What time do you eat dinner?

[lisamarie]

DH and I stopped off at McDs with the kids last night to get dessert. We were there around 8pm. I looked around and noticed quite a few families were there eating dinner at such a late hour. DH says that it's actually pretty normal for some families to eat so late, so I of course said I needed to ask here with a poll to see if he's right.

 

For the record, we eat between 5:30-6:00pm for the most part. During soccer season we eat around the games so either at 5pm or at 6:45-7:00 depending on when the games are.

[Parrothead]

Generally any time between 3p and 8p. I shoot for 5:30 most days.

[Farrar]

Generally any time between 3p and 8p. I shoot for 5:30 most days.

 

Us too! I needed an other. It totally depends. I do shoot for 6ish, but on days we're home all day, it's common for us to eat a large meal at 11ish and then again at 3 or 4 and just have a bit of dessert and some fruit around 7ish. On days when we're out and about, it's often closer to 7. On days when we have evening activities, we often eat a meal around 2ish and then again at 8:30 or 9ish when we're home again.

[DawnM]

Completely depends. Usually 5-6pm, but there are days we don't have lunch until 2 or so and then it gets pushed back until 7 or 8.

 

Dawn

[tabrizia]

I put down 6 or 6:30, but we have been known to eat as late as 8, but we shoot for around 6 or 6:30. Once the kids are a bit older we will move to a later dinner time, but with 3 under 6 we need an earlier dinner time so they can get to bed.

[Whereneverever]

Between 5-6. I like the kids to be physically in bed by 7:30, so they can actually be asleep by 8:30, or so. If we don't eat early I feel like we go straight from the table to bed and I don't like that.

[LaxMom]

We generally shoot for between 6:00 - 6:30, but during lacrosse season the kids have a small meal around 4, then we eat supper around 7:30 or 8, when they get home from practice (5:15-dark 4-5 nights a week).

 

We sometimes have a large midday meal, and light supper, which the children prefer, actually. We've talked about making that our norm, since our lifestyle supports it.

[regentrude]

7:30 or 8.

 

I have never been able to wrap my mind around the idea of the 5pm dinner in this country- my DH does not get home from work until 7. How do working people manage to eat at 5?

In most European counties, the evening meal is later than in the US, often MUCH later (9 or 10 in Spain)

[abbeyej]

Between 6 and 8 most nights, but sometimes as late as 9:30 or 10 because I try to privilege eating as a family over eating at a set time.

[Mrs Mungo]

I marked 6:30, 7 and 7:30. We usually wait until dh arrives home, so any time after 6, really. But, I don't wait for him past 7:30.

[chepyl]

I get home between 7:30&9, if dh cooks before I get home, or if I have premade a casserole or crock pot meal we eat immediately or the kids eat before me. We try to do that on my late nights. Otherwise, I cook when I get home.

[Word Nerd]

Usually 6 or 6:30 but sometimes earlier or later.

[marbel]

7:30 or 8.

 

I have never been able to wrap my mind around the idea of the 5pm dinner in this country- my DH does not get home from work until 7. How do working people manage to eat at 5?

In most European counties, the evening meal is later than in the US, often MUCH later (9 or 10 in Spain)

 

I remember when I was a kid everyone ate at 5 pm because that's when Dad got home. Dinner was ready when he walked in the door. This was typical of my neighbors and relatives.

 

My husband never got home that early either. But I still know quite a few people who eat early because their schedule works out that way.

 

We eat sometime between 6 and 7:30, with an occasional 5:30 tossed in there. We are often getting phone calls in the middle of dinner which indicates that we eat later than most people we know.

[TheReader]

I voted 8 or later.

 

We sometimes eat before then, but our usual is to eat late. When we lived in the US, in the summer we would stay outside playing, hanging out, etc. until dark and then come inside and eat. Dark was often 7:30 or even 8 or 8:30. It was not unusual in the summer months for us to eat dinner closer to 9 than 8, really.

