NOW CLOSED: Share your family meal time stories and tips with Bisto – you could win a £250 Sainsbury voucher

[AnnMumsnet]

Bisto have asked us to find out about meal times with your family as part of their "Power Down for Dinner" campaign. Bisto say "The aim of the campaign is to encourage families in the UK to dine together more regularly and to encourage families to re-embrace the quality family meal without the disruption of emails, calls and virtual pokes". You may recall we previously asked about tips to find time for a family meal. Now the focus is more on how technology may affect this.

We have some questions below for you to think about but Bisto would really like to know what you think about eating as a family, what happens in your home and any tips you have for other families.

Do you get the whole family together for an evening meal? Do work, travel or other commitments get in the way? Do you want to have a family meal in the evening or would you rather eat later when children are in bed? How has this changed as your family has got older - or how do you envisage it changing? Does it get easier or harder to eat together as children get older?

What about technology at the table - do you allow TV on, mobiles or games consoles at mealtimes? Do you have rules or go with the flow?

What about space? Is that an issue for you and your family?

If you manage to get your family eating together in the evening, please share any top tips you have for other parents about how you manage to make it work.

Your stories and tips posted here will be used on the Bisto "Power Down for Dinner" pages on Mumsnet which are coming soon.

Any Mumsnetter can post their views on this thread - everyone who does will be entered into a prize draw to win a £250 Sainsbury voucher

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

We live in a small flat with no dining area unfortunately, but do make the effort to have one meal a day together without any distractions. We put a rug on the floor and have a picnic breakfast/lunch or dinner and talk about the day to come or the day we've just had. Our daughter is only 2 but this conversation really helps consolidate what was good about the day (sharing etc) and what wasn't so good (tantrums, all of us losing our tempers etc).

Conversation over picnic breakfast often consists of what we dreamt about in the night. Apparently a dragon came to visit daughter in bed last night!

Do you get the whole family together for an evening meal? Do work, travel or other commitments get in the way? Do you want to have a family meal in the evening or would you rather eat later when children are in bed? How has this changed as your family has got older - or how do you envisage it changing? Does it get easier or harder to eat together as children get older? Not possible during the week, but we try and have meal together on a Saturday or a Sunday. If not on both days. The kids love it and ask if we can have a family meal.

What about technology at the table - do you allow TV on, mobiles or games consoles at mealtimes? Do you have rules or go with the flow?

No, technology. Conversation is encouraged!

What about space? Is that an issue for you and your family?

No. We're lucky, we have space.

If you manage to get your family eating together in the evening, please share any top tips you have for other parents about how you manage to make it work.

I try and get the kids involved in the preparation. I find they eat better if they've made the salad dressing, or stirred a sauce.

Do you get the whole family together for an evening meal? Do work, travel or other commitments get in the way? Do you want to have a family meal in the evening or would you rather eat later when children are in bed? How has this changed as your family has got older - or how do you envisage it changing? Does it get easier or harder to eat together as children get older?

We moved house last year. Our old house had a through lounge and dining room whereas our new place has two seperate rooms and since the move, I think there's only been 2 or 3 occasions when we've not all sat together to eat our evening meal. My DH and I both work (albeit my own hours during 0930 - 1430) but DH knows that dinner will be served at 1830 and he quite often strolls in from work five minutes earlier, kicks his shoes off, flings his tie over the bannister and sits down with a few minutes to spare :) I've had no issue whatsoever with my DS joining us for tea. When he was very young, he'd maybe have an early tea but still sit with us and have say a banana or piece of toast until he was of the age when he'd be tucking into a balti or lasagne along with us. Since he started school, he's eaten his tea with us at the table and especially since the move, now there's less distraction, he eats splendidly :)

What about technology at the table - do you allow TV on, mobiles or games consoles at mealtimes? Do you have rules or go with the flow?

Telly has never been allowed on at teatime.
What's the point of all sitting together like that to then just gawp at the telly. What's half an hour? Granted I love Coach Trip and the like, but that's why we have things like Channel 4+1! We listen to the radio in the dining room - it's just us and Simon Mayo most nights. Mobiles and ipods are forbidden. The phone doesn't get answered. It's the one time when everybody is in the here and now and it's a chance to exchange news and tales of the day. My family are still lucky enough to be at the stage when we all still like each other so it's actually quite enjoyable to sit and chat like that.

