What time do you eat dinner?

[Lady Florida.]

I shoot for 6:30, but it's really anytime between 6:00 and 7:30. Dh likes to relax when he gets home from work, rather than walk in and eat right away, so our dinnertime is usually based on what time he gets home.

 

When ds was little we did eat earlier (usually around 5:30), because we didn't want him to just eat then go to bed.

 

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 :).

 

 

 

 

Yes, we've done that before. We rarely eat that late unless we missed dinner for whatever reason.

[Tammi K]

We rarely have dinner before 8:30 -9:00. Were hardly ever home in the evening until that point.

 

We had a 'home night' a few days ago. That hardly ever happens with the kids activities. But, I actually had dinner complete and we were eating by 7:30.

 

Several times while we were eating I heard, "Why are we eating soooo early?"

[regentrude]

In the Netherlands most people start eating between 5-6.30 pm (mostly with one part-time working parent or a stay at home parent, the other works full-time)

In Belgium I got the impression most people have dinner at noon (= at work),

and use a bread meal in the evening.

That might be after 7 pm.

 

Yes, in Germany the warm meal is lunch and the evening meal is sandwiches and maybe a salad, too, in most families. Typically around 7 or 7:30 (earlier with little ones)

 

When I grew up, almost all my friends' mothers worked. Even my German friends with kids nowadays are only SAHMs until at most age 3; except for one mother of five, they all work outside the home.

[Walking-Iris]

Eating at 5 is just too early for us. We have breakfast about 8-10, lunch at 1-2, and dinner about 6-7.

 

We also snack and graze throughout the day. It's not set in stone. I'm also totally willing to eat whenever (or not at all) if there are other situations.

 

We've ate at 8 before. We've ate at 5 and when we do we usually call it a "late lunch" and might grab a quick snack later instead of a full dinner.

 

My kids are like Hobbits anyway--we joke that we have second breakfast and elevenses etc.

[greenvneck]

We aren't home from tae kwon do classes until 7:15 at the earliest and 8:15 or 9:15 3x a week so we eat later than most. I do give my kids a filling snack/small meal around 5:00 so that they're not starving through the evening. Even if we didn't have tae kwon do every night, dh doesn't usually get home until 7:00-7:30ish so we still wouldn't be eating early.

[Kathryn]

It usually varies between 5:30-6:30. Last night we went out to eat at 8:30 though.

[Sahamamama]

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

 

:iagree:This is us, except it's anytime between 5:00 pm and 8:00 pm, and we shoot for 6:30 pm. If we eat at 5:00 pm, we (the adults) are hungry before bedtime. If we don't eat supper before 8:00 pm, that's late for us. Usually supper is at 6:00 or 6:30 pm.

[NASDAQ]

Always six. I'm a bit neurotic. If my husband has to work, I hold his dinner over. But by 7:30, mummy is Really Done, so we need to keep that in mind.

[Audrey]

When I moved here, I found out that supper is apparently at 6pm sharp, no later!

 

I, however, put supper on when I d**n well please.

[AnIslandGirl]

We eat as a multi-generational table... 4 generation all at the same table, so a 6:00 meal is ideal. I realize that as my children/ grandchildren get older the time will have to adjust to their schedule, but for now, it works perfect for us.

 

I wonder if you broke down this poll based on childrens' age if it would affect it greatly?

[Mélie]

Lately, it's been anywhere between 6:30 and 7:30. I never know what time Dh will be home until he calls from the car, so dinner usually isn't on the table until 15-20 minutes after he gets home.

[justamouse]

About 5:30. If I have classes, that's the time I get home.

 

7 is too late, they start falling asleep in their plates.

 

In the summer, it's later, sometimes not until 8 because we're all out in the pool.

[hsbaby]

I try to have dinner ready when dh gets home at 5. It gives us the rest of the evening to relax with the kids.

[Mallory]

We eat extra early, usually before 4:30.

 

But my husband works nights and leaves about 5:00 and we like to have our big meal together. I also much appreciate taking fed children to evening activies, my little ones would be monsters if they didn't eat before having to sit on the sidelines during practices (4+ nights a week). And since my husband isn't home in the evenings everyone has to go to every practice and game.

 

Of course we do have a snack when we get home around 8 or 9 (usually while I read aloud).

[GoVanGogh]

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.

I actually find it strange that someone would take notice of another eating and think anything about it. What does it matter? What one person finds normal, another would find late and yet another would find early. :confused:

 

My dad owned his own business when I was growing up and we never ate until it was closed for the day.

My DH often doesn't get home until 7 or later so we eat late. We also go to bed late and get up late.

