To expect us to eat as a family???

[santasinmywaistband]

We have been eating together as a family 5 nights out of 7
DC are 2 &3 and we eat at about 5.30-6pm
DH comes in from work at 5.15.
The other days we eat much later as a couple when the DC are in bed.

DH has now announced that he doesn't want to eat at this time and prefers to eat later in the evening.
I think it is important for the children to sit down and eat with their parents regularly.

on recent occasions when I have gone along with the eating later thing I have gone to start cooking for us and DH has announced he doesn't really want much so not to bother.

I then end up cooking just for me as by that time I am starving.

So do I
1.cook for us all and ignore him

1. cook for us all and heat ours up later(which i hate as don't like reheatd food)

3.Eat with the children and let him sort himself out later( not sure if this would work as I don't think he would eat.)

DD is 3 and we eat together as a family when DH comes home from work, at about 7 PM.

That is the only way we can eat together and it works fine for us. DD has a snack at about 4 PM which carries her until dinner time.

I totally sympathise with the not cooking twice thing. I think you need to have a proper full discussion with DH about it. About why he thinks as he does, so it is not just a this or that choice.

FWIW ours are 7 and 4 and we generally eat as a family and always have done. Although there have been times when the DC had nursery tea at 3.45, so just had a snack/small portion with us at 6. And there are odd occasions where schedules just do not match. Also if they have friends for tea, DH and I will eat later.

I think go for option 1, the family meal together most nights, and say to him that if he wants to eat with you later then he could at least make the effort to cook both of you a meal rather than expecting you to cook twice. I think your dh is being unreasonable if he expects you to do all the work to accommodate his preference.

Sorry but I actually agree with your dh. I couldn't possibly eat that early either.

When mine were that age it was a sandwich tea for them (hot tea never occurred to me tbh) and a much later large meal for us at about 8-8.30 pm. Dh doesn't get home till late though.

Though they are older and now eat later we still tend only to eat as a family at weekends, maybe one or two other days of the week. Not a big deal really.

When DS was very young we ate together after he went to bed, and DH cooked it while I BFed for hours on end.

Now DS is older, we eat together at 5.30ish and I much prefer it. Since the evening is the only time to get other stuff done, I find it vastly helpful to have the dinner over and done with.

Since I've been pregnant I haven't been able to face cooking and am half dead with sickness and exhaustion by the time DH comes home. I can't generally eat an evening meal and DH often has to cobble something together with DS, or I give DS something easy or precooked from freezer and then don't even eat with him and it's crap and DS doesn't eat properly.

I really like(d) our family dinnertimes. It is much healthier to eat light and earlier in the evenings anyway.

Those of you who eat dinner at 5-6pm as a family - don't you get really hungry later in the evening? I just wouldn't be able to face eating dinner at the end of the afternoon - it doesn't feel like dinner-time to me. Do you have a snack before bed?

I have never been into eating later than the DC. It is nice to all eat together if possible (DH often has his re-heated as gets home so late). I would'nt start cooking again later in the evening. Let him sort himself out or make something he can re-heat.

Sometimes it's nice to eat with DC. Breakfast-time and lunch-time. But I like dinner to be a grown-up time when DH and I get to eat a wider range of food than DDs would accept and talk to each other without interruption. We share the cooking, and the preparation-time is a nice relaxed kid-free time when we open a bottle of wine and chat. But I accept we might be a bit more food-obsessed than most people - we're quite happy to make dinner the focal point of our evening!

Well tonight I am going to cook as usual at 5.30 and If DH doesn't want to eat it he can reheat his later.

I will have a discussion with him on how best to budget/ plan for separate cooking.

I just find I want to switch off once DC are in bed, not go back in the kitchen. I also used to find it a pleasure wispa but now I'm too knackered to find anything exciting in the evening

Good thinking Santa!

I agree, I don't want to be cooking again once DC have been sorted out, unless it's on the weekend and we have friends round!

Until I got pregnant and eating went haywire, no I didn't need a snack in the evening after eating early. DS is up bright and early by 5.30am, though, so we have fairly early bedtimes in our house.

I can kind of see where your DH is coming from, I prefer to eat later, but IMO he is being a bit rubbish if you ask him to cook for the two of you later and he then just won't do it that is just not on - all sounds a bit childish and strange really.
If I was in your position I would just eat with your DC and then he can either reheat his part or not.