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Same here. Every night unless one of us it out for dinner. We both have always eaten late anyway but if one of us is held up for some reason we wait and eat together. At the table. With no TV. I love it.
Supper? Are you in an Enid Blighton book? Or have you only just left the 1920s?
Mother can we coco with our supper? 😂
: sorry dear, no coco there’s still rations on from the war 😂😂
I don't tend to sleep until half 10 or 11 but I feel so much better for having relaxed without a screen for an hour or so. We get up at 6ish so going to bed later would just be asking to be a wreck in the morning
We have to have dinner by 5 like on the table for 5. My kids need their routine, come home from school, have a light snack, I’ll get dinner started. Once they’ve eaten dinner, it’s baths and getting ready for bed. Youngest two go to bed at 7 and the older two go to bed at 8. I go to bed at 10 lol. If I dont stick to this, it’s absolute chaos 😂
Both my wife and I are regularly out late. Because we have responsibilities and activities and socialise with different friend groups. We always come home to eat dinner together unless we are eating out.
I get that everyone is different but Why would being late end your relationship?
I agree with you, I read the parent comment as 'if we didn't have the time together that we wanted then we'd struggle to stay together', which is perfectly reasonable. I'm not sure why all the following comments assumed they were in some unhealthy situation.
Nightly, more or less (37M, 42F). We both enjoy cooking, and we have a 7 year old kid so we want to prioritise having the time together as a family.
We definitely cancel or don't do other things to make it happen eg I run, so if I do that after work I will always do that immediately after working at 5 or later in the evening after half 8. If I can't fit running and an evening meal into the evening, it's the run that goes.
We only don't do it when one of us has a social event with other people in the evening.
I worked shifts all my career, full 24 hour cover. So 1/4 of the time I was on 2 - 11s. Those were the only days I didn't eat with my wife. She has a chronic illness now, and sometimes can't get out of bed. So I take our food to the bedroom and we sit in bed together. Basically the only times we don't eat together is when we can't.
Pretty much every evening meal we sit and eat together. There's been occasional stuff where one of us is out late or having dinner out so we eat separately. We only eat breakfast together on the weekend though, as that's my exercise time and I eat later.
A few times a week.
I know we’re in the minority and most people eat together but we don’t like a lot of the same foods so often just cook our own thing and eat when we’re hungry. It also means one of us keeps an eye on the kids and the other can eat in peace without little hands trying to take all the food.
Similar story here. My wife’s a veggie, I’m a fussy eater, and our toddler needs feeding 🤣
So I mean we’re in the same room, one eats while the other feeds our boy and then we swap. I’d struggle to say we were eating our meal together though. It’s my hope that sometime before he starts school we might be able to make dinner time a proper thing again.
2 kids. One of which very tiny and fresh.
As long as I *have calories* atm it's a win. Structured dinnertime is out the window atm
Generally though it's something I think peo0le should try and do.
We used to do two sittings when the kids were small, because if #1 got fed late it was a catastrophe.
Now they are older we all sit at the table every night like a family off the TV.
We fit dinner together around our hobbies. For instance, I've got choir once a week which finishes at 8, so we just eat later together. When he plays rugby after work, we eat together when he gets home.
But it’s just for dinner. Do you spend the rest of the day together then? We both work during the day, come together to eat and make time for hobbies around dinner. Sometimes have to eat alone if one of us is away or grabbing dinner with friends/colleagues
Same only it's my wife who works remotely. Before children I was a chef so we had conflicting hours so having children has had an extra bonus of more time together too.
I'm like this too. I see the time after work as 'my time' for going to the gym, socializing, going for a walk in summer etc and like to eat later so I can make the most of that time outside the house.
Every night, at least one of us is working from home 4 days a week, and we plan for the other day by getting something really fast like stir fry so whoever gets in first can quickly cook it.
My wife sometimes has meetings that go on late. If that happens, I'll feed the kids and put them to bed. I'll wait and eat dinner with her, whenever that may be.
If I know it's going to be particularly late, I'll go slightly over on the kids dinner so I can snack on that as a tide me over.
