Do you eat the same food at the same time as your children - everyday?

[McDreamyGonagall]

This has got me thinking after reading another thread.

I really want to increase the amount of times we do this. DH prefers to eat later as he has quite a late lunch but I feel we are missing out on enjoying time with the children, teaching them manners etc.

We do eat with them 2 or 3 times a week, just not every night. Also I tend to cook something different on the nights we don't eat with them. What do you do?

clary it is the evening activities that scuppers it for us, when combined with work. Until DS turned 6 we did eat together every evening including the 3 days I work at about 6. It did involve a lot of planning on my part and bulk cooking etc but was feasible then.

Yes. Basically. Almost every single day Since ds (3.5) started eating meals. We have dinner togehter, dh, I and ds, evry night. Luckily ds is a very good eater and he has always eaten what we eat. Even when he was weaning, I would mash ours up for him.
Same meal, same time, all togehter almost every night.
Sounds 'rite' boring
Family mealtime was a very important thing, for both dh and I, even before ds was born.

lol Jools!

We only eat together at the weekends. It's physically impossible otherwise. And a nightmare.

We are lucky being teachers that we're always home by 5 pm and for the holidays. The dds are grating carrots for salad as I type! Which could be dangerous.

Yes, always have done as far as possible.
I have always sat down with all the children at teatime. Occasionally my husband can't get back from work on time, so he gets the same meal which he has re-heated at whatever time he gets back, usually with us sitting chatting to him. About 95% or more of the time he is home at teatime anyway, so we all eat together.

I don't 'do' different meals for different people.

yes bozza that's it, the evening stuff.

Beavers Monday 6pm start; swim Tues 5.30pm; weds nothing but I get in 6.45; thurs Rainbows 4.45; fri ballet 4.15 so we eat afterwards but that's DH's busiest day.

People whose children eat at 7pm (even then not an option for us some days - would be more like 7.30) - how do they survive till then? Mine are starving by 5pm. Or do you give them fruit and other snacks at 4pm? I'd rather just lob em a sandwich as well and call it tea (they have big school dinner), esp as there's hardly time to cook spag bol before we have to be out again.

Holidays soon hurrah!

we all eat the same food tho.

yes - generally - too much hassle to cook different meals at different times.

Well we eat at 6 and always have done with no problem (well until the activities started). But they need to be in bed by 7.30 because they need to be up by 7 in the morning so we couldn't do 7.

DS has school dinners so I am not fussed about sandwiches twice a week.

on the 2 evenings dh collects the wee chump from nursery we eat together, variations on the same theme
on the other nights dh doesn't get in till 7 so ds has supper @ 6 and dh and I eat together later.
all eat all meals together at weekends

Its probably easier early on. Once you have more than one child, daddy working late, as the children get older, thus more beavers, swimming etc, you probably don't stand a chance !!
Plus, you have to have daddy and mummy time. Put them to bed and get a takeaway. Hoorah.

But hopefully by the time the kids are older good habits will have already been established so that as long as you continue to have a few family meals in the week it doesn't matter if it's not possible every day.

No, not often these days. 'Tis not possible for us. Dh and ds1 both work shifts.

Often I eat with the younger two, although we do try to have a family meal a couple of times a week.

No. I wish we could, but Dh's working hours are erratic and very, very, VERY long. He is gone before we wake up, sometimes home (sleeping) in the middle of the day and very rarely around in the evenings.

Tis a shambles.

Only at weekends and even then generally only lunch. DD gets picked up from nursery at around 5.30/6pm, has dinner (often something home-cooked from the freezer) at about 6.30/7pm and is in bed by 8/8.30. After that we have dinner. The reason being I can never cook anything proper while I have DD clinging to my thighs, so if we want to eat a decent meal that is not an omelette or something equally quick I have to get DD out of the way and off to bed.

When she's a bit older we'll probably eat together more often, but for now it's an organisational nightmare. She does tend to eat similar things to us, apart from things like the aforementioned omelette and marmite toast it's all proper "grown up" food. The odd time we go to restaurants she comes with us so we all eat together then, but other than that it's too hard.

Yes. DD is 17 months.

We all eat breakfast together, every day.
We don't eat lunch together Monday to Friday, as parents are at work and children are in nursery.
We do all eat lunch together at the weekend.
We do all eat dinner together, every evening.
We all eat the same - to a certain degree .

We most meals together. DD (6) as lunch at school & DH at work Mon-Fri. But those days DS (almost 3) and I eat together. We all have breakfast together (lucky DH doesn't leave until 8am) We have dinner together at 6:30 (DH gets home between 6 & 6:20) eating most days the same thing. So far the only tricky day is Tues with swimmnig and getting home at 6:15, but that night we have spegetti & meatballs. the children have some fruit after school if they are hungry.

We usually eat together, we have quite short commutes and work from home a lot, but not always the same food - I like spicy food, curries etc, the dds aren't generally so keen on lots of vegetably spicy food. Despite being fed it as babies and toddlers. And I don't want to eat bland food every day. So we have variations with the same general ingredients.

My DH always wants to eat later too. It drives me bonkers making two dinners, or pausing half the dinner til later.

On Sundays I have tried to introduce a light lunch and a main meal at 6pm. I love it as kitchen is washed up and clean by 8pm and kids are in bed and I have my feet up. Other wise kitchen not tidy til 10pm and don't feel am off duty til then. In reality always leave the last bit of washign up til next day if Dh soesn't do it.

When DH is away I always it dinner with the children at 5pm !!! and am always starving again at 9pm and have cereal.

no it owud dirve me NUTS

i'm afraid not

i do intend to graduate ds (2.2) onto the same stuff as us soon

lunch is easy and we do often share sandwiches, pizza, whatever

but teatime he eats on his own as dh not back from work til at least 7pm

Ds/dd breakfast on sofa while dh and I get ready
dh, breakfast just before he leaves, at kitchen table
me, breakfast at work, 8am

all of us lunch at work/school/nursery respectively

ds and dd supper at after school club/nursery

dh and I together at about 8 when children in bed

at weekends we manage most meals all together

oh, we do have breakfast together - same food

so two out of three aint bad i suppose

ds & I eat our breakfast & lunch together
dh is always home very late so we dont get to eat together as a family