Spring sports insanity...how do you handle dinner when everyone is going in different directions?

[Janie Grace]

I never thought we'd be "that family" but we have four different kids in four different sports this spring. Most of the practices/games are in the 4:30-7:30 range, so we're juggling a crazy dinner hour schedule right now. Last year, there was a lot of driving through Cookout for hotdogs (UGH!!!) and I would like to avoid that this year. How do you handle dinner when your kids' sports make a traditional "dinner hour" impossible? Thanks!

[Janie Grace]

Pack a picnic or eat a light supper at 4 pm, with something else when you get home. I usually left dh something in the crockpot or an easy plate to reheat.

That's what I was afraid of. I'm bummed about dinner as a three-part event. 

[catz]

We do batch cooking on the weekends and many simple meals during the week (sandwiches, eggs, fruits, raw veggies, etc). Some crock pot use too. I'm glad my kids eat breakfast and lunch with me because dinner all together at home is fairly rare! I don't know how families with kids in school all day do it!

[Ali in OR]

I don't think there is a great solution. We have a couple of nights a week that are a little crazy. I'm trying not to resort to eating out more than once a week, but I recognize that it may be necessary over the next 6 weeks or so. No great ideas here. I have a few easy meals that can be made quickly,  a few crockpot meals that are mostly ready to go when we're all back home, and sometimes it's just sandwiches at whenever is convenient for each individual.

[MysteryJen]

Light meal before practice/games with a meal when you get home. We regularly eat between 7:30 and 8 pm. It is not ideal, but you get used to it.

 

 

[Jennifer in MI]

I get this! It's hard. Tonight our schedule looks like this:

2 gymnastics private lesson
3:30-6 oldest babysits
4-7. Second goes to rowing
4:15-6:30 child number 3 karate
7:15 child number 3 Boy Scouts

Tonight I will try to have dinner on at 6:30. Most of us can sit down together and eat then. We leave a plate out for the rower to eat later.

Other nights some get home at 7 and dd is out until 8:30. Those nights are crock pot nights. Then I have a child or husband throw on a huge pot of rice and veggies. Everyone eats when they get home.

[skimomma]

We have the same problem.  We pack snacks then have a light dinner as a family later in the evening.  Often this is right before bed for dd so I try to make it something compatible with sleeping.  I rely heavily on my crockpot and automatic oven.  That way dinner is ready when we come in the door.

 

Because dd is working hard all evening, the snacks I pack for her are high protein but not terribly filling.  Hard boiled eggs, nuts, nut butters, hummus, smoothies, etc.....

[bettyandbob]

Make dinner in the morning. feed dc before practice at 4. Allow dc to have snack later in the evening--maybe a little more of the dinner.

[Luckymama]

Light meal before practice/games with a meal when you get home. We regularly eat between 7:30 and 8 pm. It is not ideal, but you get used to it.

This has been our pattern for several years. We prefer to eat as a family so we adjust when we eat.

[chickenpatty]

Yes, we usually have a heavy snack beforehand, and a crockpot meal when we get home. This often means eating dinner at 8:30pm, but eating together is important to me.  The thing that has helped me most with this is planning the menu 2 weeks ahead, based on practices and games. If I know exactly what I need to prepare each morning, it takes a lot of the mental stress & wondering what will be for dinner that night. For me, that's harder than the actual cooking.

[myfunnybunch]

We swore we'd never be "that family" too. HA! We've got performing arts instead of sports, but it's the same time commitment.

 

The boys make a snack or sandwich before rehearsals, and we either eat together later. On middle school choir day, we all eat at the regular time and middle school singer eats and does his Spanish homework when he gets home. We prefer to eat together, but when it's very busy, we'll eat in shifts then spend our together time before bed playing a family game or reading together.

 

The crockpot and meals that are easy to prepare ahead then pop into the oven are lifesavers. Baked pasta, soup, a big hunk of meat in the crockpot. That way when it's actually mealtime, and everyone is STARVING, we can get dinner on the table quickly. Typically before a very busy week, I will make a big batch of scones and rolls and stick them in the freezer.

 

Of course, this week is tech week (dress rehearsal week), so we just eat whenever we can fit it in and wave as we pass one another on the way to fall into bed. :P

 

Cat

[momto10blessings]

Crockpot
Sandwiches to go
Cook spaghetti, leave on warm in the crockpot so it'll be ready when you get home
Something cold that can be pulled out of the refrigerator when you get home: egg, tuna or chicken salad, salad with diced chicken, peanut noodles with chicken, pasta salad, etc
Pizza ;)
Shredded pork, chicken or beef kept warm in the crockpot for sandwiches or on tortillas

[Baseball mom]

Just remember it is a season and soon will pass.  