What about space? Is that an issue for you and your family?

Space isn't really an issue since we moved. The dining table isn't a dumping ground - you'll only find the placemats and a peace lily sat on it on a day to day basis so there's no reason for it not to be used on a day to day basis. The dining room is also the music room/study area. We keep all our vinyls and instruments in here as well as our bookcases. It's a lovely space to be in which I think adds to the appeal.

If you manage to get your family eating together in the evening, please share any top tips you have for other parents about how you manage to make it work.

I think if you've decided that this is what you want to do, stick to your guns and make it happen. If you know your OH isn't going to be in til gone 6, give the kids a little snakc when they get in from school. I've also found that my DS eats more if he's seen me serving up at the table. Granted, this isn't always possible but if you're doing a one-pot-wonder, well there's no reason not to. Also, plan your meals. I'm not one of these women who can tell you what we're going to be having to eat a week on Monday, but I've usually pencilled in tomorrows meal by the time tonight's is in the oven. Also, if you're not used to sitting down together regularly, check you and your OH are singing from the same song sheet. Are you happy to let everyone leave the table as soon as they've finished or do you wait til everybody's finished? There's no point you telling the children they must wait at the table til everyone's finished for you OH to get up, leave his plate on the table, and go and flick telly on whilst the DC keep choffing on. And try and make it interesting and fun, especially if the DC are reluctant. Ask them questions about their day, tell them about yours, make plans for the weekend etc etc. You and your OH can talk about the ginormous phone bill once the kids are in bed. Make teatime chat about family things.

And finally, just try it, even if only for a couple of days a week. It shouldn't be that hard or difficult. Change is a good thing

we try to eat togethr as a family. on the weekend dh and i eat after the kids have gone to bed (so we can enjoy our meal more!)i don't see this changing in the future as it is important to both dh and i.

we don't have tv in the dining room. dh and i eat in front of tv on weekends.

we have a small table, but it is big enough for us. we need to buy some more chairs though as we only have 3 and ds2 is starting to want to sit on a dining chair.

top tip: get everyone to help
dh makes drinks
ds1 lays table

take out dc food a few minutes before yours and cut open to cool down

make sure that there is something on the dc plates that they will eat

My family dinner times are always fun times. We eat our dinner together and we don?t watch tele or answer mobile calls during dinner times. Dinner time just gets so enjoyable that we forget these modern day gadgets and completely engage ourself in family conversation.

I would like to share my secret with the readers - I let my girls do some cooking and involve my husband in the process as well. Therefore at the table are are so eager to sit together and relish the new dish we might have made on that day. Well, it could be a simple colourful salad made out of vegetablse and fruits and this process develops healthy eating as well. My kids used to be really fussy when comes to having food, but now they are so merrily chatting and eating that they don?t even bother to tell me which vegetables or fruits they don?t like! I also do some simple food craving like making a shark out of a cucumber and flower with a tomato or a carrot, eating them gets so fun and interesting.

Ladies, introduce this routine and I bet your family with be one happy healthy family.

Get children to cook and they feel so much more involved and appreciate the food so much better. My daughter has been 'making' lasagne since she was four. I make the mince, white sauce, grate some cheese etc and put in all in little bowls and she layers it all up. She is so proud of herself and it is a real treat for all of us.

Do you get the whole family together for an evening meal?

We sit down together about 95% of the time. I eat all my meals with the children who are at home.

Do work, travel or other commitments get in the way?

The other 5% is when DH is late home from work.

Do you want to have a family meal in the evening or would you rather eat later when children are in bed?

This to me seems to be creating twice as much work

How has this changed as your family has got older - or how do you envisage it changing?

Possibly when DSs are older and have after school commitments it may change

Does it get easier or harder to eat together as children get older?

Don't know as DSs are 4,2, and 8mnths

What about technology at the table - do you allow TV on, mobiles or games consoles at mealtimes?

Nothing is allowed at the table - neither technology or toys

Do you have rules or go with the flow?

We try and encourage good table manners - appropriate use of cutlery in right hand, sitting nicely, eating nicely, asking politely, etc

What about space? Is that an issue for you and your family?