Every night, generally if one of us is working late the other will wait and get dinner ready for when they get home (my wife works late more often than me so I usually cook).
We have a very set schedule,
I eat with my son Mon, Tues, Thu due to my husband getting home late from work - his goes in the microwave and he warms it up when he gets home.
I eat with my husband on a weds (my son eats with his grandmother after school).
I eat with my husband and son on a Fri and Sat, and on Sun my mother eats with us as well.
If I didn't have a child we'd eat together every night, but my son does not like eating alone so I eat with him when my husband is working too late to eat with both of us.
You should start going to the gym on a morning. I used to go after work on an evening until I had a kid which pretty much forces me to go early before work while he still sleeps. It's so much better for everyone, gym is quiet at 6am and then once it's done you feel good all day. You can then go straight home from work and just relax with the other half.
I try and catch the 6:30am train into work, as someone who is decidedly not a morning person that is as early as I can tolerate!
I did try and do the morning gym routine, but I ended up so shattered by around 1700, and by the time I was home I was a walking zombie. The evening gym routine gets me some lovely quality time, for the most part.
As a person carrying more than his fair share of baggage around the waist I would love to skip the gym regularly, but that is just not a good move.
They are long days, but they are long out of choice. I love the work I do, and my partner loves what she does, so we both kind of get it. Neither of us can have children, so that helps numb that pain a little bit.
Very rarely.
Honestly our appetites just don't line up, she gets hungry every few hours and I can go most of the day on just my lunch.
If I eat anything bigger than a sandwich for lunch or if my lunch gets pushed back an hour then that could be me done until gone 9pm.
Almost never. She’s gluten and lactose intolerant, as well as vegetarian. I love my carbs, dairy, and meat, as do the kids. As a result the 3 of us eat together and my wife sorts herself out whenever she’s hungry.
We eat together, even when I used to get in after 7 and that's because I'm the one that does the cooking (because I enjoy it and my husband doesn't). I wfh now and he makes his own packed lunches, but I get tea ready when he's done. So yeah, most days.
Every night, unless one or other of us is away (which amounts to maybe a collective 10 or so nights a year). This is at the dining table, no tv. We are both late middle age and neither of us works away from home. I cook maybe once a month, because I’m not very good at it and have a limited repertoire, whereas Mrs K is gifted and generally enjoys cooking.
M33 and F29. Every night except Wednesdays, she's out at band practice so goes to her parents from work as it's closer. Sometimes I'll go to her parents too, maybe once a month.
Hardly ever because he does shift work so eats at weird times. Before we had a kid I used to adapt to his shifts, like wait and eat really late or whatever, because I'm self employed, but now I prioritise eating with our daughter, plus I need to keep more of a schedule to fit everything in.
We all eat together at the weekend though. I don't want to be like my parents who grab random snacks most of the time and never sit down together.
Every single night unless circumstances get in the way. I couldn't imagine not. We had some friends who even ate different meals every night even when both home. Was very weird.
Every night regardless of schedule clashes, it’s an important part of our relationship to talk about things and sort of relax after the day has been done
We will often eat separately. It is only the two of us (most of the time) and I'm normally ready to get into bed earlier than them or I am hungry and they are not).
Did your partner say she wanted you to eat together more often? If she did, I would try to work out a number of times you are both happy with. If not, then I can't see a reason to change things other than you live your partner and want to spend more time together.
I would also not take too much from people's responses. Every couple is different and you have to do what is right for your relationship
Every night and include the boy as well. Try and spend as much time as a family until as possible as the time will soon be gone and the boy will have left and we’ll be old.
Perhaps twice a week tops, but not the same food. I have a second job so I'm in and out 4 nights a week so have to eat early. We also like completely different food, I'm veggie, they are definitely not. Sometimes we prepare our own separate food and eat at the same time.
Most nights.
During the week, usually one of us is busy in an evening with something, so we base tea time around that.
On weekends we're often camping or going away somewhere and eat together.