 

We do alot of sandwiches or something that can be easily packed up and taken with us.  The crockpot gets used alot and cereal becomes a regular late evening meal (especially if we ate an early supper).  

 

I try not to stress about not eating the most healthy meals during this "season".  I try to make up for it after spring sports with really healthy meals.

[T'smom]

We're not there yet, but I have friends that have had success packing lunches "lunchable" style in advance and eating on the go. Strips of meat/cheese/crackers, cut up fruit, stuff like that.

[elfgivas]

this is us, five nights a week, due to violin and dance.

 

breakfast is our together meal, and i cook something for it each morning.

lunch is the kids and i.

 

dinner is a "get your own when you need it".  i have lots of things available.  sometimes we do something at panera when many of us are free briefly when in town.  sometimes, i have soup or salad ready for whoever would like it.

 

but typically breakfast is the big meal, lunch is the medium meal, and dinner is a yoghurt parfait or hummus and pita in the car on the way somewhere. 

 

at least twice a week, dh and i cook together and have a "date" night.

 

its actually a pretty healthy way to do it.

 

then at 10pm when everyone is home, fruit and/or veggies are the order of the day.

 

hth,

ann

[kroe1]

McDonald's, is that the right answer?

[Tenaj]

I used to try to cook regular meals through baseball and basketball seasons but have really given up on most of that.  To be perfectly honest, during basektball season, we generally end up needing to leave the house in the middle of the afternoon to make the earliest games so we spend much money at the concession stands and pack a LOT of healthy snacks, apples, trail mix, frozen gogurt (not the best but better than chips from the concession stand) and then we grab a sandwich for everyone at concession stand later in the evening . . . we've been pleasantly surprised at the quality of some of the food available at some of the smaller schools in our league which serve shredded pork or chicken or other good homemade stuff.

 

Baseball is not so easy because I refuse to eat anything not prepackaged at the concession stand . . . uggg . . our concession stand doesn't even have a sink so people are in and out of there working with their bare hands and usually there is no sanitary gel available. . .. honestly, I wish they would shut it down!  Anyway, I usually grill something quick before the games and feed those that are here and then leave the rest for those that get home later.  We grill chicken tenders, or hamburgers a lot.  Also, will throw something in the crockpot and just leave it on low all day.  We still have little kids at home so eating later is just not an option because they need to get into bed as soon as we get home.  I usually cart along a lot of healthy snacks and try to feed them up with a good snack at the game at about 7:30 or so .  That way I can throw them in the bathtub and into bed at close to their normal bedtime.

 

We also have a rule that whoever eats last at home, must put the food away!  I don't mind doing the dishes when I get back but I hate coming home to finding leftovers out just because whoever ate last is too lazy to put them away.

[Cera]

We either eat late or eat in shifts if there is no overlap.  It isn't ideal but it is what it is, thankfully it generally only lasts through April and May then things get back to normal.  We do try to all sit and chat with whoever eats later though.  For example tonight two will get home at 5:30 and the other two will get home at 7:15.  I made chicken pot pie which dh will throw in at 5:30 when he comes through the door.  He will eat with the first two at 6 then they will shower and get their evening things done.  I will eat with the other two at 7:15 (we call ahead so food is on the table when we walk in) and the others will come sit at the table with us and chat even though they already ate.  That leaves showers and everything free for the two who arrived later as soon as they finish eating.

[ItoLina]

I do crock pot, or I make dinner early and bring it with us. I feed one kid while the other one is at their practice. Or, we just all eat really late. At least we homeschool so we can all sleep in the next morning. I don't know how people keep schedules like this when they have to have their kids at school the next morning at 7:30am!?!

[Loowit]

I plan ahead each week.  I look at our calendar and plan meals that will either be in the crockpot ready to eat when we get home late, meals that are quick to fix (french toast, grilled cheese, etc.), or very rarely eat take out.  We end up eating a late dinner a lot of nights.  I give them a snack before we leave so they won't be too hungry by the time we get home.  Tonight we won't get home until almost 9, so we will either have to eat a really early dinner and snack later or vice versa.  DD doesn't like to eat a full dinner before dance, so we will likely do a really late dinner. 

[VeteranMom]

We eat late on nights that have practices.  The kids eat a snack before practice and eat dinner when they get home.  We're night-owls, though.

[KungFuPanda]

Have you tried swapping lunch and dinner? If you cook the big, heavy meal midday, and pack lunches for evening (to take with you or hold in the fridge) it might help. Just make enough of the big meal that DH can have the good stuff.

