To think most people *haven't* eaten dinner by 6pm??

[JumboShiitake]

According to DP "most people" have eaten dinner by 6pm.

Referring to adults, not children.

He's obsessed with eating at a time I consider pretty early.

I'm giving him the side eye

We eat between 7pm-8:30pm usually but I spend from 6-7pm thinking I should start cooking soon

We eat at 5pm every night

It's only me and DH now as kids have flown.

I start cooking around 6.15. We eat around 7

I haven't started cooking dinner yet. It's 8.20 pm. I'd hate to eat before 7.30 (retired, so nothing to do with working hours or a commute).

@Wateringcan27

We eat at 5pm every night

Oh I'd hate that. It's amazing how much variation there is.

@UnityUnited

This is one of those weird class things where some people think it’s common to eat early.

I don't think its common to eat early I'm just staggered so many people can have finished their meal by 6 or even earlier and have the self restraint not to snack on mountains of crap before bed.

I don't get home from work til 6. Covid may have changed this situation for some households but I'd still consider 5 early.

We eat between 5-6:30. I eat with dd and dp eats when he is home. Much prefer to eat early but I remember my sil turning up here once at 5 and being shocked that dinner was almost ready. She eats about 9pm. I don't think most adults have eaten by 6 but I personally much prefer it when I can

I think Rockettrain hits the nail on the head. Its a class thing.
I grew up in a working class family, my Dad was a quarryman. Home just after 5 after leaving the house at 5 am. 'Tea on the table at teatime, 5.30 pm. My parents and in laws still eat them. Most of my neighbours, early 60s seem to eat at 5 ish.

7pm for us.

My ideal time to eat is 6.00 - 6.30pm. With Ds working from home at the moment that’s what mostly happens. I get home from work around 4.30pm - 5.00pm.

In normal times dh gets home at 6.30pm so we eat around 6.45pm - 7.00pm.

Is he a wee bit Northern? Six would be getting late for tea here.

UnityUnited

This is one of those weird class things where some people think it’s common to eat early.
..
No it is not a class thing. An age thing maybe and depending on circumstances.

In American families tend to eat early and it's quite normal to do so.

Traditionally it is called tea in my area.

Dinner was for posh folk, supper was toast and tea if you were peckish before bed.
I come from an industrial/mining community.
The working day would start early and finish by 4.30 or 5pm.
Most of my community would eat their main eveing meal at 5.30-6pm.
I still do, it worked for us as a family when the kids were young, and I am usually in bed by 9pm.
So a 6pm meal still works for me.

I think in our area too its genuinely unusual to have children in childcare long hours. So in order to have dinner with children and put them to bed youd have to have it earlier.

If you arent getting home til 6 and kids bed is at 7 that's not a lot of time with the children

@Same4Walls

We eat at 5.30pm like I said with the kids. We like to eat all together, and I don’t want to cook and clean twice !

The kids will have something around 6.30pm - a yoghurt, a small cake bar fruit etc

Honestly DH and I generally don’t eat anything else ! Sometimes I have a cup of tea with a biscuit at around 9pm but that’s because I fancy it, not because I feel hungry. We tend to go to bed/sleep between 11-12

@RavingAnnie

It’s nothing to do with being regimented. It’s a habit/routine that works for us. Also you’re assuming that everyone has a 9-5 job with a long commute. I finish at 4 and H runs his owns business so is flexible. We both have always worked from home.

It’s also nothing to do with class or region for us ! It’s just convenience. Before we had kids we’d eat between 7-8pm. We haven’t moved or changed class since we’ve had them !

We eat around 730-8

Have never eaten early neither has ds

If I have had dinner it's probably 8:30 - after that I just don't bother

How early would you have to get home to have cooked and eaten before 6pm? How many jobs and commutes allow that? Not many (even now, especially not in normal times), pl

Plenty of jobs of jobs finish before 6.pm Manufacturing, retail. Cleaning. Office work.

Not home by 6pm. OP is asking about people who have arrived home, cooked and eaten, by 6pm.

Me too. Part of me also wants to know what time those eating at 4 or 5 go to bed. Even a perfectly average bedtime of 10pm would leave you a minimum of 4 or 5 hours after finishing a meal. Surely they would be hungry again before bed.

Not usually hungry in the evening but I eat plenty throughout the day.

Surely most people aren’t home by 6? We eat at 7.30-ish. DH not always home even then.

I don’t leave home. I wfh.

Casserole/stew/chilli/bol in slow cooker. Spuds in micro to bake for 10 mins or rice or pasta.

I finish work at 5.

It’s not even hard 🤷‍♀️

We eat at 6pm but only as we have teens who will start grazing from about 5 onwards so if I give them a meal early at least I know they won't start raiding the fridge until 8pm!

We've always aimed for 6ish even when they were little and luckily my DH works from home so could get stuff ready during the day.

Take out nights are always 8 onwards though

@Veryverycalmnow

Oops, added the kisses as in middle of texting and WhatsApping others.

And we thought they were specially for us 😂

It is interesting. It's just a light hearted thing between me and DP really because he would eat at 5.30 if possible and 7 - 7.30 is probably my ideal so usually it ends up being about 6.30.

Pre-lockdown both our jobs finished around 3pm most days so we could eat early if we wanted but I'm not ready at 5.30, mainly because I like a snack at about 4pm

Now we're both finishing later WFH but he wants to get straight in the kitchen and cook the minute his laptop is switched off and I like to do other stuff first.

He does have northern roots although that's not where he grew up, but his DF eats really late. So no idea how where he's got the odd idea which this thread proves he's wrong about

Growing up it would be between 5:30 and 6:30.

I cook dinner ready for when DH gets home from work at 6 but we'll be flexible if we've eaten big lunches/snacked. We just eat when we're hungry on weekend dinner times.

I think most people who have the time/have young children would have eaten by or near 6.

@WalkingMeAway Doing the same thing at exactly the same time everyday is regimented. Feels very restrictive to me. I don't like routine though, I find it oppressive.