To ask what time you eat your evening meal? (Dinner)

[parentingperson]

What time do you eat your dinner?

Do you eat with the children or wait until later?

If you do exercise in the evening, will you eat before or after?

We eat as a family by 6pm, but sometimes if I have things on and get back late, we may not eat until 7:30ish. This then feels like we are eating late, compared to normal, but wonder if actually this is a more usual time to eat. If there is such a thing.

We eat with our teenagers at between 7:30 and 8:30 expect on Monday when they have sports.
Our 18 month old eats around 5:30. We tried that as a family but it just meant we all ended up snacking around 8 anyway.

We eat between 6 and 7. One good thing about Covid is that DH is still mainly wfh so we can all eat together. When he commutes to work he usually gets back later and we leave him a plate to heat up.

We eat as a family around 7. I usually only manage to start cooking by around 6.

We don’t exercise in the evening (😂 god, I wish, there was once a time when I could squeeze such things in). We do work in the evenings after dc (8&3) are in bed, usually 8:30/9-10/10:30, but no exercise!

We have dinner around 5pm. Depending on what we're eating and if kids are feeling particularly hungry.

However, kids are usually in bed at 6.30pm.

We do wake up and have breakfast anytime from 6-7am however x

@DeepaBeesKit

I never understood the idea of children's tea (or whatever you call it) and a separate meal for the adults. Also we work and aren't home before 6pm most days and DD eating at 4.30pm just means she was starving at 7pm anyway.

My children go to bed at 7. They've always eaten at 5pm or so and we've never had issues with them being hungry after that.

Or an alternative view is my DC don't snack when they all get in from school and nursery, they just eat their main meal then instead. They have their "snack" at supper time around 7.30pm🤷

I have two DC in the family who are asleep any time 6.30pm/7pm. Eating dinner after 7pm just wouldn't work.

6ish as a family. If we know we'll be late we give DS a snack around 4pm.

Lots of studies on the importance/benefits of eating en famille.

7 - 7.30-ish as a family. Closer to 7. Kids are 10 and 12. They have a snack after school.

It depends, if we're eating with dd we eat at around 4.00 - 4.30 (bed time is at 6, so super early tea time) but we end up having some snacks or something later on those days.
If we're eating just dh and I we eat between 7 and 8. We mostly eat as a family but try to carve out one night a week where it's just the two of us.

When dc were small around 7pm.

Now it’s anywhere between 6pm and 8pm.

When children were school age it was usually around 6/6.30, sometimes later if things like swimming or piano lessons were happening, and we'd always eat as a family.

Now I'm on my own it's anywhere between 8 and 9.

@DeepaBeesKit

Really envious of people where both parents can get home from work in time to cook a meal and have it on the table by 6pm. I'm in the south east where the vast majority of people work in london and the main earner (usually dad but not always) is never home before 7 or 7.30

We decided not to take roles that would mean we were not back till late. Went more for flexibility.

No set time, only DH and at home now, could be anywhere between 7-9pm. Ideally I would eat around 6.30pm but I hate getting in from work and cooking immediately and DH much prefers to eat late ... he usually goes to the gym around 6ish. I never exercise .

When our DS was younger we would always try to eat together around 6.30pm. A bit easier in those days as I was a SAHM & DH was self employed so could usually set his own schedule

I work late on Mondays so I'm only just about to eat. DS has dinner at wraparound club on Mondays. On other days I'm home earlier so I start cooking around 5pm.

All older kids here, not a chance in hell dinner would be ready by 6pm with 4 ft working adults, 2 students in the house plus dogs to walk.
I'd say 7 is a decent time to get fed in this house, today we were done and dusted by half 6 which is unheard of.
I'm sure when my kids were young I'd fed them by 5 or so but that's just not an option now

5pm as a family.

Kids (1 & 2) 4pm. Me and DH 6.30pm when they're in bed.

YABVU

around 7-8pm - depends what time I get in, and how long something takes to cook.

& it's supper

Between 4.30 and 5. I exercise in the morning now, but when I was doing evening classes, I wouldn't eat dinner before hand, just have a snack when I got home. I don't like eating dinner any later than that.

6 ish

I eat with the children - always have done

If it’s just me and dd (once a fortnight when ds is with exh without her) we eat a bit later as she’s 13 now

Always used to be between around 6 when DCs were younger but now youngest is at secondary school, I don’t rush and it’s normally around 7.30 (although it’s still cooking now!). DC fill up when they get in with a sandwich. fruit and junk so they’re not hungry until then anyway.

DH is often not home until 8-9pm so it’s less time for his to be hanging around.

I’m glad to read this as I thought we were quite late.

@Classicblunder and @DeepaBeesKit

If noone is home before 6pm then a 7pm bedtime is impossible anyway.

I also come from a country where family dinner is the norm in most cases and such an early betime of 6.30/7pm is not the norm as well. If parents work you would hardly see your child.

Obvious every family is different, it's just one of the things I will never really understand.

5.30-6.30. DS is 11 months and we eat with him after we collect him from nursery. He’s always starving when he gets back, despite having 3 full meals there.

Pre-DS, we’d eat at 7-8pm, which we do now and again when we have a takeaway etc. I enjoy eating with DS, and find that because we eat with him & model that, he eats absolutely everything & enjoys his food. Some friends eat separately to their babies/toddlers & then wonder why the kid barely eats.