Once a week we have "pizza night*, where the nearby family comes round (about a dozen people including kids). I help the youngest kids make pizza, and the rest of us eat something other than pizza.
Every night. And when children (or nowadays grandchildren) are staying with us, we all eat together in a family meal - even if not everyone has the same food.
We have always eaten together, except for those years when significant other had a job that entailed shift working; then to keep up a routine with our children I would eat with them.
I'm surprised to see that some people are commenting that their own activities or hobbies take precedence over an evening meal taken together. For our generation (older!) a family meal has always been the fixed point.
Almost every night but we don’t always eat the same food - sometimes we’re on our own but we prep dinner together, sit together and eat together and watch shit tv.
Pretty much every night. Sometimes if my partner has to go into the office we may make an exception but it’s rare. Last night we just had dinner at 9pm rather than 6 for example.
Almost every night, the only nights we don't are when he's working in the evening which is probably twice a week on average. If he's off or finishes work earlier than me then I get a freshly cooked meal waiting for me when I get back.
Almost every evening. Most evenings we're already in because we WFH, so we finish work and get cooking and eat about 6 which is before any of our evening activities. Occasionally if one of us is in the office, we might have to eat separately.
Every night. We eat later so that we can both eat together. By thr time weve got the kids settled its betwen half 7 and 8. So we tend to eat between 8 and 8.30pm but we always sit together
At the weekends we try to sit as a family for at least 1 meal
We do every night. I occasionally have to work late last minute and she’ll usually wait for me until it’s going to be ridiculously late, and even then sometimes we’ll just happily settle for some cereal or toast together and then go to bed
My partner works a mix of long and short days. On long days he gets home around 8pm so I usually make dinner for both of us and eat before him because I can't wait that long. On short days he gets home about 4:30pm so he makes dinner in time for when I get home at 6 and we eat together :)
Every night unless one of us is out for some reason. We’re both WFH and have been for nearly 2yrs now, but it was the same even when we both worked onsite.
However, I didn’t grow up like that as Dad was a shift worker, so Mum usually ate with us.
Unless one of us working late we eat together. Sometimes with our toddler, sometimes later if eg one of wants to go for a run after work/finish up some work
Every morning and every night, I am lucky in that I can work from home though I go on to the office twice a week, on those in office days I make sure I leave the office on time to have our evening meal together knowing I can just continue to work from home if needed.
Every night. We commute together so both get back home at the same time. I do the cooking/clean the kitchen and he does whatever other chores need doing (hoovering, washing etc).
Maybe once a week. I typically skip dinner and she'll eat earlier with the kids.
We spend a lot of time together as our work allows it, we just don't eat dinner together. When we do it's a whole event and I look forward to it.
At the moment, every night. Usually only weekends. My partner is usually at work until midnight, sometimes later, so it’s not feasible. They’re out of work now though, so it’s nice having them home, but a bit of a worry.
Pretty much every night. If he’s going to be home later than usual I’ll have an earlier dinner with our 5yr old. Normally he has his dinner about 5:30 and since that’s too early for us we sit with him and have a coffee or something instead.
With my last partner, she would often get home from work anywhere between 6pm and sometimes as late as 10pm. I'd wait until she was home and cook us a meal so we could eat together nearly every night
Family dinner every night, together in the kitchen. The only deviation is on a weekend where we will have a takeaway in the living room watching a movie.
Most evenings, but then again we both work from home for the most part. Due to her work schedule we don't eat together Thursdays and there will of course be ad-hoc exceptions but I think having a meal together on the regular is an important part of the relationship, chance to put the devices down and enjoy some food together, chat about shit.
39M/39F
Every night. I work pretty long days, but we’ll always have our tea together, even if it’s 8.30/9pm. I do the cooking, so it’s usually get kids their tea, then bath them, bed. I’ll start cooking tea whilst partner reads the stories to kids.
Maybe 30-40% of the time we will eat together! (30M, 35F). As a pilot I work early or late shifts which often don’t work with traditional office hours and we both do social/exercise groups in the evenings. Though never felt like we’re missing out or having a strong desire to eat every meal together.
