Do you eat together?

We always eat after the babies go to bed as we dont have a dining table and we find it easier. So what about everyone else do you eat at the same time as your kids or at different times x

 

We started eating together at the table around 20 months. At that point, the kids were able to entertain themselves a little better at the table, eat a wider variety of foods, share in the conversation, and wait for a slightly later dinner time.

It has made the evening so much easier. I cook dinner before DH gets home (while the kids watch a video usually), and we eat shortly after he walks in the door. Then after dinner, he gives them a bath while I do the dishes (and I usually have time too to clean up stray toys). By the time I am done in the kitchen, we can BOTH take them out of the bath, get them dressed, and read books. It has developed into a nice routine. The best part, is that when the kids go to bed at 7:00, we have the rest of the evening to ourselves, and don't have to worry about cooking or cleaning the kitchen!

 

Yes, we eat dinner together every night. My DH is home around 5:15 and we eat around 5:30.

 

Sometimes I eat with them and sometimes I don't. They don't eat what we do usually (sorry to say) and when DH is home we usually eat after them.

 

1/2 and 1/2 really, I work a couple of nights a weeks so can't those nights and some nights kids are starving at 4.30 and if I've not planned a family meal then we just feed them. Saturday night DH and I usually eat when the kids are in bed.

I do feel guilty that we don't have a family meal every night, but it just doesn't work out sometimes

amanda

 

We also eat after the girls are in bed. I don't usually start cooking until about 7:30. I just find it easier and quicker to cook and eat after they have gone to bed and it just fits our overall schedule better. They also still don't eat everything we eat. My one dd is going through a VERY PICKY phase and they also do not gum their food very well. Perhaps it will change eventually but for now it works for us.

 

Are family always eats dinner together since that twins have turned 15months it is really nice.

 

We didn't start eating together until the girls turned two, later than most I think. Even at that, now daddy either often doesn't eat with me and the girls or joins us late as he commutes to the city. But I think they needed family mealtime, even if it's just me.

 

Yes, we eat together every night (unless Dh is away) and always have. I like having a meal together as a family daily. I also eat breakfast and lunch with the kids daily while DH is at work.

 

Yes and no. DH gets home at about 5:15 and the babies are hungry by 4:30-4:45. So I usually have dinner ready for the babies and let them eat at that time. My big girls (ages 8 and 4) and I wait for DH and the rest of us eat together. Sometimes the babies play while we eat, sometimes we give them a baby cookie to munch on so they sit with us and "eat".

 

Yes, ever since they started eating regular table food we eat together.

 

We don't eat together, but I wish that we would. I feed the girls dinner at 5 pm when I get home from work. They go straight in the door to their highchairs proclaiming "eat, eat". DH gets home around 6. When he gets home, I go to Curves to work out and I'm home by 6:45...the girls get a bath or we go outside to play and then bedtime is 7:30. Then, I make dinner for DH and I and we have dinner around 8 pm.

 

We sit to dinner together. The boys in the highchairs nippling on table food. We are trying to have them get the hang of it. Then after we eat. We feed the boys Stage 3 type pureed food. We are trying to start them early with sitting as a family and also learning to eat by watching us.

 

Yes, we started around 12 months when they started eating dinner a bit later (5:30) and eating more table food. My DH works from home, and he is the cook, so he starts dinner and the kids and I are in the family room playing. When he is out of town though, I feed them dinner and I usually eat a little snack and have my dinner later. I can't seem to cook dinner and keep them entertained and out of the kitchen. So, when it's just me they have quick and easy things or I make something ahead of time and reheat it for them.

 

We started eating together at about 12/13m about 3/4 times a week. Last year we never did, it was easier to feed them put them to bed and then eat or when they were really tiny feed them, set them up in a bouncy or swing, then eat in the living room with trays. Now we sit at the kitchen table.

 

we usually eat after they go to bed. it's easier that way, plus DH doesn't get home from work until
6 -6:30, too late for them to eat dinner.
i guess when they are eating table food only, and can wait for a later dinner time, we will eat together.

 

We all eat together too. I try to have everything ready by 5:30 so there is time to eat and play before bedtime at 7.

 

We eat together, sometimes my dh has to work late so it's just me and the kids. Dinner time was VERY important in my house as a child and I want it to be important for my kids as well. We started eating together when they were about 12 months old.

 

We eat together sometimes. We have just started to eat together again. Before the twins were born we all ate together - me, DH & DS, but since the babies were born we all ate at different times. Poor Jack! Now, things are finally getting back to normal and I have been trying to cook dinner again. It isn't every night yet - we still have some bad days - but we are getting there. I like all eating dinner together.

 

We didn't start until the boys were 4, and I wish we would have started sooner. That's quality family time that I can't get back. They still do not always eat what we eat, but we do eat together most nights.

 

We eat together everynight. When I was little we never ate together and I vowed when I had a family we would always eat together and we do.

 

We started trying to eat together when they were about a year. We don't manage it every night because DH and I both work full time. We pick the kids up from daycare and all get home around 5:45 and have to feed them ASAP or they have a meltdown. So we can all eat together if we're having leftovers, but otherwise we feed the kids first, then eat after they go to bed. It does seem to help them eat better if we eat together, but honestly we haven't noticed any miracles on that front. I think of it as just gradual training in how to behave at the table, but I don't expect any great payoff right away. It's not like a relaxed family time by any means -- DH and I usually wind up getting two bites of food in, between all the times we have to jump up and get the girls something. Then they are "All Done!" and we have to get them cleaned up and ready for bed. We often wind up finishing our dinner after they're in bed anyway, even if we were theoretically eating together.

 

We eat dinner together every night, and other meals too on the weekends. We have a breakfast area in the kitchen we normally sit in. The dining room table is still covered with "baby central" stuff, so we haven't used it in a while.

 

QUOTE(Dianne @ Jun 9 2007, 06:59 PM) [snapback]286040[/snapback]
Yes, ever since they started eating regular table food we eat together.



ditto. I love it and so does DH. I think the kiddos get a lot out of it too.