The other night, I was chatting my friend YL and she mentioned that they have their daughter, BabyH, sit in her high chair throughout the meal. They all eat dinner together every night, and BabyH patiently hangs out even after she's done eating. We've actually talked about this before, and I'm always impressed. Not so much about sitting in the high chair, which is cool, but more about the fact that they always eat dinner together. I have other friends that manage this, too, and I don't get it. How do you guys do it?
Our evenings are much more chaotic. G and I take turns with daycare dropoffs and pick ups, but lately, I seem to be doing more of the dropoffs in the morning. Which means it's usually anywhere from 8-8:30 before I leave D at daycare and often close to 9 by the time I get to work. Putting me home in the evenings at about 6 at the earliest. By this point, D is already hungry, as she eats dinner from anywhere between 5:30 and 6. So G's already feeding or has fed her by the time I get home. I'm sure we could push out her dinner a bit, but she has her snack at daycare at 3, so not sure how long she could hold out. Plus, I'm not that fast at cooking. So home at 6, I'd be lucky to get dinner on the table by 6:45. D's bedtime is 7-7:15. It's just not enough time for us to have dinner and get her ready for bed.
Not to mention that sometime during all this, we have dogs that need to go out and be fed. And our little princess runs on her own schedule. So we have to allow for everything to take longer than it might on its own. Books before bed, for example, are often extended by her inability to pick out the ones she wants to read and god forbid we pick them out for her. If she's playing outside, her highness decides when it's appropriate for her to finish with the dirt and come on in. We can pick her up and haul her kicking and screaming to do whatever we want, of course, but we've found that "convincing" her there might be a more fun thing to do is much better for everyone's sanity. Toddler Time, I've discovered is much slower than Regular People Time. So it seems easier to just allow extra time for D to pick out which PJs she wants to wear and try to put her socks on by herself. Rushing it seems to get us nowhere. So basically, what I'm saying is, there's no way we could have dinner by 6:45 (even if I could by some miracle consistently get dinner on the table by 6:45) and get D to bed by 7.
And I've tried many ways to streamline it. If we're not busy, I'll try to cook a bit on weekends to prepare for the week. And lately, I've been trying to make sure I have a meal plan for the week with groceries ready. Dishes washed the night before so the kitchen isn't all cluttered. But beyond this, I'm stumped. Last night, I got home at 6:45 -- just in time to help with bath time. Usually G handles most of the bedtime routine but it sucks when I'm already barely home in time to see my kid. Plus, she was going through a "Mama"-only thing last night, so I read books and hung out for a bit with her in the rocking chair. She was being extra cute and chatty, so it was 7:30 by the time I left her in her crib.
And that's when I started cooking our dinner. Things were extra slow last night, too, we didn't even end up eating until almost 9. I know we can do better than this, but having something ready for everyone by 6 just seems beyond me. It's a bit easier when I go into work early and pick D up from daycare. The dogs will get walked, dinner gets made at a decent hour. Sometimes it's completely ready by the time D eats, and I'll sit with her and have a bit, too. Other times, I feed her as I'm cooking. So while I may not be done with a curry, for example, she'll get the sauteed tofu and veggies as I go along. But on those days, G is running late because he's gone into work late after dropping D off. So our shot at a regular family dinner seems impossible at this point and no two evenings are exactly the same.
Yet, so many people I know manage to do it. I'm baffled by this.
And I think it's becoming clear that some sort of consistency is necessary because dinnertimes are pretty chaotic with the kid now. Sometimes, she'll demand to go outside or sit at her little table instead of her high chair. Last week, we shared a lovely meal on our bed. A few times, G has taken her high chair out to the backyard. He likes it because he can water our plants while she eats. But I don't know, more and more, I feel like we're giving in too much. And with this, like all things, I'm sure that our child will do much better with a routine. It's hard because my family was never one for formal meal time rules or anything, and G and I often eat our meals in front of the TV. Honestly, we love that we can enjoy our meal in peace after D's asleep. So we've been lax ourselves for so long that it's probably making it hard for us to make the switch too.