We manage it 5 nights out of 7, which is fine for us.
But, twice a week, my husband doesn't get back until 8.30pm. So I make our dinner and eat mine around 6pm. He eats his portion when he gets back.
Probably similar to you. He (35M) is a fussy eater and doesn't always feel like eating and I (39F) like to have time for exercise. There is no 'set time' for meals. It's more like when I've finished exercising, I ask if he fancies something. Time might vary and likewise he might choose to make something whilst I'm out.
Most nights except Thursday, unless one of us is out late for some reason. Thursday, I have training until 9, get back about 9:45, by which point my wife is in bed, never mind already eaten 🤣
Every night, unless he’s away. We generally eat different things, but we make a point of timing it so all meals (one kid, 2 dogs and us) are ready at the same time.
Not often at all unfortunately. I often finish work at 10. So we either eat together late at night (which we do at times), or he just gets something on his own, and I’ll eat at work. He does sometimes do late shifts too, but has more variety in his schedule than I do. Joys of retail!
Well until the last few year rarely.
Then I made a career change that resulted in me working essentially 9-5 and always weekends off.
Now it been a steady of nearly every night for the last 3 years with few a exceptions.
These days once a week as I finish work at 4 on a Sunday and he's off as he looks after our daughter and I work on his days off. He's not home until between 6.30-7 so we can't eat together I'm usually doing a bath for our daughter
Before our daughter it was rare, if we had a day off together we'd eat together but often I'd be home from work around 9pm and even days we were both home in the evening if he finishex work early he wouldn't want to eat.
We never eat together. Not even breakfast and if we do eat breakfast he's always been on his phone so what's the point.
A few times a week. My wife teaches Yoga on a Monday so usually isn't in for dinner. I work in the office on Thursdays so I'm usually not back in time. I have Cricket practice on Wednesdays & Football on Fridays. Sometimes there is time for us both to eat before hand, sometimes there is not.
Me and my husband, plus our teenager and toddler eat together every night, unless one of us is out or away.
We both work from home, so it makes it easier. Before we had kids we'd still eat together but not always at the dinner table, and not always as well put together meals. There was a lot more oven pizzas.
Every night.
We have a 2yo and, like others, prioritise dinner and bedtime as family activities. We always eat at the table, apart from the occasional pizza on the sofa with a film on a Sunday for a treat.
Never, it’s not something we’ve never really cared about because we have different diets and cook different meals. It’s been like this since the beginning so we don’t even think twice about it!
**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!** - Top-level comments to the OP must contain **genuine efforts to answer the question**. No jokes, judgements, etc. - **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on. - This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit! Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Every night
Yeah, same here. It's very rare we eat separately, unless one of us is away on a work trip, which is pretty infrequent.
Same here. Every night unless one of us it out for dinner. We both have always eaten late anyway but if one of us is held up for some reason we wait and eat together. At the table. With no TV. I love it.
We go one step beyond that. We have dinner, at the table, with all four kids, with no TV and no phones! We're living like it's the 80s!
We don’t have kids so it there any at the table I’d be concerned!!
Yep, every night here too. We don't have kids (and are not sad about it) so it's just the two of us, but it's one of the best bits of the day.
Same. I usually cook our evening meal. If she isn't around I usually don't bother making anything at all
Same here. When my partner isn't around for dinner I eat cheese and crackers or instant noodles like I've reverted to being a teenager again 😃
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Dinner at 5??
Or near abouts.
On the table?
Or near abouts.
Kids
Or just British
>Or just ~~British~~ northern FTFY
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Surely tea then
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We have our tea at about 5pm too. Then supper at about 8.
Supper? Are you in an Enid Blighton book? Or have you only just left the 1920s? Mother can we coco with our supper? 😂 : sorry dear, no coco there’s still rations on from the war 😂😂
Oi!
😬😬 hungry by 8 😀
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We have ours at half 5, 6 at the latest. We're in bed by 9.