No we have a dedicated space for dining table with chairs, including two booster seats for LOs

If you manage to get your family eating together in the evening, please share any top tips you have for other parents about how you manage to make it work.

We are currently very lucky with only DH working and DS1 only just starting school but my plan is to eat together as often as we possibly can and to continue this until DSs leave home. If you think something is important then you will make it work. Eating together at the table is something DSs have always experienced and never question coming to sit at the table together. Whether this will change as DSs grow bigger who can say!

We don't eat breakfast all together. I work 3 days a week so on those days our ds's eat with the CM. On the other days, I eat breakfast with our ds's on 3 days and DH eats it with them 1 day (My day for a lie in!)

Weekend lunches are all eaten together unless one of the boys has a party.

Dinners are eaten together 4 days of the week. We prefer to eat later on weekends or have friends over for dinner, the other night DS1 has swimming which complicates things.

On my work days, we have something from the freezer that I've cooked in advance so I can have a healthy meal on the table within about 20 minutes of getting home. The boys help to lay the table

We don't allow toys at the table, and we have no TV's in the dining room. We're lucky to have a separat dining room, so no space issues that might limit us.

We eat together as a family in the evening - it's really important to us. My family always ate together at the table when I was growing up, so I guess it's just stuck with me.

DH and I both work while DS is at nursery so we don't get home till after 6pm. It was a challenge at the start to get something on the table in time without DS ending up in an overtired meltdown!

For us, the slow cooker and freezer are our friends. If we put something in the slow cooker before work we've got something ready when we get home and we always make a double portion so it can go in the freezer for a quick meal another time. We always meal plan too which makes it a lot easier.

We generally don't have any technology at the table and there is no tv in the kitchen (where our table is).

I'm not sure if it will get easier or harder as DS gets older. I don't remember it being difficult when I was growing up, so I hope it won't be difficult for us!

Do you get the whole family together for an evening meal?
I do feel mummyguilt about DS going to bed later, but we built our nighttime routine around a family evening meal so we do it, whatever the time constraints. it is the only time we may get to catch up with each other, even though it would be much easier for DS to eat at chilminders.....How has this changed as your family has got older - or how do you envisage it changing? Does it get easier or harder to eat together as children get older? It is getting easier, i hope DS appreciates it more as he gets older and i hope i have more time to prepare and enjoy meals when he is FT at school.

What about technology at the table - no toys at table is hard and fast rule, no reading at the table is one all of us are caught breaking but we do stick to it. it has been known for the TV to stay on until the end of the Sunday Disney film on 5 though...! (we used to leave the computer on in the corner of the room to play music through, but i found the temptation for someone to jump down and start surfing during mealtime was too much, we have the radio on nowadays

What about space? Is that an issue for you and your family? The living room is diner, playarea and office space so it does get crowded but at least half the table has to be cleared once a day for dinner so it's a good incentive

If you manage to get your family eating together in the evening, please share any top tips you have for other parents about how you manage to make it work - i insist!!!!!

I just want to be in with a chance of winning the £250. :) Still breast-feeding my first, so haven't really got any comments re what we do as a family!

Do you get the whole family together for an evening meal?
Mostly yes. At least, I sit down with the DC, and if DH is home, he eats with us too, but a lot of weekdays he isn't home early enough.

Do work, travel or other commitments get in the way? My DHs work commitments sometimes get in the way

Do you want to have a family meal in the evening or would you rather eat later when children are in bed? I like us all to eat together at about 6pm.

How has this changed as your family has got older - or how do you envisage it changing? I hope it won't change much

Does it get easier or harder to eat together as children get older?
My children are 4 and 1, so no experience yet!

What about technology at the table - do you allow TV on, mobiles or games consoles at mealtimes?
We eat at the table in the kitchen, so no TV in there, and no games at the table. Occassionally we might have the radio on, but that's usually a lunchtime thing.

Do you have rules or go with the flow?
A bit of both. I like good table manners, but we go with the flow too.

What about space? Is that an issue for you and your family?
It is a bit as we have turned the dining room into a playroom, but compensated by buying a table and chairs for the kitchen. I don't want it out all the time so have bought one that folds away, with folding chairs that are stored inside the folding table. It's perfect for our needs.

