I pretty much stopped cooking when our youngest went to college. Goodbye to all that. I'll cook for guests and holidays, but mostly DH does it now. (I work more hours and have a longer commute, so this is not an unreasonable arrangement for us.)

When DH travels the kids and I always have things we like and he doesn’t . Sometimes we cook and other times we pick up.

When I travel, they usually go out or order in.

We use it as excuse to change up the routine. When we are all home we cook almost every night.

Anonymous wrote:I have three teens, 18, 18 and 13. They can make themselves a sandwich, eggs, pasta or whatever else they want.

I’m so tired of getting home from work and cooking dinner every night. I need a break.

Am I a terrible mom for doing this?

And no, I’m not getting takeout. It’s too expensive.

Three cheers! I would do the same. Actually, my DH and I talk about how we are not going to cook dinner when the last kid goes to college — we’ll just do cheese and crackers or something small like that.

I also feel you, OP. I used to be so into food. Now I hate every aspect of it--it's all work and no fun.

Anonymous wrote:I have three teens, 18, 18 and 13. They can make themselves a sandwich, eggs, pasta or whatever else they want.

I’m so tired of getting home from work and cooking dinner every night. I need a break.

Am I a terrible mom for doing this?

And no, I’m not getting takeout. It’s too expensive.

The fact that you even need to post on the internet and ask about this…. You are too hard on yourself OP!

Your kids are more than old enough to feed themselves or cook a simple meal for the family.

My kids are much younger teens and they tend to themselves about 25% of dinners.

Every kid cooks one night during the week.

I hear you, OP.

We went out for dinner every night over spring break and not having to meal plan and cook felt like such a gift. And I say that as someone who actually enjoys cooking, but the daily grind gets old.

Don’t feel badly. DH travels 3x a year for work and I don’t ever cook while he’s away.

If cooking is stressing you out when he’s home, simplify the menus or reduce the number of nights you cook. When I worked, dinners on work nights were simple assembly meals or things out of the freezer. Your DH can cook if it is that important to him.

I hear you on the expense. I have one kid at home now, and when DH goes out of town we Door Dash every night. Extravagant, but it’s also absurd that I cook all the meals when I have a full time job.

I wouldn’t make my kids cook, though. I’d set out girl dinner every night and the kids could add any they found lacking.

Why not batch cook on Sundays?

Or pickup up grab-and-go stuff from Costco? I actually buy 2 rotisserie chickens for my teens (1 for dinner, 1 for leftovers for sandwiches, salad, soup, whatever).

You're making this too hard for yourself.

Anonymous wrote:Why is this dependent on your husband going out of town?

OP here. Somehow I feel obligated to have family dinner when he’s home. He loves to cook, eat, have dinner together. He loves to cook and will help if he gets home in time, but then there’s dishes and clean up. I’m just tired of it.

Anonymous wrote:Why is this dependent on your husband going out of town?

+1

Why is this dependent on your husband going out of town?

I have three teens, 18, 18 and 13. They can make themselves a sandwich, eggs, pasta or whatever else they want.

I’m so tired of getting home from work and cooking dinner every night. I need a break.

Am I a terrible mom for doing this?

And no, I’m not getting takeout. It’s too expensive.