Babble

Hi,

My son (2.5 yrs) goes to daycare full time, and i just wanted to hear what other parents did when you got home around 5:30. Do you try and get dinner together while little one is hanging around, little cranky, etc....or do you just throw on some mac n cheese and try to read books/draw, etc. I'm torn between what to do, and also run out of ideas. Any thoughts would be great!

 

 

Heh, we're in the same situation, but our kidlet is a bit younger than your's..... We sort of do a mix of things:

• Have left-overs (obviously doesn't work every day)
• Cook and eat together as a family
• Cook and feed her something while we're cooking (especially if she's really hungry or tired and can't possibly wait)
• And sometimes we just give up and order in (we've done this more so since I've gotten pregnant and am just dead tired when I finally get home after picking her up from daycare)

Some people I know take one weekend day and cook ahead as much as possible for the following week - but seriously, I can't see us do that, ever. Though we do try to cook meals that will give us left-overs for the next day.

Before I went back to work, I always thought I'd just do whatever can be done for the next day's meal once she was in bed - but that never worked out either. Maybe because I got pregnant and have not managed to be awake since, but I don't know.

 

We have jobs where we start a little later and finish a little later so our kids follow our schedules. When we get them home we give them snacks of cheese and seeds/nuts so that they're OK until a later dinner (usually 7 or 7.30).

If I can, I always arrange our home strategically before the kids get back from daycare. I make sure the TV is off when they walk in the house and that their favorite books/toys are easy to find. It's amazing how they're affected by their first taste of home for the evening.

When it comes to dinner I get them involved if I can. If I can't, I put our favorite music on the kitchen CD player and cook to it... music always has a positive affect on us, and that rubs off on the kids so that we have a bit of fun with each other before we eat...
 

My son is almost 1 years old, but very active. We get home from daycare around 6 in the evening and he is always ready for dinner right away. I normally give him an "appetizer" (sippy cup of milk, slice of cheese, or some cut up fruit) while I fix something quickly that both of us can eat. Oh... I should have mentioned I'm a single mother so I don't really have to worry about appeasing anyone else's tastes. We're normally finished with food by 6:30 so after that we play and read. Now that it is lighter longer and we have a good bit of daylight left, I'll take him on walks (he's just starting to walk and we don't live on a busy street) too. That seems to keep both of us pretty occupied until bedtime. I've also tried doing the cooking on the weekends... it just doesn't work for me either.

One thing we've found works REALLY well is to have a snack sitting in their car seat when they get in the car at day care. My son (4) starts asking me before we even get out the day care door what is sitting there.  Occasionally, I'll give them something special, but mostly it will be an apple or a bag of animal crackers or other snacks.  We've had a lot less problems with hunger issues before dinner since doing this, *AND**....less fits in the day care building!!

Warning!!!  you're in big trouble if you forget!!  (but that's what convenience stores are for!!)

My daughter is almost 6 months old. My husband is working nights at the moment and I start my work day pretty early. On most days, I can pick her up from day care at 4-ish and get home by 4:30-5pm. From the moment we get home, I try to spend at least 1/2 an hour to an hour of play time/quality time with her unless she is really exhausted. Then, I feed her and start the routine before bedtime. She goes to bed at 7 p.m. I don't start my dinner until after she is asleep so I always eat a lite dinner. We have a fairly fixed routine.

Mine is 4 now. When he was smaller (1-2) he was a lot clingier due to us being apart all day, and it was sometimes hard to get time to fix a proper meal because he wanted my attention. We went through some phases where I would sit him in the kitchen with me in his chair and tray so he could play and watch me while I cooked. I really wanted to get in the habit of sitting together at the dinner table and we have. But we also spend plenty of nights with take out or mac and cheese. All in all, I recommend finding a combination of quality time and quality meals. But you can't have 100% of each...

My son is 3 now and going to school (we're French). When I pick him up at his nanny, it's already 6:30 PM and he's very hungry. So, we usually cook dinner together and he can have a raw carrot or celery, sometimes with cottage cheese dip, or baguette, while we get dinner ready. He can participate and while cooking, we can talk about his day. When he was younger, I would put him in his bath straight away and would cook in the meantime but that requires a special apartment configuration (being able to cook and check on the baby in the bathtub)...

 We play, have a snack, read, whatever. But I wait until my husband gets home before I start dinner for us. That way one is of us is constantly keeping an eye on him and engaging him. Sometimes I do light household chores like fold laundry, put away things, stuff he can "help" me with. He's only 1 1/2 so he eats earlier and goes to bed at 7:00pm, then I finish up our dinner.

We get home at 6:00 PM and she (24 months) will have a banana or some other fruit while I prep a quick meal. It's great when there are left overs because that helps tremendously as far as giving her attention and then there are less things to wash afterwards. She is also a big fan of Ellen Degeneres, so I Tivo the show so that she can entertain herself with that while I cook. It's hard. Especially knowing that they want you to hang out, but you also HAVE to feed them! I can't depend on Daddy to get home at the same time every day, so when he does get home at around the same time, it's very helpful since he can give her attention. Other than that we take a walk almost every day and then by the time we are done with that, it's bath time and then bed time.

 With both boys in daycare (aged 2 and 1/2 and 3 and 1/2) I tend to rush around after getting home myself- trying to throw dinner together, entertain, etc. I found that the daycare gives the kids a snack in the early afternoon, around 2pm and that's it for the day. To stave off the pre-dinner crankiness I keep healthy snacks on hand (whole grain Goldfish are amazing!) in the car for the short trip home, which is problematic if you value the state of your vehicle, but definately worth the mess. Once they've had a snack, the moodiness is usually subdued and you can set the kiddos to do something constructive once home- like a few toys in the living room or even tidying up their bedroom if they're older. These distractions are great for cooking quick meals without always having to do mac n' cheese.