If you manage to get your family eating together in the evening, please share any top tips you have for other parents about how you manage to make it work.

We eat at 6pm rather than earlier. I plan ahead, so meals are ready when I need them, using a slow cooker or pre cooking and freezing things when necessary. I get the children involved in getting our evening meal ready - getting out the cutlery etc.

Do you get the whole family together for an evening meal?
I often eat around the table with my children. My husband doesn't during the week as he doesn't get home before 8pm.
Do you want to have a family meal in the evening or would you rather eat later when children are in bed?
I like eating the the children as we talk about the day they have had. Weekends are the nicest as we have more time and can all sit together.

How has this changed as your family has got older - or how do you envisage it changing? Does it get easier or harder to eat together as children get older?

My oldest two children are both out for dinner tonight. The childrens busy social life makes it harder!

What about technology at the table - do you allow TV on, mobiles or games consoles at mealtimes? Do you have rules or go with the flow?

Sometimes we have music on, very occaionally we put the iplayer on to keep Ds happy.
The only rules are to use cutlery (bit of a battle!) and stay at the table.

What about space? Is that an issue for you and your family?

We have a large table in out kitchen so space is not an issue.

If you manage to get your family eating together in the evening, please share any top tips you have for other parents about how you manage to make it work.

The kids are used to sitting at the table so for us it's normal.

We always eat as a family and always have done - even the the kids are now in their 20s

We all eat at the table together, me and 4 teenage boys. It helps us catch up on the day and is a good and informal way of making sure everyone is ok. I have found it to be the best way of encouraging fussy eaters, they definitely come on much better in a much less pressured and more natural way when dining like this. We have a rule about no technology, but will occasionally break it if there's an important football match on the TV. They all play rock, paper scissors to see who clears away and loads the dishwasher, their invention, and they never fall out about it!

We eat together most evenings. Sometimes it's great, sometimes it's stressful. The DSs are 5 and 1. I am hoping it will get easier.....

No technology at the table. No toys of any sort.

Space is fine. We have a table that when fully extended can sit 12 at a push. There's no room for anything else in the kitchen once the table is out though!!

Tips? Meal planning and keeping the compononts of the meal separate (eg bolognaise rather than lasagne so that the fussy one can just have plain pasta) so that there's still something for everyone without having to cook different dishes.

An automatic oven is a fantastic tool! The timer on mine has just died and I am feeling a bit lost without it.

Every night we sit down to eat together, but sundays are special. On sundays we have Bisto because, as my 3yr old; Lily says:" bisto is so yummy for my 'Orkshire puddings!

keep the conversation at mealtimes light,no heavy discussions.Instead go round each person at the dinner table and ask them about their day in turn.This makes each family member feel special and loved.
when preparing dinner put on some music and get the children involved in helping prepare the food.
why not have a picnic on the floor in the living room,a family candlelight,makes for a fun and unusual meal experience,just doing things different is fun.If the weather is nice have dinner in the garden.
try and get creative and serve lot's of different meals.The internet is a fantastic tool for affordable and lot's of easy to prepare,quick and healthy meal ideas.
i ask my children not to answer the phone or have any form of technology at the table,Rather than put it across to your children that technology is banned at the table ask them to please understand that this is special family time have always let my family know how important and wonderful it is that we eat together as a family ever since the children were little.Life is hectic in our house with work,childrens activities etc but we try our best to have a meal together each evening,or atleast a few times a week if everyone is exceptionaly busy.

We always eat together as a family - I think it is central to having good communication and socialising for us all. My children are only small (3.5y and 19m) so some nights it is nice or only practical to eat after they are in bed but I like to eat together.
I can see they may try to do different things or have clubs etc after school as they get older but it will still be the norm to eat together until they leave home.

No toys / games / books at the table. Table is for eating and talking. get down from the table if you won't eat it or want to mess about.

What about space? We have enough room - and would make it somehow if we didn't.

Any top tips to make it work? Not really... it is just the norm. This is how it is from first eating at ~6mo. It's not a chore it just is. And as much as possible we all eat the same thing.

