To ask if you actually enjoy family meal times?

[LittleLionMansMummy]

Every bloody Sunday it's the same.

7yo ds slouches, picks and can't wait to leave the table (whatever is cooked), dh nags him about slouching, picking and not sitting still, 14mo dd whinges or cries or screams her way through or slings her cutlery around.

It's all got too much this evening with them all niggling at each other constantly. I've thrown my toys out the pram just now and told them I'm not doing it any more (by which I mean sitting down to eat as a family, not cooking). It's so stressful. I'm sure other families manage it, but I hate family meal times and can't be bothered any more.

No, but I'd like too as I enjoyed sitting around the table with my parents when I was younger :(

The only place we can fit the table is in the living room and DH hates sitting at it as he didn't as a child and insists on having the TV on whilst eating from his lap in the sofa silently.

DS(11) has huge food issues and very rarely eats the same as us so not only does him sitting at the table push his anxiety levels up which causes him to panic and act out but on the odd occasion he is trying something new it's a struggle to watch as he has to pick every single morsel up, sniff it and lick it, occasionally biting then more often than not he gags and runs or he has been known to throw up on the plate there and then... Meal times with him usually involve shouting/screaming and stress unless it's toast.

Thankfully DD (4) likes sitting with me at the table, having a chat but is getting more and more distracted by the TV and everything going on around us so I'm not sure how long I can spin it out.

Fucking nightmare!

Yanbu.
DS (8) is a very slow and picky eater and there is a long list of food he doesnt like. But he is slowly willing to try those as well as new foods so I am really happy with his progress and meals with him are becoming less stressful. Today he ate all his rice, two months ago he would have had a meltdown and not touched it.

DS2 (5) is a nightmare at mealtimes. Fussy, messy, food everywhere, drinks spilt almost every meal time, spitting food out into plate that he doesnt like taste of or because he has shovelled far too much into mouth and starts to gag. He won't use his hands occasionally eats off the plate like an animal. DS1 finds it sickening and absolutely hates DS2's eating habits.

Today I had to physically remove ds2 and sit him in the other room to eat alone as I just couldn't stand it. Hoping he grows out of his caveboy ways quickly!

I like mealtimes with the kids, now 15 &11, but if we add DH into the equation too it’s usually awful - he argues with DS and the problem is I usually find DS is on the right side of the argument, which makes it nearly impossible to back DH up. It only happens Sundays as DH is never around much weekdays, he works long hours, and Saturdays is all about clubs for the kids, and we don’t get round to eating together often or a Saturday.