I like to eat dinner early. Unsophisticated though it may be, I absolutely can't stand eating dinner any later than 7 p.m. At the latest. Six is better. Five is actually preferable. When I was in college and eating in the dining hall, I ate dinner at 4:30, when the dinner service started.
You can imagine how well I dealt with the local dinner times in Spain when we spent two weeks there, where restaurants don't even START serving dinner until 9 p.m. Yeah. I didn't. Deal with it, I mean. We ended up just eating the huge lunch that was served at 2:30 p.m. and calling that good for the rest of the day.
I suspect a big reason for this preference of mine is that I go to bed so early. If I were going to bed at 10 or 11 p.m., dinner at five wouldn't keep me full until bed and I would have to eat again anyway. But I go to bed at 9 p.m., so I can eat early.
Our normal practice when the MiL was working and getting home at 6 or 6:30 was just to eat whenever she got home. But now there's a new time-setter in the house, and he goes to bed at 7 p.m. (Cubby, not A. In case there was any confusion.) Which means he's NO FUN AT ALL starting about 5:30 p.m. He does, however, conveniently sleep around 4 p.m. (usually), which means I have time then to make dinner for serving at 5 p.m. Then we can eat before he starts with the pre-bed meltdown. Better for the digestion of all concerned that way.
And so we are now a 5 p.m. dinner family. Which of course makes me happy. Because, apparently, I belong in a retirement community in Florida.
So, duckies, tell me: Are you an early eater or a late-night diner?
I used to not care about when I ate dinner. Then I married someone who refuses to eat lunch. So about 4:30 he is doing the "hungry dance" down in the kitchen. Fortunately, he has taken over fixing that meal, and so I conform. Mary in MN
ReplyDeleteOh, I totally wish I could get my act together to have dinner ready when Husband got home. Instead, I relish the time that he's playing with the kids by putting my feet up with a glass of wine.
ReplyDeleteYou aren't geriatric. You're smart.
Save me a seat next to you at the retirement community.
ReplyDeleteIf I eat too late it doesn't seem to digest well and I don't sleep well then. A lot of the time we eat lunch and just have popcorn, pretzels or cheese and crackers later. Beth
word verification 'scpxlin'
lordy , where do I go with that?
Can I buy a vowel?
I am a late dinner-eater by preference, and now also by circumstance. Unless we have something cooking in the crockpot all day long that is ready to eat when we get home, we don't have time to cook anything until the 5:30-8 routine of the baby's dinner & bath & bedtime is complete. Because - let me tell you - this kid wants to eat EXACTLY upon walking in the door at 5:30, and WOE to the person who makes her wait.
ReplyDelete(My in-laws often have dinner at 4pm when we visit, and this totally throws me off. At 9pm I'm all hungry again!)
Oh my goodness! I just got back from my honeymoon in Spain and Portugal and the dining hours there nearly killed me! At midnight I want to be asleep not at the dinner table!
ReplyDeleteI am used to eating at 5 pm too since my family kept "farm hours" to suit my father. (he grew up on a farm).
Nowadays I am eating between 6 and 8 PM to comprimise between my early habits and my husband's late ones. I feel like an early dinner frees up your evening...and gives you an excuse for a bedtime snack ;)
Early. We usually eat at around 5. Sometimes, if I am having a late evening for some reason, this requires a snack later in the evening. But it's not unusual for us to start eating dinner around 4:30 sometimes.
ReplyDeleteIt's 6:45 or so now and our dinner is just about ready (lamb kebobs if anyone's interested.....). Between 6 and 7 pm is what I prefer. My dr told me years ago to always give myself 3 solid hours after I finish dinner before heading to bed in order to avoid digestive upsets. It works for me :-)
ReplyDeleteBefore we had a kid our dinner times were very fluid. Now, we eat at 5:30 or 6pm. I can no longer wait till 7pm.
ReplyDeleteI'm usually a late eater around nine pm due to me arriving home around eight pm almost every night. weekends i eat dinner at six pm.
ReplyDeleteMy teen is high on the autism spectrum (Asperger's), and with that comes a bit of OCD about schedules. He likes to eat at exactly 5:00. I've worked with him and stretched that to 5:30, and now and then we can pull it out so that Dad (who comes home from work closer to 6) can eat with us.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up we always ate right after my dad got home, usually around 5:30 or 6 o'clock. I like to eat around the same time now, but sometimes the Army doesn't see fit to send my husband home at a reasonable hour.
ReplyDeleteI think it's because I'm an early bird too. I like to be in bed around 9:30 or 10 most nights. The only time I ate later was when I was working nights as a waitress and didn't have the option to eat until 11 pm.
Late . . . but it really doesn't matter because it's only me, so whatever fits with the schedule is when I eat. Like tonight. It is 8:00 pm now, and I have no idea when or if I will dine.
ReplyDeleteThe hubby used to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Then he read somewhere that eating out with your work colleagues costs you $5,000 / year, and there was no way he was going to make his own luch (oh! the travesty!) He stopped eating lunch and instead combined lunch and dinner to one meal at 4:30 when he got home. I don't eat breakfast at all, so I just eat the 4:30 meal. Works for us.
ReplyDelete