 

But we have always been late bedtime people, as well; we (none of us, kids included) don't go to bed until 10:30 or so, which makes a later dinner make a little more sense. The boys snack on fruit and such if they are hungry between meals.

[clarkacademy]

7:30 or 8.

 

I have never been able to wrap my mind around the idea of the 5pm dinner in this country- my DH does not get home from work until 7. How do working people manage to eat at 5?

In most European counties, the evening meal is later than in the US, often MUCH later (9 or 10 in Spain)

 

I want my kids in bed by 9 or 10! They start waking up at bout 6:30 in the morning so by darkness falls they need to be fed, bathed and relaxing.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I voted 6:30 and 7:00, because that's probably most common, but it really depends on the day. In the summer, we frequently eat much closer to 8:00.

[mom2scouts]

There's no "other" option, but our dinner time varies widely depending on our evening activities. Some days my dd dances from 4 pm to 7 pm so dinner is after that. Other days we eat before an activity that might start at 6:30. Many of the people you saw at McDonalds were probably coming from extracurricular activities.

[Impish]

Usually aim for 6pm.

[Lily_Grace]

We eat at 6 most nights, which helps when we go out. The average here is 8-9pm and restaurants are just opening at 6 so we get it all to ourselves. :D

[Momma2Many66]

For our family it depends on the season and activity level during the evenings.

 

In good weather in late spring, summer and early fall my husband comes home from work and then works on our farm until night fall ( around 8 pm). On those months we eat at 8:30 at night so we can enjoy dinner together as a family. I just feed the kids several healthy snacks to tide them over until dinner time.

 

In the winter months when it grows dark around 5PM or so, we usually eat between 5:30 and 6:30 PM depending on if we have evening activities or not.

[Desert Rat]

We eat between 4:30 and 5. My dh is almost always home by then and I want the kids fed before sports. We don't get home until 8 usually and I feel that's too late for our family.

[TravelingChris]

I put down 7:30 because usually it is around this time. Dh comes home often after 6pm and then wants to relax a bit before eating. We never ate as early as many Americans and as both dh rose in rank (and worked even longer hours) and also, after we lived in Europe, that became even later eating. It isn't unusual for us to eat at 9pm. Even when I had small kids, we still ate later. I saw no reason to put children to bed super early. I don't think they ever had bedtimes before 8om and probably not before 9pm really. Nowadays, everyone is usually asleep by 11pm and all three adults wake up around 6am and youngest sleeps in to 8am.

[lisamarie]

Huh. I can see that we're actually the weird ones who eat early. Who knew?:lol:

 

DH gets home from work by 5pm so we can eat that early. Both DH and I have a lot of evening meetings--DH's are at 8pm, mine vary between 6pm, 7pm, and 8pm depending on what they are (I will soon be ditching the 6 and 7pm ones after the election--no more being a trustee so I can strike off 3 mtgs a month). Soccer games this season are all at 6:10, so we eat before. With bedtime at 8:00-8:15pm, they'd be eating dinner and then straight to bed if we waited until after the games. But they do eat a snack before bed when we eat early.

[flyingiguana]

4-9.

 

If I'm at work and I have to cook, it'll be later. If we have evening activities, it'll be earlier. There are days the kids eat after 9 because that's when they get home from choir or rehearsals or whatever, and they really weren't hungry enough to eat at 5 before the activity.

 

I can't vote in the poll because there's no single time we eat at.

[freeindeed]

I voted 6:30. Hubby gets home from work around 6:15 & we eat a few minutes after that.

[Pawz4me]

Usually around 5:30, but varies widely depending on what practices, games, meets and/or meetings anyone has on a particular day. If we don't have anything going on, then I like getting it over with and getting the kitchen cleaned up. After dinner on nights when we're not running hither and yonder is my "me" time.

[plath]

6:30

[freeindeed]

I voted 6:30. Hubby gets home from work around 6:15 & we eat a few minutes after that.

[staceyobu]

Typically no earlier than 7... but 8 wouldn't be out of character for us.

