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?

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

I forgot clubs, we prioritise them as dc enjoy them & I loved them as a dc.

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.

I still think it’s an awful lot to cram into a few hours.

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

We wouldn’t both be able to fit it in as neither of us wouldn’t go for a run/jog. I like to be in bed by 11pm as I’m up early.

I finish at 4-4.30pm, it's usually between 6-7pm sometimes e en 5-5.30, kids are 9 & 12, husband works shifts so when his working he will heat up his when home around 8.30pm. I'd be starving if I had to wait later.

DH is rarely home before 8pm and I tend to eat with him, often after 9pm.

We try to eat as a family at the weekend though and I usually sit down with the children when they eat.

How can you not understand that people have different lives ?

People have different working patterns. Some people have flexible working. Some people wfh. Some people have one parent at home. Some people prioritise this and move heaven and earth to make it happen.

I used to start work at 7am for example, so I could pick my dc up at 5.15, and in the evenings I would do all the prep for the next evening's meal, so home at 5.30 and food on the table before 6, usually, when my dc were small.

It's clearly not impossible for the people that do it, is it?! It suits their routine and works well for them.

You don't have to do it!

I understand… I was interested to hear how other people structured their lives. Is that difficult to comprehend?

I think you can choose to prioritise this kind of life if you want to. I remember the same growing up.

One night a week I went to brownies/guides and so I had an earlier dinner after school, and a small supper when I got home. My only other club was swimming which I did on a Saturday. My parents were always home to have an evening together as a family.

It depends what you prioritise though and some children do clubs competitively where they clearly have a future in that sport, so sacrifices do have to be made.

But I think a balance can always be struck somehow.

Thanks for your helpful reply 😊

When my older two were at the age of clubs most of the ones they did were straight after school so done by 5 or cubs/scouts which started at 7:30 so we almost always ate at 6/6:30.
Now the younger two are high school age they both play sports at a pretty high level so there's a lot of training at different times. We eat together or the majority of us eat most nights but it's often more like 7:30/8.

I think commute is a factor too, which makes it difficult for us. DH just isn't around in the week due to long hours/travel time, but the children have never known any different. There are four of them in any event, so mealtimes tend to be quite lively even if we're not eating!

Our dinner time is 5:30; 6 latest. Clubs finish 4:45 latest for my kid and home by 5

We've always eaten around 6.30 but we're retired so it's easy for us. At the moment the kids' extra curricular stuff like music lessons doesn't interfere with mealtimes but it has done in the past - we just ate earlier, or later.

This ts really tricky.
When im working i do long days so DH feeds the kids and puts them to bed.
When im on days off, we really try to all eat together but on the nights we have various clubs (Tues, Weds, Thurs) its something quick and easy like jacket potato or beans and egg on toast. My boys are still quite young so on the nights they have activities it's dinner then bed! It's not often at 6 because of all the stuff going on!

6pm is early if you’re in full time work unless you working in an industry
that finishes the day at 4ish
or you wfh and finish at 5ish
or you don’t have to commute far to work

In our industry we really don’t have a finish time so one of us just had to make sure we could pick the kids up or be home to cook at least ( when they were older and made their own way home ). We’d be doing very very well if that was 6pm.

We do. Four kids. My husband gets home at 4 and picks the youngest up from nursery, meets next youngest off school bus and cooks dinner. I usually get home just before six and set the table etc. We’re not always all together at the table depending on clubs etc but 4/7 nights we all eat at the same time and the other nights one person will eat earlier or later because of activities. We always had family dinner at 6 when I was growing up.

But why is there something wrong with it? If someone’s routine allows them to eat at 6 and they want to, then why shouldn’t they? I’m starving at that time and my work schedule and kids schedule allows us to normally eat around then. Sometimes we do eat later but whatever works…..

My DD has volleyball practice 3 days a week so we don't usually sit down together on those days unless I do dinner for 7 when she's home but other evenings we eat together.

We manage it - but only because I wfh full time I think! husband works full time with a commute

Pick up kids from after school club at 4.45, start dinner at 5.15-5.30 - dinner on table for 5.45-6.00 - while one of us cooks the other does reading/maths app (theyre still young so doesn’t take too long) and then after dinner they play/read/bath -

we do an activity 7.00 - 8.30 pm one day (after dinner) and two other activists through after school: football is 3.30 - 4.30 - the other activity is 3.00 - 4.00 and we do a sat morning swim class.

I really like to have them in bed by 7.30 as we have an a early start/I like to enjoy some quiet evening

6pm has never worked for us. DH has never routinely finished work so early.
When I worked I'd leave my desk at 5:35 and do the nursery/ ASC club pick-ups by 5:55 so we weren't in the house by 6. One day a week we'd go straight from there to my youth group and be home at 8 after 12 hours out of the house. Pizza night!

When I did stop work, Beavers & Swimming were around 6pm.

It would be pretty shit for DH to finish a long day and come home to congealed reheated slop to eat on his own so we've always eaten around 8pm, getting towards 9pm as we're at secondary years.

My DCs are ND and tired after school so a good chunk of wind down time helps them before activities/ family time. They can't handle conversation before 5pm. They've never been inclined to early evenings.

It makes more sense to have a snack early evening to keep going before a later meal than to load the stomach before doing things like swimming.

Meal prep.
Working day finishes at 15:30 and we like to eat early so that we fast after for at least 12 hours…

We eat together every day for dinner, and I adjust the timings to suit club timings.

We have pretty much always eaten together, but DH works mostly from home, and I work a ten minute drive away. Have three kids who have all done different activities over the years, so we don't have a consistent meal time - it will depend on who's doing what and how tricky the meal is to prepare. Eldest DD now cooks if she's home from uni. Dinner time ranges from 5:30 to 7:30.

It's one of the reasons I have always chosen to work close to home. Family meal times are very important to me. I'm lucky in that I'm a teacher, so can pretty much work anywhere.

I only work during school hours. 4 days a week my husband works from home. We eat dinner together at 5:30, unless there's a club. In which case the children eat slightly early and DH and I eat together after the club. But that's only once a week

I manage it with DD about thre times a week. Otherwise she's out with her mates, seeing her dad or pursuing her interests. I don't even manage it at the weekend sometimes because I'm doing shiftwork or DD is with someone else. Such is life.

We do. I finish at 4pm and wfh. Everyone else finishes fairly early too and no clubs.