To think that it’s impossible to have a 6pm family dinner time?

[whatonearthishappenin]

Do people really sit down at 6 pm and eat dinner together as a family in the evening?

If so, how?

I’m not always home from work by then, my children have afterschool club and clubs… swimming, football, dance etc… how do people manage it?

It all depends on what stage you are in life. 15 years ago, no way, I didn't get home until 6pm and we ate at 7pm.

Now, I WFH, finish at 4pm. Yesterday we had our tea/dinner at 5pm although we usually eat between 5.30pm to 6pm.

WFH and we eat at 7pmish. No children though. I usually resentfully shove something in the oven once I have finished working then read my book in complete silence until it's cooked. That part I love.

How many days actually have a club. One club per child. When do they do their homework if you're doing all these clubs all the time?

Monday-Wednesday we can manage this, in very lucky that I work out of the house but finish at 4 latest, so I’m usually through the door (having collected DD on my way back) by 4.30/4.40 absolute latest. I then potter about usually tidying up the bombsite from having to all be up out and ready for 7.30am, and put something on for tea, DH arrives in for about 6 and we eat about 6.15. Tidy up and take DD to her one to one swim session for 6.45pm on a Monday, then Tuesdays and Wednesdays we just chill. Thursdays we don’t eat together, I run a youth project so DD comes with me or goes to my sisters who lives on the way to it. DH stays home, catches up on work and has a takeaway usually and DD and I eat on the hoof. Friday nights we go out usually or round to MILs or a local friend with kids same age. I don’t think I’ve ever cooked a meal 7 days in a week we just seem to prioritise other things and love going out but our Monday-Wednesday routine is pretty solid.

I don’t finish work til 6 weekdays so it would be impossible for us, on a weekend we have our evening meal around then.

We eat from 5.30pm onwards most days. This is due to a combination of wfh, finishing at 5pm, working locally etc. Hate eating late.

Falafel wraps
Prawn linguine
Salmon and cous cous
goats cheese gnocchi
grilled hallumi salad
3 bean chilli from the slow cooker
dhal from the slow cooker
chicken stir fry

We might not always be bang on twenty minutes but there or there abouts.

We manage it most nights, as one of us is wfh nearly every day. Except one day when DD1 starts Brownies at 5.30 and DD2 finishes swim lesson at 5.15. DH cooks something which keeps, and he and DD1 eat at 5, and DD2 and I eat at 5.30 when get in.
I think its important to try to eat as a family as much as possible, but it's not always possible

Well it depends. My niece is pretty dedicated to dancing at 13 years old, she dances all day on a Saturday and from 5-9pm twice a week on a weeknight. It’s a constant rush getting her places and her brother trains for football 6-8 one weeknight, plays at a weekend and swims another so that’s pretty much daily activities and that’s not even that many hobbies. If a kid gets even remotely good at something it’s going to be a twice weekly if not more affair for multiple hours.

Yup - this. We Start work at 8.15 with kids in breakfast club and everyone home by 5.30 for dinner at 6ish. Clubs are either straight from school or at the weekend…. Occasionally we don’t manage it if one of us is home from work late but we do try and prioritise sitting and eating together just cos it’s so hectic the rest of the time! Kids are primary aged so no doubt this routine will change as they get older….

Technically we could as we are all home by 1815, but I’m not hungry then. Preschooler has a snack, then bath time routine and we eat later around 2100. Weekends are different, and we eat together then.

We're home in time. That's all it is really.

We eat at 5 everyday. I finish work in time to do the school run at 3 so plenty of time to cook. DH usually finishes work around 4:45 with a 15 minute drive home. DS has one club that finishes at 4:15 and one that is from 6-7 so can still do 5pm family on those days.
Everyone does things differently and has different schedules. We all love an early tea here. We wouldn’t make it to 6!

I was asking OP really to see if I could help with her schedule

we do! it's really important to me that we eat together and husband works from home so it's fine!

They are 4 and 6 so homework isn’t really an issue. There are activities 3 nights a week (largely the older one, the younger just does swimming in the week)

Do people really sit down at 6 pm and eat dinner together as a family in the evening?

I don’t get how people work, cook from scratch, eat as a family, do homework/reading & both parents separately get exercise in all in one evening!

Yes, we do eat together as a family around 6pm. We manage 6 out of 7 days.

We do but only because I'm a SAHM, we have clubs every night of the week but they either start at 7 or finish at 5.30 so 6 is a pretty good time for us to eat

My point exactly, and without feeling completely frazzled…

I do but we don’t do any after school clubs. I feel similarly about how on earth people fit those in!

I think it’s because from pick up to after kids’ bedtime DH and I are both on the go, so if one is bathing the children the other is loading the dishwasher etc. One cooking, one on pickup.

(And we exercise after 8.30pm when the children are in bed).

When the kids were little I was a SAHM so could get dinner ready for whenever suited. DH made sure he could be home for 6 so that we could eat as a family before the kids went to bed.

But jobs and kids change so now it's 6:30 most of the time and a couple of nights a week we don't really eat as a family, everyone has to tuck in when it suits their schedule.

Before we had kids we normally ate 7:30 - 8:30 ish as we both worked later and then had to cook when we got in. Also, we had the energy to be up much later!

They are home from work and the kids don't have clubs etc. it's not bloody rocket science is it?

You’re a happy, cheery & very informative person aren’t you 🙃

@whatonearthishappenin I’m not sure where you live but as a Londoner realistically millions of people are not doing this every day, millions are commuting at 6pm, working till 5:30 or later, picking up dc from nursery, childminders, after school clubs at 6pm etc. I work p/t so pick the dc up after school or their clubs and the days we eat together at 6pm are the days DH wfhs so it’s usually 2 weekdays.