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MNHQ

Talk to Cadbury’s about your family nights in and you could win a £200 Love2Shop voucher NOW CLOSED

599 replies

AngelieMumsnet · 02/10/2015 09:32

Cadbury’s Marvellous Smashables have asked us to find out how you get the whole family together for a cosy night in.

Here’s what they say, "New Cadbury’s Marvellous Smashables are a fun way for all the family to get involved, so we’d love to hear from Mumsnetters about how they encourage the whole family to enjoy a family night in."

So, what do you do to ensure your busy family spends time together? Do you make sure everyone's favourite meal - or dessert - is on the menu? Perhaps there's a TV show that's guaranteed to gather you all in one place? Or do you use more direct tactics like bribery?! Maybe you cut off supply to the wifi or have made the lounge or kitchen an irresistably cosy place to congregate?

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win a £200 Love2Shop voucher!

Thanks
MNHQ

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Talk to Cadbury’s about your family nights in and you could win a £200 Love2Shop voucher NOW CLOSED
OP posts:
hunhun007 · 09/10/2015 18:15

Friday movie night with homemade pizza. We all love it if we can all gather on time, that is.

SaltySeaBird · 09/10/2015 18:21

Family gatherings (of not just my household) generally involve getting around a table with good food. We try and do this at least once a fortnight.

Tonight for example my DM is cooking up a big roast as nobody could make it over the weekend. It will be her, me, my husband, daughter and my two sisters - we are all over 35 (except DD who is 3). We used to plan a movie at the same time but we'd always spend so long at the table that we wouldn't ever get to start the film.

ahbollocks · 09/10/2015 19:33

Our big soft blanket, a bottle of wine, biiiig bar of fruit and nut and the x factor.
No arguments no bribes :)

Nigglenaggle · 09/10/2015 20:24

Ours are little so don't need any encouragement to spend family time. If we're going for cosy then I would say curled up on the sofa under a duvet with a film on - How to Train your Dragon is a favourite. We don't have snacks on the sofa as they are too little - they might have a sippy cup of milk and we might have coffee or beer :) Not really evening though as they are in bed by 7pm :)

firsttimekat · 09/10/2015 20:25

Snuggles on the (new) sofa with my two fellas after a yummy dinner makes a good start and then putting the little one to bed and enjoying a nice glass of wine and a film with DH. Simple but good to just spend time together after a busy day.

SilverOldie2 · 09/10/2015 20:26

Whatever, it is does not involve Cadbury's chocolate which is inedible (being polite) since being taken over by Kraft.

Do yourselves and us ex-Cadbury lovers who now won't buy it a favour - go back to the original recipe or I see the piles of Cadbury's products being piled even higher in Poundworld.

Donthate · 09/10/2015 20:44

Curtains shut, phones off, ipad hidden and games night can begin. My son still talks about the night we tried to eat a huge bar of cadburys dairy milk with a knife and fork. The oldies are always the best.

Shiraznowplease · 09/10/2015 20:58

I work shifts and my husband works away, so wee sure Sunday is family day. I make sure that we eat our meals together. I cook a roast or if it's sunny we have a big picnic at the beach or park

quizqueen · 09/10/2015 21:13

My two adult daughters and my 4 year old granddaughter come round and we order an Indian takeaway. After she has had a bath (to get rid of the curry stains) we all lie on my bed and watch a silly television program like funny dog/cat videos.

Hopezibah · 09/10/2015 22:52

Sometimes we all get our onesies on and snuggle up on duvets on the floor to play games and watch TV.

Misscocopops · 10/10/2015 00:55

We only have 1 DD who has just turned 1.
Saturday nights I skip her bath or do it really early and we let her fall asleep with us on the sofa.
Once a month we order take away (usually pizza from somewhere that rhymes with lominoes) I'll get a bottle of pink fizz, and we'll buy a couple of share bag cadburys as there is always a couple on offer at tesco.
So lots of fun and games with the baby until she starts to get tired.
We're box set junkies so will then continue with whatever we are watching and just chill in our comfy clothes getting fat!
i have to have my (now fake) candles in and fairy lights and we get a fleece blanket.
Oh heaven!
To be honest it's a treat for me! It's nice to have a break from the usual routine of baby dinner, cook out dinner her bath, tidy up get her to bed then sort the other half a breakfast and lunch out, so I usually don't sit down until 9.30, and I love snuggling with DD on the sofa as they grow so fast but know I can't do it often to break her good routine.

