How do you do dinner-time with the twins when you also have older children?

Hi! We have a 7 year old, a 5 year old and 14 month old twins (ALL GIRLS!) and supper time just seems to be getting harder and harder. I feel like all I do is cut, cut, cut things into small pieces and as fast as I throw the food on the babies' trays they gobble it up and start screeching for more. I can't keep up with them and barely manage to get a bite in for myself....never mind the fact that the older girls sometimes still need help cutting up their food too. So between the babies screeching, the older girls talking to me incessantly and my husband trying to get a word in edge-wise...I am going crazy! Dinner, which used to be enjoyable...is no longer!!!!

What do you do? Do you feed the twins before you eat or at the same time as the rest of the family? How do you manage meal time? Should I try to get a food chopper or something so I don't spend forever cutting up everyone's food? I'm looking for some practical suggestions.

Thanks!
Shannon

 

i don't have older kids, but something that i do to help make dinner time smoother here is to prep all the girls' food before any of us even sit down. that way, i'm not taking time cutting up their food during the meal - we can just all sit & eat together.

also, i think it was around the same age as your LOs that i started cutting up their food less. depending on what it was, i would see if they would try taking bites from larger pieces rather than having to have it all completely cut up. i'm such a lazy parent! the less work i have to do, the better.

 

I do the same as Rachel, before the kids sit to eat, I have their food cut up and ready for them, so I am not cutting things up at dinner time. I do not have older children, so I am not sure if this will help you or not. I don't have a food chopper but I have heard a lot of good things about them.
Good luck!

 

I have a 6 year old and almost 2 year old twins. I've always just prepared everything before we sit down. That way we can all sit at one time and eat together.

 

:hug: I hated dinnertime with 3 kids. It was probably the hardest time of the day. The kids were all getting tired, hungry, and it was just insane. I did all the prep work ahead of time. I used the crockpot ALOT to make dinners a bit simpler. And I just waited it out too. They all had to mature. I will tell you that lots of dinners around here are still chaotic, but they are pleasant as well. Hang in there. It will get SO much better.

 

We have always all had dinner at the same time. I feel it is really important, especially with the older kids, to sit down for dinner as a family. I do not have enough time to feed anyone at a different time. ardon: I always had their food cut up and had extras ready to go before sitting down. And luckily my DH is home by 5:15pm every night so he is always home for dinner and able to help cut food etc. at dinnertime.


Hang in there, it will get easier. :hug:

 

Our house is usually like you descirbed. I think this is one of the main reasons I have managed to lose a few pounds since over the last few months! Anyway, I try to at least get DS1's (3 yrs old) food cut up before we all sit down to eat. If the twins aren't already screaming for their food, I get theirs cut up before we sit down too. However, 2 days a week I don't get home until 6, so we eat kind of late those days and I am usually have 2 hungry birdies babies squaking for food. On the days where I am throwing food at them as fast as they can eat it, I try to get a few bites in for myself while everyone is eating and then have something else a little later once everyone is in bed.

 

I have a 6 yr and my twins so I know how hectic dinner time can be!! I usually have the babies in their high chairs started just bf we all sit down to eat - they are still on baby food a lot (texture issues <_< )so I feed them some baby food while I am finishing the prep for dinner and then as I start to put our dinner into serving dishes I cut up what I am going to offer them to eat while we eat.
Once we all sit down it is pretty smoothe from there....

Good Luck it will get easier