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I don't tend to sleep until half 10 or 11 but I feel so much better for having relaxed without a screen for an hour or so. We get up at 6ish so going to bed later would just be asking to be a wreck in the morning
I'm the same! I have friends who go to bed at 12 and get up for 6! I would not be able to function at all
Jeez I couldn't imagine having dinner at 5ish, I'd be starving by bedtime.
We have to have dinner by 5 like on the table for 5. My kids need their routine, come home from school, have a light snack, I’ll get dinner started. Once they’ve eaten dinner, it’s baths and getting ready for bed. Youngest two go to bed at 7 and the older two go to bed at 8. I go to bed at 10 lol. If I dont stick to this, it’s absolute chaos 😂
Seems a bit silly to put your dinner near the table
If I didn't get home until 8pm most nights. I wouldn't be in a relationship anymore.
Both my wife and I are regularly out late. Because we have responsibilities and activities and socialise with different friend groups. We always come home to eat dinner together unless we are eating out. I get that everyone is different but Why would being late end your relationship?
Because I'd be leaving the raising of my child to her while I galavant about socialising.
Sounds like a strong relationship...
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Nobody said anything about abuse. It's genuinely a bit confusing as to why that would be a deal breaker.
I agree with you, I read the parent comment as 'if we didn't have the time together that we wanted then we'd struggle to stay together', which is perfectly reasonable. I'm not sure why all the following comments assumed they were in some unhealthy situation.
Nightly, more or less (37M, 42F). We both enjoy cooking, and we have a 7 year old kid so we want to prioritise having the time together as a family. We definitely cancel or don't do other things to make it happen eg I run, so if I do that after work I will always do that immediately after working at 5 or later in the evening after half 8. If I can't fit running and an evening meal into the evening, it's the run that goes. We only don't do it when one of us has a social event with other people in the evening.
I worked shifts all my career, full 24 hour cover. So 1/4 of the time I was on 2 - 11s. Those were the only days I didn't eat with my wife. She has a chronic illness now, and sometimes can't get out of bed. So I take our food to the bedroom and we sit in bed together. Basically the only times we don't eat together is when we can't.
That's a lovely thing to do for your wife.
this is so sweet 🥺
Pretty much every evening meal we sit and eat together. There's been occasional stuff where one of us is out late or having dinner out so we eat separately. We only eat breakfast together on the weekend though, as that's my exercise time and I eat later.
A few times a week. I know we’re in the minority and most people eat together but we don’t like a lot of the same foods so often just cook our own thing and eat when we’re hungry. It also means one of us keeps an eye on the kids and the other can eat in peace without little hands trying to take all the food.
Similar story here. My wife’s a veggie, I’m a fussy eater, and our toddler needs feeding 🤣 So I mean we’re in the same room, one eats while the other feeds our boy and then we swap. I’d struggle to say we were eating our meal together though. It’s my hope that sometime before he starts school we might be able to make dinner time a proper thing again.
2 kids. One of which very tiny and fresh. As long as I *have calories* atm it's a win. Structured dinnertime is out the window atm Generally though it's something I think peo0le should try and do.
We used to do two sittings when the kids were small, because if #1 got fed late it was a catastrophe. Now they are older we all sit at the table every night like a family off the TV.
When our daughter was very tiny and fresh she had an inner alarm clock that would go off everytime we tried to eat together.
The heck? Does no one here have hobbies? At least 3 evenings a week either me or my partner is out doing something.
Hobbies don't have to involve being out of the house!
We fit dinner together around our hobbies. For instance, I've got choir once a week which finishes at 8, so we just eat later together. When he plays rugby after work, we eat together when he gets home.
We often do individual hobbies in the evening, but we just wait until we are both ready before having dinner, it’s not hard.
One of my hobbies is cooking so it works nicely. I’d rather do yoga in the mornings, socialise on weekends and I can read wherever and whenever.
I know! I have lots of people in my life. I love my husband very dearly but don't want to spend every bloody waking moment with him.
But it’s just for dinner. Do you spend the rest of the day together then? We both work during the day, come together to eat and make time for hobbies around dinner. Sometimes have to eat alone if one of us is away or grabbing dinner with friends/colleagues
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Same only it's my wife who works remotely. Before children I was a chef so we had conflicting hours so having children has had an extra bonus of more time together too.