Do you get the whole family together for an evening meal?
At the weekends.
Do work, travel or other commitments get in the way?
Yes, some of us are not there at mealtimes because of work or school times (one child in nursery and one at primary).
Do you want to have a family meal in the evening or would you rather eat later when children are in bed?
Children eat early. I sometimes eat a little with them and then have a snack after they've gone to bed
How has this changed as your family has got older - or how do you envisage it changing? Does it get easier or harder to eat together as children get older?
We used to eat lunch all together every day. Work/school times has made this less and less likely to happen.

What about technology at the table - do you allow TV on, mobiles or games consoles at mealtimes? Do you have rules or go with the flow?
We have a laptop on the dining table so one of the parents will often be on that as the kids eat. I intend to move the laptop to another room soon as it is having a detrimental effect on communication and behaviour in general.

What about space? Is that an issue for you and your family?
Not really. It's more to do with habits and the fact the kitchen/dining/living room is warmer than the rest of the house!

If you manage to get your family eating together in the evening, please share any top tips you have for other parents about how you manage to make it work.
Children are too young to wait up late to eat so I wouldnt consider it at the moment. when they are older I would aim to eat with them in the evenings. There would hopefully be rules about phones, laptops etc not being in use much as we don't allow reading, drawing etc while eating now.

Do you get the whole family together for an evening meal?

Yes, always. It can be hard to fit it in with the children's social lives/activities now they are older, but we manage most nights. If DH and I waited until they were in bed, we'd be eating at 10pm.

What about technology at the table - do you allow TV on, mobiles or games consoles at mealtimes?

Absolutely no tv or other electronic entertainment. No mobiles. No reading. We are very Draconian.

What about space? Is that an issue for you and your family?

No.

If you manage to get your family eating together in the evening, please share any top tips you have for other parents about how you manage to make it work.

My only tip would be not to make food an issue. If they don't eat, they won't starve. Don't offer alternatives, and don't offer snacks. Try to make the meal about the occasion rather than the food. Though I would like any tips on how to eat without someone starting a squabble about some minor thing.

My daughter is 3 and the days that I work she attends nursery and eats with her friends.

On the other days we eat as a family at a table.

The TV is turned off in the lounge so she can't hear it and get distracted. The table is always set when she eats and she often helps with part of the preperation (usually eating it at the same time!)

As we all eat the same she has a good awareness and enjoyment of several styles of cooking and it helps her dad and I to be healthy as well.

As she eats either with friends / staff or her family her table manners are good and for a treat we will go out to eat in a restaurant and she patient and knows how she should behave. She will also try food which are not familiar to her with ease. (unlike the family at the lovely Chinease restaurant we visited at the weekend whose kids and fish and chips and demanded ketchup - I cringed)

All in all we all benefit from eating together.

There's only me and my DS (3 months old) now, but even so I prefer to eat my own meals at the table.

Certainly when DS is older we will be eating together at the table as often as possible, depending on after school activities etc etc, but I would like to be relaxed about it (we shall see!).

As a child we used to mainly eat together at the table, there were 6 of us and I used to really enjoy it as sometimes it was the only chance I would get to chat with my older brothers.

I don't agree with phones etc at the table, and certainly not games consoles. I don't have a problem with the tv being on in the background, although in this house it's in a different room to the table so I don't see that as being an issue.

I think mealtimes are taken for granted now.

We all sit around the table for every meal during the week, no toys, TV, phones and talk or at least try to in between nagging the kids to keep thier mouths closed when chewing or to stop kicking each other under the table.

A few years ago we had a dog. He would lay on the floor next to the cupboards usually behind where I was sitting. He never moved from his place or begged for food so we were happy for him to be that close to the table.

For years we have told the kids, if you eat all of your dinner you may have something sweet afterwards. If you dont eat it all, then you dont have room for anything else. They were never forced to eat the plate full if they didnt want to but were always willing to try something 3 times before they told us if they didnt like it.

For 5 years we were so pleased with the kids and thier eating habits. They never complained and nearly always eat everything.

Halfway through the following year we had to put the dog down due to his health.

For at least 6 weeks afterwards I had been sweeping up food that the kids had been dropping under the chairs for the dog!. There was me thinking that they were eating their dinner and all of the vegetables and all his time they had been sneekily feeding the dog. I couldnt help but laugh when I twigged what was going on.

We never got another dog but I can confidently say that they ARE eating thier dinner now as it's not all over the floor,...although thinking about it....I really must check behind the radiator.