Last year, DH had a patch where he was working 70+ hours a week and we often met him at a restaurant for supper around 9-10 p.m. There were weeks at a time if we didn't stay up until 11-12 at night, DS wouldn't have seen his dad.

 

Keeping a schedule that fits our lifestyle and not what someone else deems 'normal' is one of the great benefits of homeschooling. :D

[cindergretta]

 

Keeping a schedule that fits our lifestyle and not what someone else deems 'normal' is one of the great benefits of homeschooling. :D

 

:iagree: We eat late during the week, usually between 7:30 and 8:30 and we go to bed late. We eat earlier on weekends (and actually, Fridays, too) because activities are done earlier in the day.

 

We juggle 2 soccer teams, 2 Girl Scout troops, 1 Cub Scout den, and one cheer team during the week. All start between 5 and 6:30 and end between 6:30 and 8. They double up and overlap, so dinner is when we all end up at home. :D

[beaners]

I only just turned on the stove. We've got some time (at least an hour) before dinner. But, my husband left the house before 7, and will definitely not be home before we eat. We just eat when we eat. No set mealtimes here, although everyone who is home eats together. Later meals mean we eat an extra snack in the afternoon.

[nmoira]

I actually find it strange that someone would take notice of another eating and think anything about it. What does it matter? What one person finds normal, another would find late and yet another would find early. :confused:

 

I don't think the OP was judging others, just curious. I once questioned the director of the kids' swim program about the 7 pm classes for young kids, wondering if they could fill them due to the "late" hour (there were earlier classes too). She assured me that these were the most popular classes. I had no clue, and I'm glad I asked.

[DusksAngel]

It really depends on what's going on. A few nights we eat around 5 (dh has TKD), but usually it's closer to 6-6:30.

 

ETA: We'd probably eat later than that but the kids start heading to bed around 8 since we have to be up so early during the week.

[GoVanGogh]

I don't think the OP was judging others, just curious. I once questioned the director of the kids' swim program about the 7 pm classes for young kids, wondering if they could fill them due to the "late" hour (there were earlier classes too). She assured me that these were the most popular classes. I had no clue, and I'm glad I asked.

I don't think she was judging, only curious. But I find it a strange thing to be curious about, given what the poll shows. There is no such thing as "normal."

Like you thought a 7 p.m. class was late. I would love to find something at that time slot! I'm not judging that you thought it late. I just don't think the world revolves around one person's schedule or what one family thinks is normal.

[nmoira]

I don't think she was judging, only curious. But I find it a strange thing to be curious about, given what the poll shows. There is no such thing as "normal."

Like you thought a 7 p.m. class was late. I would love to find something at that time slot! I'm not judging that you thought it late. I just don't think the world revolves around one person's schedule or what one family thinks is normal.

But we don't know unless we ask. :001_smile:

 

"Normal" can be a loaded word, but I find people generally use it to mean "typical" unless it's prefaced by "that isn't."

[Cosmos]

Getting home that early is typical (was typical) of factory workers. My dad worked in a factory and was home by 4 and we often ate dinner that early. He was at work by 7 am.

 

Ah! Thank you for explaining. I have always wondered how people managed such early meal times. As a child, my parents were never home from work until at least 6pm (usually later). They would rush around to get dinner ready as quickly as possible, but we never had a 5pm dinner.

 

We eat at 7pm, generally. We used to have a more erratic schedule, eating anywhere between 6 and 9, but I have found it helpful to have a more predictable routine. My dh gets home from work at 6 and likes some time to unwind, perhaps do some yard work or exercise, or play games with ds.

 

That's on the weekdays. On the weekends, we often have just two meals -- a late mid-morning brunch and then an early dinner in the mid-afternoon. I actually think of it as a very late lunch more than an early dinner, because then we usually have a hearty snack in the evening (around 9-10), which we generally don't do on weekdays. Today, for example (a Sunday), we had our main meal around 3 -- steak, potatoes, and vegetables. This evening we're planning to watch a movie and we'll have some popcorn and apples with it. That's a very common Sunday "supper" for us.

[In the Rain]

Between 5:30 and 6:30. Dh is home by 3:30, so it isn't a problem. My kids are brushing their teeth and thinking about bed by 8:30.

[Nature]

Depends on the season. In the summer, I like being outside as long as possible, so it’s usually 7:30 before we sit down to dinner. In the winter, we eat about 5.

[ChiMomNP]

We eat generally between 6 and 7. It depends, some nights when my DH teaches a live seminar to his online students(most classes have no live component so that only happens 1-2 nights a week) and it can be later. I usually start dinner around 5:30. Sometimes we eat late between 8 and 10, it really just depends on the day. My DH works from home so there is no commute time to worry about.

