Just a comment, NOT a judgment, because what everyone is saying is our exact situation - it makes me feel sad for those of us with two working parents that the day is so rushed. Get home, get dinner on and then bed for kids. There is not time to spend with them 5 days out of the week.

6:30

Typically 5:30. My 1 and 4 year olds go to bed at 7. I mostly SAH and am home by 4:30 at the latest when I work. DH works 1pm to 1am for 4 days, then is off for 4 days so he joins us when he's off.

6:30 every night, but I know that will change once the summer comes

22:22 here. Read further and I see the PPs figured it out! Older kids and I SAH and younger kids are up a bit later on soccer night.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We eat between 5 and 5:30. We always eat as a family, DH goes in early and gets home early. If there is soccer, we need to be done by 5:45 ish to get food settled and to practice on time. My 6 and 7 yr old are in bed at 7 so we need to be done dinner pretty early to give them time to play/do homework/hang with dad before bed.

How in the world are you finishing dinner by 5:45, going to soccer practice, and getting kids in bed at 7?

I have four kids - the 6&7 yr old only play soccer one night a week and that night they are up a bit later. My 9& 10 yr olds play soccer four nights of the week - they are in bed by 8ish. We alternate taking kids to soccer / putting kids to bed and occasionally all go to soccer to watch a game.

I am big on sleep - lots of long term consequences of poor / short sleep when kids are young so it isn't really negotiable. The younger two sleep 11 hours, the older two sleep about ten. We have always been big on sleep so they were sleep trained early to get a long night sleep. I SAH and DH is home by 5 most nights so it works for us.

7:30 p.m. (the earliest my DH can get home so we can all eat together). Kids are 5, 3, and 1. They go to bed around 8:30.

Between 6 and 8, just depends when I am hungry. My kids tend to just have a couple snacks instead of dinner. They are young, so they don't eat much. I am sure this will change as they get older and hungrier.

We get home around 6:15 (two kids, baby and preschooler, in daycare at work which is very near home). If it is leftovers from the night before, I just heat up and we eat right away, and then I nurse the baby, get her down, then focus on older child who goes down at 8:30.

If it is a non-leftover night, I may feed the older child something like a steamed or raw veggie, fruit, and a sandwich, or scrambled eggs. Then after the baby goes down, I'll cook for DH and I, either something quick like stir fry or quesadillas, or something that requires baking in the oven. If it's something that requires baking like a casserole or lasagna, I'll put my older child to bed and then pull it out of the oven, eat it, and serve her (and us) the leftovers the next night.

8:00 pm.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We eat between 5 and 5:30. We always eat as a family, DH goes in early and gets home early. If there is soccer, we need to be done by 5:45 ish to get food settled and to practice on time. My 6 and 7 yr old are in bed at 7 so we need to be done dinner pretty early to give them time to play/do homework/hang with dad before bed.

How in the world are you finishing dinner by 5:45, going to soccer practice, and getting kids in bed at 7?

Maybe there's a 9 yo who's taking soccer whom PP failed to mention? So while 9 yo is at soccer with Dad, 6 and 7 yo are in bed by 7????

That is what I was most stunned by! 7PM for a 6&7yr old! my 3yr old is even 7:30. With the late nights, at 7PM our street if flooded with the neighborhood kids, 7PM is prime time bike/scooter/hoops .

On sunny/warm days, we typically eat a bit later because we go to the park right after preschool pickup. Those days dinner is probably at 7:00. On crappy weather days, we're more likely to eat around 6:00. Generally if we're eating later, I'll grab a snack for my daughter to tie her over, like an apple or some fruit snacks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We eat between 5 and 5:30. We always eat as a family, DH goes in early and gets home early. If there is soccer, we need to be done by 5:45 ish to get food settled and to practice on time. My 6 and 7 yr old are in bed at 7 so we need to be done dinner pretty early to give them time to play/do homework/hang with dad before bed.

How in the world are you finishing dinner by 5:45, going to soccer practice, and getting kids in bed at 7?

Maybe there's a 9 yo who's taking soccer whom PP failed to mention? So while 9 yo is at soccer with Dad, 6 and 7 yo are in bed by 7????

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We eat between 5 and 5:30. We always eat as a family, DH goes in early and gets home early. If there is soccer, we need to be done by 5:45 ish to get food settled and to practice on time. My 6 and 7 yr old are in bed at 7 so we need to be done dinner pretty early to give them time to play/do homework/hang with dad before bed.

How in the world are you finishing dinner by 5:45, going to soccer practice, and getting kids in bed at 7?

Using critical reading skills I would make the following deductions:

1. Soccer Practice is not every night of the week, probably 2 at most.
2. On soccer nights, dinner is a bit rushed and probably starts closer to 5PM
3. That the 6&7yr old either don't do soccer to get to bed early or do do soccer and stay up a bit later on those nights.
4. that mom either works from home or is a SAH, she has no mention of comming home from work herself. Pretty easy to get dinner on the table at 5 if you WFH or SAH.

Anonymous wrote:We eat between 5 and 5:30. We always eat as a family, DH goes in early and gets home early. If there is soccer, we need to be done by 5:45 ish to get food settled and to practice on time. My 6 and 7 yr old are in bed at 7 so we need to be done dinner pretty early to give them time to play/do homework/hang with dad before bed.

How in the world are you finishing dinner by 5:45, going to soccer practice, and getting kids in bed at 7?