Ideas for feeding teens dinner during "hangouts"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where do they hang out while at your house?

Kitchen and family room in my house (i'm not the OP).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Um....how about letting them cook their own meal?

Would you expect to have to cook dinner for six teenage girls every Friday night?

Um (as you would say), you're the mom everybody hates, right?

New PP. I'd rather have the kids at my place and feed them. That way I know what's my kid's up to!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about letting them shop and cook you and DH dinner since they are 4-6 of them and 2 of you? And if they're there from 3 in the afternoon, they have more than enough time to go to the store and whip up a really nice dinner for everyone.

What world do you live in? Do you have teenage boys?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the good ideas. I will try them all Going with Tacos tonight.

Yes, I am thrilled they want to be here to be honest. A few extra groceries and a little more cooking not a big deal to me. My brother passed away as a young adult but I have such good memories of him and his friends hanging out at our house. No sister so I am used to a house full of boys.

Family room off kitchen so while cooking I hear them talking....another reason I don't mind preparing food. Lurking without being obvious. Wii and movie area in basement so they go down there too. All computers have to be where we can see them so that's why they are mostly in family area. They do some computer games for a bit but they also play guitar, look up songs on grooveshark and sing -- really. They are 14 so not sure how long this " good" stage lasts.

Yes, they do clean up and put dishes in dishwasher, take out trash. They are all very nice kids!

[Anonymous]

Costco sells a decent frozen lasagna 2-pack.

[Anonymous]

Most Friday nights (or at least the ones that are worth remembering?) of my childhood were spent at my best friend's house. She and her sister would have one or two friends (each) over after school and spend the night.

I think dinner tended to be spaghetti, lasagna, tacos, or brisket. And lots of chips and Coke. Breakfast was donuts, bacon, cereal, maybe eggs or pancakes.

I like the ideas of pulled chicken or pork BBQ sandwiches and meatball subs, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Um....how about letting them cook their own meal?

Would you expect to have to cook dinner for six teenage girls every Friday night?

Hahaha! You really want six young teenagers in your kitchen cooking you dinner? that would be a disaster! I don't mind at all cooking for kids and their friends. I don't really see the role of guests as being to do the work and cook the meal.

[Anonymous]

We were this house last year. My son is in college now and it's one of the things I miss the most. We found that over time more and more kids joined the group each week, so we started thinking budget friendly. Pasta Alfredo and a big loaf of bread is easy. Scrambled eggs and sausage links were a big hit, as was waffle night.

[Anonymous]

If this were a regular thing, I'd ask the boys to clean up. It's a good rule/pattern to learn early - if you're cooking, you're not cleaning. If you're not cooking, then you clean. Besides, with 6 of them, it shouldn't take long at all.

And to the PP who said "I bet you're the mom everyone hates" - I don't think there's a prize to be won by being the mom that everyone loves. You don't need to come down harshly, but a little sharing is never a bad thing.

[Anonymous]

just had to weigh in with a big ditto.. you are a great mom, and I hope to have this exact situation when my girls are older!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Moby Dick takeout (kebabs, pita, rice.)

They do family platters for 4-6 ppl.

What is that in teenage boy terms?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for all the good ideas. I will try them all Going with Tacos tonight.

Yes, I am thrilled they want to be here to be honest. A few extra groceries and a little more cooking not a big deal to me. My brother passed away as a young adult but I have such good memories of him and his friends hanging out at our house. No sister so I am used to a house full of boys.

Family room off kitchen so while cooking I hear them talking....another reason I don't mind preparing food. Lurking without being obvious. Wii and movie area in basement so they go down there too. All computers have to be where we can see them so that's why they are mostly in family area. They do some computer games for a bit but they also play guitar, look up songs on grooveshark and sing -- really. They are 14 so not sure how long this " good" stage lasts.

Yes, they do clean up and put dishes in dishwasher, take out trash. They are all very nice kids!

You're so lucky, OP to be able to have this now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for all the good ideas. I will try them all Going with Tacos tonight.

Yes, I am thrilled they want to be here to be honest. A few extra groceries and a little more cooking not a big deal to me. My brother passed away as a young adult but I have such good memories of him and his friends hanging out at our house. No sister so I am used to a house full of boys.

Family room off kitchen so while cooking I hear them talking....another reason I don't mind preparing food. Lurking without being obvious. Wii and movie area in basement so they go down there too. All computers have to be where we can see them so that's why they are mostly in family area. They do some computer games for a bit but they also play guitar, look up songs on grooveshark and sing -- really. They are 14 so not sure how long this " good" stage lasts.

Yes, they do clean up and put dishes in dishwasher, take out trash. They are all very nice kids!

You're so lucky, OP to be able to have this now.

I agree.

Sometimes I make stromboli for my teen boys. Easy and they love it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This sounds like a lot of fun. You're a good mom!

+1. OP, you sound awesome! I hope I will be as chill as you when my kids are teenagers and that their friends will want to hang out at our house!

[Anonymous]

OP, this was my house growing up - my mom has made countless pots of Mac and cheese and brownies and cupcakes on Friday evenings... Great fun. Our house was the fun house - and I think we were safer/tamer than other kids in other homes who had minimal parental support/involvement.