 

When we stay at my parents, they eat between 5 and 5:30. I hate that! I'm hungry for dinner again at 9!

[Snickerdoodle]

Because of activities, several nights a week we eat dinner at 9:30pm.

 

Other nights we generally eat between 7-8pm.

[mommymilkies]

Used to be at 5:00 sharp because of dh's diabetes. But none of the rest of us were even remotely hungry then, so now about 5:30 or 6:00.

[Amy in NH]

We eat dinner usually anywhere between 8 and 10pm.

 

We often have afternoon and evening activities, and I am spending time shuttling kids and sometimes hanging out in the waiting area/watching games. DH does not get home at a regular time each day, and rarely before afternoon activities start. Because we have a family dinner every night, our meal schedule has shifted.

 

Aside from DH, none of us are early risers. We usually eat breakfast around 10 am, lunch around 2pm, and individually have a light snack in the late afternoon between 4-6pm.

[Renee in NC]

7:30 or 8.

 

I have never been able to wrap my mind around the idea of the 5pm dinner in this country- my DH does not get home from work until 7. How do working people manage to eat at 5?

In most European counties, the evening meal is later than in the US, often MUCH later (9 or 10 in Spain)

 

We eat at around 6 because we need to be able to get the kids fed, homework done, showers, etc. so they can be in bed by 8:30 (they get up at 6:30.)

 

You made me think, though, that things might be less rushed if we do homework before dinner, and then spend some time enjoying dinner and the company without having to rush.

 

ETA: Dh is home by 4:30 at the latest, and I am home at 6.

[nmoira]

I try for six, half past at the latest because my youngest needs a ridiculous amount of sleep and has a seven o'clock bedtime.

[regentrude]

We eat at around 6 because we need to be able to get the kids fed, homework done, showers, etc. so they can be in bed by 8:30 (they get up at 6:30.)

 

You made me think, though, that things might be less rushed if we do homework before dinner, and then spend some time enjoying dinner and the company without having to rush.

 

ETA: Dh is home by 4:30 at the latest, and I am home at 6.

 

Yes, we always had our kids do homework before dinner. We have not found evening work to be very productive: less concentration and more mistakes, and everything took more time. Even now with teens, DD is much more efficient with her homework if she completes it in the afternoon as opposed to in the later evening.

 

Btw, I can't imagine the mad rush if you only get home at 6pm and have to have dinner instantly, that would drive me crazy.

[chepyl]

Typically no earlier than 7... but 8 wouldn't be out of character for us.

 

When we stay at my parents, they eat between 5 and 5:30. I hate that! I'm hungry for dinner again at 9!

 

My parents eat early too, but my grandparents are worse! We ate dinner at 4:30 last time we were there, my kids could not fall asleep because they were hungry and there were no snacks...

[Renee in NC]

Yes, we always had our kids do homework before dinner. We have not found evening work to be very productive: less concentration and more mistakes, and everything took more time. Even now with teens, DD is much more efficient with her homework if she completes it in the afternoon as opposed to in the later evening.

 

Btw, I can't imagine the mad rush if you only get home at 6pm and have to have dinner instantly, that would drive me crazy.

 

Why would it drive you crazy? I am happy to come home to a cooked dinner (and my commute is about 45 minutes, so I unwind then (biggest chunk is winding country roads.) Dh needs a little time to unwind when he comes home, but he could start homework at 5. Then, when I come home at 6, I could take over homework and he could cook. If we ate at 7, then we would have more leisure time together.

 

I'm going to talk to dh about it today. Thanks for the idea!

[cin]

DH has some weird food sensitivities. If he eats certain foods after 6:00ish, he wakes up with a KILLER headache. These include fruits, brown sugar, and honey. (Those are the ones off the top of my head). So I plan to have dinner ready by 5:30 so he can eat it without having to worry about what's in it.

 

He leaves for work around 7:00 (if he gets up when his alarm goes off :glare:) so he puts in a full day, working 9 hours, at least.