[MamaT]

We usually eat at 7:30 on week nights. Everyone comes in about then from dance, gym, rowing with dad (nightly pick-up person).

[Serenade]

We eat late, often around 7:30 or 8:00. I don't love it so much, but DH does a lot of the cooking, and he starts on it when he gets home from work. So by the time dinner is on the table, it's late! We do try to make investment-type meals over the weekend, so that some nights we just have to reheat, or make a side dish, but even then, we still eat on the late side. Except on scout nights, and then we eat at 5:30 or 6:00.

[Tap]

i picked them all after 5. We eat between 5-830.

[mlbuchina]

Anywhere between 5 p.m. and before we go to bed. We don't have a set time, but I try to keep it closer to around 5-7.

[nicolehmom]

Ditto what Mrs Mungo said. Usually we eat at 6pm, but sometimes it gets pushed back to 7-730 if DH is working a 12 hr day shift.

[daffodil]

I aim for 6:00.

[I.Dup.]

There is no way we could wait until 8pm. Lots of hungry, little mouths to feed. We average between 5-5:30.

[somo_chickenlady]

It really varies, but I voted 8:00 or later b/c that is generally when we eat. Sometimes we eat earlier, and sometimes we eat later. It depends on what we are doing that day, what we are having for dinner, what time we ate lunch, how hungry we are, etc, etc. It was the same for me growing up also. We usually ate late. Dh works until 4:30, and his work is 45 min away, and depending on what he has to do after work (stopping by the grocery store, meeting someone, paying a bill, etc) he may not even get home until after 6:00. I don't start cooking until he gets home, b/c sometimes he isn't in the mood for what we have planned for dinner and we just pick through the house.

[Laura Corin]

Usually Husband got home quite late from work. When the children were small, I would feed them at five and he would be home by seven to put them to bed (at least in theory). Now they are larger, we all eat at 7:15 or 7:30, then Hobbes is in bed (on school nights) by 8:30.

 

Laura

[creekland]

I can't vote. We don't have a set time. We can eat between 4pm and 10pm pending our schedule for the day and what we have to get done outside on the farm. We usually eat after dark, so earlier in the winter than the summer, but sometimes even that changes based upon what we need to do (evening activities at church, school, or elsewhere).

 

It's more important to us to eat together than at a set time and getting things done that need to be done (farm chores, pony training, etc) is more important than a supper time. We have snacks for those who get hungry earlier.

[lailasmum]

We eat between 6 and 7 mostly. I try to aim earlier whenever I can and sometimes its a bit later. I have to work around the times that other members of the family are home from work. If it was totally up to me I would probably eat at closer to 4 and then have small supper at about 7.

[eternalknot]

Lunch is our main meal of the day, and happens anywhere from 11am to 2pm.

 

Dinner is much lighter fare, and is timed roughly 4 hours after we've eaten lunch.

 

During sports season we typically do two mini-snacks in lieu of a set dinner -- something light/fresh around 4pm (fruit, raw veggie, salad, crackers) followed by something filling/hot around 8pm (soup, cooked veggies, rice).

[Soror]

6:30 is our official time but that varies depending on the season, we eat later in the summer and earlier in the winter, dh's schedule, and any activities.

[Susan in TX]

I chose 5:30 in the poll because that's when the kids eat. DH gets home from work between sometime between 7 and 8 and we eat later after the younger kids are in bed.

 

Susan in TX

[sarahj]

We generally eat around 6pm, but once swimming lessons start (tonight) we will be eating around 7pm twice a week.

[amydavis]

I voted for 6 o'clock and all of the times that came after. We have rarely ever eaten earlier, and if we did, it was probably a weekend and more of a late lunch. Like so many others, it really depends on the season, and what we have going on. This year, we've purposely lightened our evening load (no dance or sports for the fall), so we're able to be home and eat together. The only exception is on Mondays. We're don't get home from AHG/Boy Scouts until 9. So, our Mondays are quick and easy meals (soup and sandwiches, etc.) for now, and I'll do more crock pot meals for the fall/winter.

 

Dh doesn't get home until 6 or later, and it is really important to us that we eat together as a family. Granted, if he has a really late evening getting home (past 9 p.m.), then we go ahead and eat. Otherwise, we'd always be eating without him. And for us, the together part is more important than the time part.

 

I'd say our average is about 7 o'clock. The kids usually have a snack around 4 (fruit, deli meat, yogurt, etc.) that is hearty and healthy to hold them over.