anyone else fond dinner time with toddler torturous?

[Whiteclouds]

just that. 2 1/2 year old and 6 month old. Its beyond annoying. The mess, the cheekiness, the fussiness, the huge effort. I dread it.

My tactic is to just ignore my fussy 2.5 year old. Once she sees she isn't getting a rise out of me she starts eating and stops messing around

The mess - get a dog.
Cheekiness - ignore or time out
Fussiness - ignore, ignore and ignore some more.
Huge effort - get some quick and easy recipes that you enjoy and don't stress to much if they don't eat it and make sure you have at least one night a week where you eat when they are in bed