Or is my friend regarding evening meal times?

[BoxtheRight]

We’re in conflict about what time of day most people eat their evening meals.

She thinks that your last meal of the day should be around 6:30pm, with anything after 7 being far too late.

I think around 8pm is normal, and anything before 7 is far too early.

For context, neither of us have kids, and both start work at 9am.

Who IBU?

Me - YABU, anything after 7pm is too late
Her - YANBU, anything before 7pm is too early

Neither. It depends upon circumstances such as when you and your partner, if you have one, arrives home. Different horses for different courses.

When my kids were young we ate at about5.30 -6ish - my then DH got home from work anytime between 5.30 - 7.00 so he ate with us if he was there if not he heated his up later.

Now I live with my adult DD, for medical reasons she needs to eat at fairly set times and she eeds to eat earlyish - so we have our meal at 6ish.

If I lived on my own, I would eat later - probably at about 8, I prefer a later meal.

Breakfast at 8am, lunch at 1pm, dinner at 6.30pm. Every single day.

I am actually quite pleased to see this result. It seems every time someone says they have been invited to a meal at 8.30pm, for the meal at 9pm (so starter at 9.15pm, and the main potentially at 10pm,) and they feel it's too late, people come on in droves saying they are being unreasonable!

A load of people come on it and say 'me and my DH/DP rarely have dinner before 9pm. We don't even get in til 7.30 to 8pm after our long 1.5 to 2 hour commute from the city from our terribly important big jobs.

I think having dinner/any medium to large meal after 7-7.30pm is too late. It would sit on me real bad.

Have the people who eat a big meal late on, not heard of this saying ?

"Breakfast like a king; lunch like a prince; dinner like a pauper.” Make the first meal of your day your biggest, and only eat three meals a day..."

5.30 here

*MerryMarigold

And it also puts on weight.*

That's not true!

Agree with was, I am usually not home until 6ish, I really don’t want to start cooking the minute I walk in the door (no DC at home), so I tend to faff about, have a coffee (or glass of wine), do any home admin, hanging up washing etc, watch the news & then start preparing dinner at 7pm ready to eat around 8. I actually prefer to eat earlier but with our work pattern it wouldn’t be practical. DH happier to eat around 9pm.

I'm just jealous that so many people get home so early.

I get up at 6:45am normally then have a nap for an hour at about 2pm.

How do people who work, get home and cook a proper meal to sit and eat by 5:30/6pm? We've always eaten around 8. Sometimes it's a bit later now because dinner rarely gets started before DS is in bed.

Neither of you ABU but now that my DC are getting older and we’re not as beholden to early teatime we’ve naturally fallen into 6:30-7:15ish as the norm for dinner and it fees much more natural and less rushed.

Between 8-9.30pm- in from work at 6/ toddler in bed at 7.30/ clear up- start cooking- eat-/ sometimes shower before starting to cook

I will eat any time between 5 and 9!

We eat between 5:30-6 with dd (2yo) before she goes to bed at 7.

I won't eat a full dinner any later than 8pm, i would just have toast or cereal.

We either eat at 6-6.30 with the kids or 8-8.30 when they're in bed. I prefer eating later but I have less time to sit and enjoy a meal and chat now our lives are much busier.

In our family no one gets home early enough to eat at 7. Dh finishes at 5 but has a 2 hour commute, ds works irregular shifts, I am seldom finished at work before 7.30 and then getting back takes about an hour.

I've heard the "breakfast like a king" thing, but always felt it is a personal thing. I could probably manage it, but both my mum and my dd feel sick first thing in the morning: if they'd tried breakfasting like a king, they'd have started by throwing up all over their work. Even I prefer to start slowly in the morning, don't actually feel hungry until I have been active for a few hours.

We usually eat dinner around 6.30

My OH starts work early so has lunch late morning, and I get reflux at night if I'm still eating beyond 8ish (which I will put up with when socialising but not on a normal evening)

To those asking about being able to eat at 6. My husband works 6am to 2pm so is home to cook a meal and I work part time, so am home two days a week plus weekends and home by 3pm on others. I totally get why people getting in at 6pm eat later.

Just the two of us most of the time now, so we eat when we are hungry. It's usually between 8 & 9.

@LionelRitchieStoleMyNotebook I’m a teacher so I’m usually home by half 3/4o’clock.

We eat around 7.30pm. I have a tween and a teen and after much trial and error this works best for us all.

I would consider before 6pm to be early.

As children in the 1960s with a Mum who was a housewife we ate at a regular time when Dad was expected home, usually around 5.30 to 6pm. Modern life with two working parents does not allow for this.

When our children were young I fed them tea around 5pm as they were always hungry after school. I worked mostly nights at that time and would prepare a meal for me/DH whilst making the kids tea. He would eat when he got home. I would take my share to work and eat in the early hours of the morning, having slept whilst kids were at school.

These days we eat at around 7 usually, but when at work I have lunch.

At around 10ish unfortunately.

DH is a chef so gets home late and I can't stand eating alone. It's often the only time we really get to see each other in the day.

I don't usually eat before lunchtime, just coffee!

We had an early tea tonight at 7pm so will probably have something to eat before heading to bed at 1/2am. But normally the kids will have their tea around 5/6pm and then we'll have our tea about 10/11pm.

You don't go to bed till 2am!!! What time do you get up at?