So . . . any tips out there for a successful and consistent family meal?
Our evenings are much more chaotic. G and I take turns with daycare dropoffs and pick ups, but lately, I seem to be doing more of the dropoffs in the morning. Which means it's usually anywhere from 8-8:30 before I leave D at daycare and often close to 9 by the time I get to work. Putting me home in the evenings at about 6 at the earliest. By this point, D is already hungry, as she eats dinner from anywhere between 5:30 and 6. So G's already feeding or has fed her by the time I get home. I'm sure we could push out her dinner a bit, but she has her snack at daycare at 3, so not sure how long she could hold out. Plus, I'm not that fast at cooking. So home at 6, I'd be lucky to get dinner on the table by 6:45. D's bedtime is 7-7:15. It's just not enough time for us to have dinner and get her ready for bed.
Not to mention that sometime during all this, we have dogs that need to go out and be fed. And our little princess runs on her own schedule. So we have to allow for everything to take longer than it might on its own. Books before bed, for example, are often extended by her inability to pick out the ones she wants to read and god forbid we pick them out for her. If she's playing outside, her highness decides when it's appropriate for her to finish with the dirt and come on in. We can pick her up and haul her kicking and screaming to do whatever we want, of course, but we've found that "convincing" her there might be a more fun thing to do is much better for everyone's sanity. Toddler Time, I've discovered is much slower than Regular People Time. So it seems easier to just allow extra time for D to pick out which PJs she wants to wear and try to put her socks on by herself. Rushing it seems to get us nowhere. So basically, what I'm saying is, there's no way we could have dinner by 6:45 (even if I could by some miracle consistently get dinner on the table by 6:45) and get D to bed by 7.
And I've tried many ways to streamline it. If we're not busy, I'll try to cook a bit on weekends to prepare for the week. And lately, I've been trying to make sure I have a meal plan for the week with groceries ready. Dishes washed the night before so the kitchen isn't all cluttered. But beyond this, I'm stumped. Last night, I got home at 6:45 -- just in time to help with bath time. Usually G handles most of the bedtime routine but it sucks when I'm already barely home in time to see my kid. Plus, she was going through a "Mama"-only thing last night, so I read books and hung out for a bit with her in the rocking chair. She was being extra cute and chatty, so it was 7:30 by the time I left her in her crib.
And that's when I started cooking our dinner. Things were extra slow last night, too, we didn't even end up eating until almost 9. I know we can do better than this, but having something ready for everyone by 6 just seems beyond me. It's a bit easier when I go into work early and pick D up from daycare. The dogs will get walked, dinner gets made at a decent hour. Sometimes it's completely ready by the time D eats, and I'll sit with her and have a bit, too. Other times, I feed her as I'm cooking. So while I may not be done with a curry, for example, she'll get the sauteed tofu and veggies as I go along. But on those days, G is running late because he's gone into work late after dropping D off. So our shot at a regular family dinner seems impossible at this point and no two evenings are exactly the same.
Yet, so many people I know manage to do it. I'm baffled by this.
And I think it's becoming clear that some sort of consistency is necessary because dinnertimes are pretty chaotic with the kid now. Sometimes, she'll demand to go outside or sit at her little table instead of her high chair. Last week, we shared a lovely meal on our bed. A few times, G has taken her high chair out to the backyard. He likes it because he can water our plants while she eats. But I don't know, more and more, I feel like we're giving in too much. And with this, like all things, I'm sure that our child will do much better with a routine. It's hard because my family was never one for formal meal time rules or anything, and G and I often eat our meals in front of the TV. Honestly, we love that we can enjoy our meal in peace after D's asleep. So we've been lax ourselves for so long that it's probably making it hard for us to make the switch too.
So . . . any tips out there for a successful and consistent family meal?
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