[regentrude]

Why would it drive you crazy? I am happy to come home to a cooked dinner (and my commute is about 45 minutes, so I unwind then (biggest chunk is winding country roads.) Dh needs a little time to unwind when he comes home, but he could start homework at 5. Then, when I come home at 6, I could take over homework and he could cook. If we ate at 7, then we would have more leisure time together.

 

 

Oh, HE cooks. That's different - I was imagining you'd be the one fixing dinner in a mad crazy rush. There you see how my mind works in stereotypes, LOL.

(but then, my DH is only home from work before me one night a week)

[Mommy to monkeys]

between 5 and 7. Depends on if we get a big meal at lunch or not. . .and the way the babies are actin.

[Mandamom]

DH and I stopped off at McDs with the kids last night to get dessert. We were there around 8pm. I looked around and noticed quite a few families were there eating dinner at such a late hour. DH says that it's actually pretty normal for some families to eat so late,

 

Yes, but many of those people probably stopped to eat dinner out at 8 because they missed their regular dinner time. That would have been my thinking to the exact same situation :).

 

I can't answer the poll as my work schedule and kids activities make the determining factor. DD12 gym schedule and my tutoring schedule make a consistent dinner time next to impossible.

[justLisa]

We probably call our meals something different, but we do dinner and then supper.

 

Dinner is in the early evening about 3-4:30 and supper is about 7:30ish.

[Jenny in Florida]

We usually eat somewhere between 5:30 and 7:00, depending on who has to be where when on any given day.

 

My husband gets home from work as early as 4:30 on some days but not until after 6:00 on others, and he doesn't like to eat the second he walks in the door. My kids have places to be every day except Thursday, which often means we have to be leaving the house between 5:30 and 6:30. So, it's a balancing act to figure out when I can put dinner on the table in order to feed at least three of the four of us more or less at the same time.

[Annie Laurie]

I marked 6:30, 7 and 7:30. We usually wait until dh arrives home, so any time after 6, really. But, I don't wait for him past 7:30.

 

This exactly. Typically, we eat at 7:30, but earlier (6:30 at the earliest) when dh gets home earlier.

[HomeschoolMamaOfTwo]

I am to have dinner ready at 6pm. Sometimes it is ready slightly earlier or slightly later. This is probably 95% of our days. The others are when we are out of the house or something and need to adjust the time.

[Guest]

We eat late. I was thinking about putting a post up on my blog about this. People definitely seem to think it's weird that we eat late (8 or later many nights). I just say we eat like Europeans! :D

 

My highest priority is eating together as a family as often as we possibly can, so between sports/activities/dh's work/my college classes, that means it has to be late! But even when those things are not an issue, like on the average Saturday or Sunday night, dinner will still most likely be later than 7:00. We're doing stuff. If we stop to cook, eat dinner and clean up, then there's an hour or two of "dead" time before people start filing off to bed. I don't want the "dead" time. I'd rather use my time actively until I need to start making our late dinner; then clean up and have down-time and prep for bed.

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

I aim for 5:30, but it's often closer to 6 by the time we start eating. We start putting the kids to bed right after dinner so the earlier the better.

[Renee in NC]

Oh, HE cooks. That's different - I was imagining you'd be the one fixing dinner in a mad crazy rush. There you see how my mind works in stereotypes, LOL.

(but then, my DH is only home from work before me one night a week)

 

If I had to come home and cook dinner, we'd be eating sandwiches or frozen pizza every night.:tongue_smilie: I'm up at 5am (sometimes earlier) and in bed at 10pm. Every minute of my weekdays is packed/scheduled with something. I mentioned the idea to dh, and he is willing to try it this week to see if it relieves some of our stress in the evenings. I'll let you know how it works.

[ksr5377]

We eat by 5:30 but DH is home from work by 4. I think it would be adjusted if he were getting home later. Also, the kids usually get some type of bedtime snack then.

[Firefly]

We don't have a set time, but it's usually between 7-8.