What time do you and your family sit down for your evening meal?

GobbledyGook

We eat together at 5.30pm. I finish work at 3.30pm so am home for 4pm most days. I do my paperwork and the likes after the children are in bed. I do a lot of batch cooking on a Sunday when the children are with their Dad so although we're eating meals made from scratch I don't have to cook from scratch every day.

When I was still married I would feed the children at 5.30pm and have a snack with them (as I often don't get time for lunch) then the husband and I would eat together around 8.30pm as he wasn't home from work until 7ish most nights. Now I eat with the children and if I'm hungry I'll have a snack later.

make_me_wise

mildred1978 wrote: »

I don't understand why you'd be shocked?

He's a very placid, sociable and bright boy (was sleeping through at 8 weeks and walking at 10 months) who is into everything already. I've organised our life so that he gets plenty of activity in the afternoon, and he's dead on his feet by 10pm normally. Occasionally he's still awake at 11pm playing, but that doesn't bother a single person he comes into contact with. For 9 months he didn't leave my side. He's quite at home in restaurants, other people's houses and so on, so I don't feel I've lost my social life. I function best later at night. I've given up work. His toddler groups meet at noon.

My husband works away during the week. I drop off and pick up at the station at 9pm+ twice a week. How would that work if LO was in bed?

None of us has any reason whatsoever to be up at 7am, so we're not.

Sounds like it works well for your lifestyle right now, which is fair enough. My only concern is how you will adjust all this for when he starts school and has to be up early to be there for 8.45-9.00. I realise he is only 1 now but changing a set routine with kids isn't easy. Especially if they have been doing the same thing for years.

aliasojo

Make-it-3 wrote: »

Do you not get hungry again eating so early on?

That's what supper is for.

Dinner for all of us (sometimes just me & kids if OH on back/night shift) around 5.30pm ish, light snack of toast, cereal or crackers later if hungry.

CH27

make_me_wise wrote: »

Sounds like it works well for your lifestyle right now, which is fair enough. My only concern is how you will adjust all this for when he starts school and has to be up early to be there for 8.45-9.00. I realise he is only 1 now but changing a set routine with kids isn't easy. Especially if they have been doing the same thing for years.

My friends made the mistake of getting their baby into the same routine as mildred.
They had absolute murder trying to break it when their daughter was due to start nursery.
When their son came along a few years later he had a more ''normal'' routine.

jfh7gwa

Around 7pm normally due to commutes.

mildred1978

CH27 wrote: »

My friends made the mistake of getting their baby into the same routine as mildred.
They had absolute murder trying to break it when their daughter was due to start nursery.
When their son came along a few years later he had a more ''normal'' routine.

I hate the word "normal". There's no such thing.

I tried an experiment tonight. I didn't let LO have his usual afternoon nap. He was shattered by teatime (brought forward to 7pm), had his bath and into PJs by 8pm, we left at 8:30pm to pick up DH.

LO was asleep before I'd reached the end of the street, and has been ever since. He's now tucked up in his cot happily snoring away.

I don't want to jinx anything, but if it wasn't that hard to shift bedtime from 10pm to 8:30pm I can't imagine school is going to be the nightmare portrayed here.

After all, as a baby I slept from midnight till noon. I managed to attend nursery and school without issues, and held several jobs that needed me to be up at 4am, 5am, 6am. I coped. I don't function as well at those times in the morning as I do at night, but I made sure I was up and present. :rotfl:

Spendless

Personally I found babies/children change their habits anyway as they get older. I have only known of a couple of examples of kids who are still needing an afternoon nap when they get to school nursery age. The majority of 3/4 year olds have dropped it. I'd have adored a baby that slept the pattern Mildred's does, as I worked evenings when DS was little. Neither of us having to get up till 10am sounds bliss. Instead I got a child who thought and mainly still does that sleep is optional. I am now pinning my hopes on Secondary school wearing him out.

Elmo1985

We eat around 6pm all together dependng on what shift OH is on and if we have his DS that week - sometimes its just me and i end up going to my mums haha x

Guinea_2

I am surprised at all the varying times that people eat...I am so glad I started this thread! Thanks to everyone who's replied!

Becles

I'm self employed so I'm home to collect the youngest from school in an afternoon and will prepare something from scratch which is served around 5.30pm.

We eat all together around the table, apart from Mondays as the eldest has an evening football training session, so I'll cook something that I can save a portion and he warms his up when he comes home. I like us all sitting together and I like hearing about what the bairns got up to that day and other random stuff.

I don't find I'm hungry later on and rarely eat anything between tea time and bed time. I don't like eating in the evenings as I find it lays on my stomach and I wake during the night with indigestion or bowel pain.