Also, this could get easier in the warm weather when a cold salad with some protein is an adequate meal.

[kewb]

I do dinner for lunch.  I pack up dh's portion for his dinner and he reheats it when he gets home.  The kids have a light meal before heading out to practice.  Right now that is about 4:30.  Then I pack a hearty snack for after practice-some kind of muffin or fruit bars.

[momto10blessings]

. I don't know how people keep schedules like this when they have to have their kids at school the next morning at 7:30am!?!

Seriously!! I often wonder how I would do it if my kids were in school!

[TammyinTN]

We ordered out one night a week(pizza usually) and I made a big salad that morning so everything was ready when we were ready to eat.   One night we would have homemade subs, I could prep everything in the morning and just pull it out and everyone fixed what they wanted.  One night I did chicken in the crockpot with black beans, corn and tomatoes with taco seasoning and we came home and made wraps and had salsa and chips.

Mini meatloaves made on the weekend turn into great meatloaf sammies for dinner one night with chips and pickles.  

On the weekends I usually grilled a lot of chicken and steak and had that sliced up for quick snacks before practice on a wrap or salad.  This type of stuff worked well for us.  

[AK_Mom4]

Dinner part one served on the table by 4pm for the grab-and-go crowd.

Dinner part two ready to be assembled in the fridge or reheated when people got home - usually 9-10pm.

 

We actually ended up eating two light meals (4pm and 9pm) in place of one large meal at 6pm.

 

On the menu - sandwiches, wraps, chili,sausages or hot dogs, burritos, tacos, taco salad, fried chicken, leftovers.  I also kept a stash of sandwich makings for the nights when "most" of us are home but 1 or 2 people have to run out the door while the rest of us have a sit-down meal.

[Donna]

Soup or stew in a crock pot or made the day before so leftovers can be heated, placed in a thermos, and taken with. I also keep chicken breasts in our fridge every week (either boiled or grilled) for making wraps and sandwiches for lunches or dinners on the go.

[Χά�ων]

It' spring!! We do a lot of salad and fresh fruits and veggies with nuts for protein. 

 

 

[Rebel Yell]

I just discovered that the frozen already-cooked breaded chicken tenders can be placed, FROZEN into a tortilla wrap. It keeps itself cold and thaws into a nice wrap sandwich- add anything- lettuce & caesar dressing, cheese & ranch dressing, pickles and BBQ sauce.

 

Anyway- we do different things depending on the night. Thursday is usually deli meats/cold cuts sandwiches since everybody is everywhere. SOme nights it is soup or chili or something in the crockpot so we can all eat the same food, but at whatever time we're home for it. We have our "good" meals on Friday, Saturday, & Sunday- almost always have everyone home for those.

 

I also buy convenience packs of certain foods- applesauce cups, yogurt cups, individual bags of chips/pretzels. Also, lots and lots of string cheeses and fruits.

[Upward Journey]

We ate A LOT of burritos!

[Caroline]

Pray for rainouts? Just kidding, although our rainout tonight did mean dinner at our normal time. And I am sure the field will be unplayable tomorrow, so another normal dinner.

I do a lot of crockpot meals. We meet at Five Guys after practice. A whole chicken in the crockpot is an easy thing. Salads with protein are good.

[fraidycat]

We don't have a lot if different sports, but one is 5:30-6:30 two days per week, one is 4:-5:30 + 45ish minute drive home.

That said, none of these affect supper time for us, because 7:30 is early for us to eat! It's anywhere between 7:30 and 9 pm, always. Activities or not. I guess there is a silver lining to being abnormal sometimes. I usually make myself feel bad about it, so thank you for the new perspective! :)

[Janie Grace]

Thanks for the ideas, everyone. I think we'll probably do the dinner, eat-when-you can thing. Ds11 had baseball practice today (and dh had a late meeting). I made BBQ beef sandwiches and sugar snaps (enjoyed by most of us at normal dinner time). Ds made himself mac & cheese at 4:30, and then he and dh had leftover beef sandwiches/veggies when they got home at 7:30. This was a simple night because there was just one practice/game, but I did sit down and plan meals today that are easy to keep warm or reheat (and quick to make, since I'm running around too). 

 

JanOH, I was cracking up about your gross baseball concession stand because ours is the same. And my kids are totally fixated on it.  :001_huh:

[matrips]

I plan out the meals the weekend before based on the sports schedule. Usually one or two crockpot meals on the meals we have a chance (15-20 minutes) to eat between activities. Sometimes, like tonight, I just plan an easy meal to eat when we get home (spaghetti and meatballs). And another meal that we eat on the run is chicken Caesar salad in whole wheat wraps. I hate this time of year! Cooking isn't fun most times of the year, but basing a meal solely on how quickly I can make it, or how quickly we can eat it stinks.

