Getting family members to eat better

[Jemster]

I'm after some advice please - not sure if this is the right place so have posted in Food too.

My ds 7 has school dinners and often asks for a 'sandwichey' tea although he is ravenous after school and just wants endless snacks.
Dd is 2.5 and has a snacky lunch at childminders and so I feel she should have a proper meal at teatime.
Then you've got me & dh who eat later on, usually something different to dc.

Ds is fussy about veg and dd is starting to become more fussy.
I have tried meal planning but they don't like alot of the same things and so much is getting thrown away.

I am getting really worried that they're not eating healthily enough but I know its down to me. What do you do though when they won't eat what you make them or won't touch veg?

I'm at work every day until school pick up so don't have much time to get tea ready and they are both so hungry when they get home they pester me for snacks non stop.

Please can anyone give me some advice or tell me what you do?

Could you do a healthy snack for both of them after school, and then all eat a meal together in the evening?

I would say eating together helps. Then they just get what you have cooked and not 'kids food' and they see you enjoying and tucking into stuff - I'm sure it has an influence.

Perhaps when they are older you can all eat with Dh as well.

first of all Ill say dont be too hard on yourself. I eat super healthy, no grains/little diary no processed food and even though i give that option to my children too they arent interested..and they still are normal kids and want snacks. what i do i cook every night, always from scratch when I make spaghetti bolognaise they will have it with wholemeal pasta when ill make my zucchini noodles and we try to eat together...when i have my rare steak they look at me like Im crazy when they eating home made burgers and so on..at home both 7yo and 3 yo are challengng eaters but I know both eat good meals at school & nursery ( my ds school has own chef and vegeterian menu only). I hope once they see me being healthy and not eating junk I hope they will follow...i do like cake though and they love it too, so id make my own paleo style one :)..also involving kids in cooking/preparing meals makes a huge difference..mine both love passing me veg/washing them etc x

first of all Ill say dont be too hard on yourself. I eat super healthy, no grains/little diary no processed food and even though i give that option to my children too they arent interested..and they still are normal kids and want snacks. what i do i cook every night, always from scratch when I make spaghetti bolognaise they will have it with wholemeal pasta when ill make my zucchini noodles and we try to eat together...when i have my rare steak they look at me like Im crazy when they eating home made burgers and so on..at home both 7yo and 3 yo are challengng eaters but I know both eat good meals at school & nursery ( my ds school has own chef and vegeterian menu only). I hope once they see me being healthy and not eating junk I hope they will follow...i do like cake though and they love it too, so id make my own paleo style one :)..also involving kids in cooking/preparing meals makes a huge difference..mine both love passing me veg/washing them etc x

i said it twice....sorry

Thank you for the replies. I've definitely noticed things are better if we all eat together as we do at weekends but in the week I'm just not hungry enough to eat at 5.00pm. Perhaps I should still sit down with them as I tend to use the time to frantically have a tidy up.

Bettereveryday how and when do you do the cooking from scratch? I don't get home until just after 3 and then my dd in particular wants my full attention the whole time. Because I haven't seen her all day I feel I should play with her leaving me very little time for cooking. How do you get around this?

Our kitchen is very small & dining table is in other room so it's hard to let them help as there's nowhere for them to sit or stand safely in the kitchen.

Could you prep after they've gone to bed for the next day?

Littlef00t yes I could but currently don't as I'm so knackered I often fall asleep on sofa once I've finished all the other numerous jobs to be done!