OH works odd hours and is in bed by 6 weekdays. Luckily I also work from home so it actually works well for us. DS will usually have a snack/supper before bed if he is having a hungry day!

My dc eat dinner at 4:30-5:00 they are usually starving by then despite an after snack. Its then both time story reading spelling.

Dd who is nearly 3 in bed for 6:30 and ds.6 in bed for 7.

Dh and i then eat together in peace!

All my kids eat at 5.30-6 and I eat with hubbie unless goi g to b later than 7

I give my 5 year old a snack after school (norm what ever is left in her lunch box and fruit) then I feed her about 6 freak for bed at half 7 ish! If her dad is working late I let her stay up till 8 so he can put her to bed and then we eat once she is settled! Works for us! But don't worry what anyone else does just do what works for u

My niece is 2.5, she has dinner at 4pm!

Artandco - if you don't mind me asking, what time do you go to sleep if your little one goes to sleep at 9?

I think this thread is very odd. We are being drip fed bits. Is this really about dinner? Or about dh paying more attention to his job than his family? It's impossible to tell.

With an 11 yr old and an 7 yr old?

What it is you are really asking here OP?

This is all irrelevant. Dinner? People do different things. Depending on age of children, commute, what type of food you eat?

We have similar aged children to OP. We eat round the table normally. Approx 6pm. It's not set in stone. Together, all 4 of us. I cook a meal, such as a pie(which takes an hour in the oven) with new potatoes and 3 steamed veg, for example. Dh finishes at different times and works at different sites. The ds's have evening clubs. All of this affects things. Ds's have a snack when they come home from school.

On MN threads there are probably about 6-8 different options that most families fit into. And tonnes of others.

So what are we actually asking here?

Never - I to bed around 11pm. But could go when kids do if I wanted.