SQuashandasqueeze76 · 10/10/2015 06:14

Put the 2 year old to bed and let my son choose a movie. Hopefully it's not one we've watched repeatedly or one that is so dire it's painful. We tell him he can stay up late, crack open the chocolate and then wait till he falls asleep on the sofa half way through the film. He's 6 and he's yet to stay up past 8ish. Then we turn said film off and watch Saturday night Tv.

Jellylove · 10/10/2015 07:46

Try to create a movie atmosphere with crisps or popcorn, maybe a bit of chocolate and some drinks and let the kids pick the movie
Or play board games and have similar snacks.
Either of these things the kids love as it's just the being together and having fun that they love most, but setting the scene makes it more special

LadyNymeriaGhost · 10/10/2015 08:07

DD is only 2. Give her a blanket and she will snuggle anywhere. So our evenings are normally spent wrapped up in an Elsa blanket watching Disney films. She likes to narrate them as she goes through. Grin

Frizzit24 · 10/10/2015 09:36

My kids are only young and pretty bored of telly/films so most nights I end up helping them making stuff out of what is in the recycling box. Admittedly my floor is covered in glitter a lot, but hey!

KitKat1985 · 10/10/2015 10:49

Usually we get in a take-away so no-one has to cook or do washing up so we can relax for the evening. We pick a classic favourite film and put out feet up on the sofa.

fuzzpig · 10/10/2015 12:20

We have movie night pretty much every week. Popcorn and a few sweets get divided into the same Spongebob cups every time, and we switch the lights off and shut the curtains. We have a huge DVD collection and take turns choosing.

We also recently had a request from the DCs to make it a tradition that the four of us always play a board game at some point on a Sunday (the only day that DH always has off). We are addicted to games (even going to the gaming convention next year!) and we love that the DCs are following our footsteps.

Sometimes when my teen/adult DSCs are free as well, they come over and we have a proper Family Game Night. We usually have dinner, then play some quick easy games. We drag our table into the middle of the living room and all gather round it (8 of us if DSS' GF comes too) - it's wonderful mayhem :) when we introduced them all to Dobble for the first time it was the loudest our living room has ever been :o then our young DCs go to bed and we play something more challenging that the DCs aren't old enough for. With chocolate.

Paranoiacentral · 10/10/2015 12:46

We like to light our log burner to make the lounge warm and cosy, then we cook something we all enjoy and can help ourselves to such as tapas, mezze etc, it all gets laid out on the coffee table. We eat and then have a mammoth monopoly session!

gingercat12 · 10/10/2015 14:46

We buy a dvd for DS in Morrisons, and make a platter of cut up fruit, sausages, biscuits and all sorts snacks for him. Then sit down just enjoy. Wink

Bellebella · 10/10/2015 16:13

We spend a good amount of Saturday night's in. My ds loves strictly and we get a fakeaway and watch strictly all together. We also have some treats for the evening. Love our Saturday nights in.

Other times we might watch a new movie or something.

Chippychop · 10/10/2015 16:31

We love this time of year we watch xfactor or pop on a Harry potter movie, Dh collects a take away and lots of sharing sweets. We all snuggle up together on the sofa with a throw, and the animals snuggled close by. We try not to answer the phone and hunker down together Smile

RumAppleGinger · 10/10/2015 16:52

Friday night. We build a den big enough for the three of us. DS2 is not yet one so doesn't join us yet. Me DH and DS1 pick a film (usually star wars) get in our jammies load up with snacks and get cosy. Once a month we all sleep in the den together too.

lilmisslibrarian · 10/10/2015 16:52

My and my DH's family are scattered everywhere so family nights are extremely precious to us. The best family nights to us involve a takeaway from our favourite Chinese takeaway, spending at least an hour going through Netflix and finding a film we can all watch and a couple glasses of wine. It's normally interrupted with my DF commenting on the acting, my DB googling the film for reviews, my DM trying to figure where she has seen the actor from ( she normally thinks that every male lead is Liam Neeson- even when it's Chris Hemsworth!) and now that I have our PFB DS, feeding him and night time hugs.

It sounds completely chaotic, a mix of the Royale family and Rab C Nesbitt, but it's brilliant. We are all together and my other DB and SIL come to visit and fit in like they've never been away.

We are all going to be together for Christmas for the first time in ages this year and I can't wait!

jollygoose · 10/10/2015 17:17

family nightsin our house are loved when its pouring with rain outside, the curtains are drawn log burner going merrily. After supper gathered round the table playing daft games like uno and sorry followed by cocoa and chocolate biscuitsof course all in pyjamas and dressing gowns.

vixo · 10/10/2015 17:40

My children are still quite small, so no bribery required yet! An early bath followed by a film with popcorn whilst wrapped up in snuggly blankets is a real winner here.