[Tammi K]

We only have one week night when everyone is home by 7:30. Every other night has at least one person/and a parent out until 9:00. We eat when the majority are home except Tuesday which is pizza night (Papa John's BOGO) and the later comers are the ones bringing it home - usually at 9:30. Good thing we're all night owls!

[readinmom]

This is where we tended to eat fast food way too much!  We altered our lunch meals so we could do sandwiches, salad, crockpot meals for dinner.  Cereal was always a good choice for those crazy games when we didn't get home until 10:00 p.m. 

[Amy in NH]

Everyone packs a late afternoon snack, I throw dinner in the crockpot in the morning, and we all eat together when we get home, at 9pm if necessary.

[FaithManor]

We don't have sports insanity, but things get zany sometimes during rocket launch season and science fair time. So, I put a good hearty soup in the crock pot - favorites are vegetarian chilli, potato cheese soup, clam chowder, and beef vegetable. We keep cashews and almonds with us along with water bottles, homemade beef jerky, apples and bananas, carrot sticks, and cheese slices. People snack at the field or during travel as needed. The crock pot is waiting when we get home, and I also have several stainless steel thermoses so those who want the stew on the go can grab it. Salad fixings are always in the fridge ready to throw together.

 

Sometimes the kids make snack burritos. They'll take a flour tortilla and fill it with whatever shredded meat we have left from a previous meal, lettuce, red peppers, ranch dressing, and shredded cheddar. It makes an excellent to go sandwich. We don't worry about getting gathered around the table, but do spend some time before bed winding down together and talking about the day's happenings.

[Angie in VA]

Pray for rainouts? Just kidding, although our rainout tonight did mean dinner at our normal time. And I am sure the field will be unplayable tomorrow, so another normal dinner.
 

 

I have prayed for rain more than once this baseball season! Ds is in two orchestras and games could make him miss both. So far, he hasn't missed the one he's concertmaster for.  :sneaky2: Thank you, rain - and snow!

[Jenny in Florida]

Yeah, for us it's not just spring but the whole academic year.

 

My son has choir followed by dance on Mondays, then more dance Tuesdays through Thursdays from early or mid-afternoon through about 9:00 p.m. My daughter works early mornings Mondays through Wednesdays and most weekends (often a split shift beginning about 7:00 a.m. and ending at 8:00 p.m.) at one job and afternoons/evenings Tuesdays, Wednesdays at another. My husband works a fairly traditional office schedule, except that he often leaves early to get our daughter to her 7:00 a.m. weekday shifts.

 

And, just to make it more fun, I work part-time online, and most of the hours available to me are between 4:00 p.m. and midnight.

 

So, best case scenario, all four of us might be home for dinner at the same time two nights a week.

 

I haven't really found a "good" solution. The way it usually works is that my son eats a late lunch before leaving for the dance studio and takes with him a small cooler stuffed with reasonably healthy snacks he can scarf in between classes and rehearsals. He then usually has another (often less healthy snack) once he gets home.

 

Meanwhile, I prep something for my husband that can either stay ready or be warmed quickly once he gets home. His favorites include: what we call a "quesadilla" but is actually more like a flat burrito, two tortillas spread with refried beans, diced onion and bell pepper and grated cheese. He pops it in the microwave for a couple of minutes and adds some salsa; baked black bean burritos; twice-baked potatoes topped with cheddar cheese and a side of tomato and onion salad; sandwich fixings; baked pasta; chilled peanut-sesame noodles.

 

On the nights she is home, my daughter either eats some of whatever I'm making for the other two or handles her own dinner. I do more or less the same thing.

 

So, yes, it's a mess. But I remind myself that it's only for a few more months. My daughter will likely be moving out this summer, and my son goes to college in the fall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Janie Grace]

So, yes, it's a mess. But I remind myself that it's only for a few more months. My daughter will likely be moving out this summer, and my son goes to college in the fall.

Wow, you're going to have an empty nest fast! Hope those transitions go smoothly. Thanks for sharing how you do dinner. It's nice to know we aren't the only ones with crazy lives. It's easy when your kids are little to wax eloquent about how you're going to protect the dinner hour and not succumb to our culture's frenetic pace. And then the kids get bigger...

[momto10blessings]

Great ideas in this article. I'm taking notes

Eta: thread, not article... I've been at the baseball field too much already this year ;)