Dinner time is by far the. Most. Chaotic. Time. Of. Day. I think family dinners are very important, but boy, can we say craziness?! Kyle is gone 2-3 nights of the week at school so that definitely adds to the chaos, but even when he is home it's nothing but pure insanity. For example...
4:30-4:45ishpm - Ally starts to get hungry for dinner. As mentioned before, I can feed her a snack at 4:00 and she STILL is ready for dinner no later than 4:45 and occasionally 5:00. If I try and delay her she will follow me around crawling and crying at the top of her lungs. So dinner at 4:45 it is! I feed her and fortunately that busies her enough to get dinner made for the rest of us.
5:15ishpm - The other two kids are "starving" (again, snacks seem to make no difference in their time frame). I usually have dinner ready by then, so in scenario number one where Kyle is gone for the night, I go ahead and feed them. However, usually the second I put plates down in front of the kids, Ally is done. Done eating, done drinking, done being in the high chair. And she is usually in need of a bath since I have yet to see a bib created for a baby that covers their hair. She just LOVES to rub food all over her head. So I leave Janelle and Spencer to their own stimulating dinner conversations while I bathe Ally and then wrestle lotion, a diaper and clothes on her.
In scenario number two (where Kyle IS home) I plan on dinner for everyone sans Ally at 6:00pm (when Kyle gets home). Usually the older kiddos particularly, ahem, Janelle, is whining from about 5:15 until we sit down, "When is dinner going to be ready? I'm SO hungry!" Or, "Mom it smells so good, when are we going to eat?" Or just plain ol' crying, "Mom, I'm STARVING." We finally sit down at 6:00. Sometimes we attempt to put Ally in the high chair and hope that she entertains herself with cheerios. Usually she's not in the mood for that and is ready for a bottle and bed. So we make her a bottle and have a happy peaceful dinner for about 4 minutes. Of course by "happy and peaceful" I mean encouraging Spencer (the one who would be happy on a liquid diet) to take a bite of SOMETHING, answering Janelle's inquisitive questions, asking, "Who can drink their milk the fastest?" which is followed by crying by the person who didn't drink their milk the fastest, a little fighting, a little laughter.... And then Ally is done with her bottle. Now she wants to sit on someone's lap or climb on the table and grab at your plate, fork, place mat and drink. We can't put her to bed before 6:45 or she wakes up insanely early. The verdict is down to Kyle or I shoveling food down our throats so one of us can hold her while the other finishes up or just letting her scream right by your chair as you slowly go deaf day after day. Usually the shoveling wins.
In scenario number three (on the days that I'm most tired), I just feed the kids at five, put them all to bed and then Kyle and I eat at 7:30 or 8:00 (if he's home). Of course by this time Kyle and I are starving.
By 6:30 dinner is usually over, I feel like I've just sprinted 5 miles and am winded, out of patience, we're all tired and then............the bedtime routine commences. But THAT is a whole other story.
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3 comments:
you skipped my favorite part (hopefully that measns it doesn't happen at your house), where after all the begging, whining, sneaking tiny tastes and scarfing them down, etc getting ready for dinner, at least one child refuses to actually eat it! crazy :)
also, bibs for heads, go for it, it's a million-dollar-idea!!! ;)
Sounds...eventful. ;o)
It's called a beanie elise....although I haven't tried it and it's a great idea since savs is the SAME way! I have to say though I have learned over the years how to make it SO much easier! I used to deal with the whiney the whole time during dinner. Finally I turned into a smart meanie mom and my kids go to their room i they do that. Problem solved...whiney kid is now whinning in their room! And yes, we have resulted now in a 5:00 dinner for all. It's not always right at 5 because sometimes at 4 when I should start thinking about dinner I'm too tired, but my kids really don't wait very pateiently past 5. And as sweet as it is for you to wait for your hubby to have dinner, just eat with the kids then when he sits to eat and your dying to spend time with him, enjoy a drink and chatting with him. Le3ssons your crankiness because at least your not starving waiting for him to come home! I guess this is just after years of tryhing many different things (and helping my mom take care of lots of little ones and feeding them dinner). Good luck with the attempts and hopefully some of my suggestions can work fo you!
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