Almost never because my (21 M) partner (85 F) takes forever to put her teeth in and I’ve always finished before she even starts.
Don’t be rude to President Macron
I cook the family dinner. We eat together. That's part of staying connected and checking in with each other
Check out Mr Toy boy over here rattling a milf
Almost never. She usually wants to eat the second she gets home from work, and I'm not usually hungry until about 9pm.
I'm like this too. I see the time after work as 'my time' for going to the gym, socializing, going for a walk in summer etc and like to eat later so I can make the most of that time outside the house.
Err.. every night.
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Every night, at least one of us is working from home 4 days a week, and we plan for the other day by getting something really fast like stir fry so whoever gets in first can quickly cook it.
Fresh pasta is a great quick dinner!
Every night unless I’m working a late shift.
My wife sometimes has meetings that go on late. If that happens, I'll feed the kids and put them to bed. I'll wait and eat dinner with her, whenever that may be. If I know it's going to be particularly late, I'll go slightly over on the kids dinner so I can snack on that as a tide me over.
Almost every night (33f and 33m). Sometimes we both eat different leftovers, because we need to use things up, but we eat at the same table
I can smell a cougar! :-)
Most nights unless one of us has plans with friends, which is maybe on average once or twice a week.
Every day...
Gonna be an outlier - my partner works either 5.00–15.00 or 13.00–23.00, so … rarely.
OPs all about the cougar hunting.
Every night, generally if one of us is working late the other will wait and get dinner ready for when they get home (my wife works late more often than me so I usually cook).
We have a very set schedule, I eat with my son Mon, Tues, Thu due to my husband getting home late from work - his goes in the microwave and he warms it up when he gets home. I eat with my husband on a weds (my son eats with his grandmother after school). I eat with my husband and son on a Fri and Sat, and on Sun my mother eats with us as well. If I didn't have a child we'd eat together every night, but my son does not like eating alone so I eat with him when my husband is working too late to eat with both of us.
You should start going to the gym on a morning. I used to go after work on an evening until I had a kid which pretty much forces me to go early before work while he still sleeps. It's so much better for everyone, gym is quiet at 6am and then once it's done you feel good all day. You can then go straight home from work and just relax with the other half.
I try and catch the 6:30am train into work, as someone who is decidedly not a morning person that is as early as I can tolerate! I did try and do the morning gym routine, but I ended up so shattered by around 1700, and by the time I was home I was a walking zombie. The evening gym routine gets me some lovely quality time, for the most part. As a person carrying more than his fair share of baggage around the waist I would love to skip the gym regularly, but that is just not a good move.
Fucking hell your days are long, I could not be bothered with doing all that personally.
They are long days, but they are long out of choice. I love the work I do, and my partner loves what she does, so we both kind of get it. Neither of us can have children, so that helps numb that pain a little bit.
Very rarely. Honestly our appetites just don't line up, she gets hungry every few hours and I can go most of the day on just my lunch. If I eat anything bigger than a sandwich for lunch or if my lunch gets pushed back an hour then that could be me done until gone 9pm.
Yeah I like my dinner about 6pm, my wife likes it about 8pm. We eat very different things so we just make our own dinners whenever we want it.
Almost never. She’s gluten and lactose intolerant, as well as vegetarian. I love my carbs, dairy, and meat, as do the kids. As a result the 3 of us eat together and my wife sorts herself out whenever she’s hungry.
Every night even though I sometimes work till 7:30. She will have it ready for me coming home.
We eat together, even when I used to get in after 7 and that's because I'm the one that does the cooking (because I enjoy it and my husband doesn't). I wfh now and he makes his own packed lunches, but I get tea ready when he's done. So yeah, most days.
Every night, unless one or other of us is away (which amounts to maybe a collective 10 or so nights a year). This is at the dining table, no tv. We are both late middle age and neither of us works away from home. I cook maybe once a month, because I’m not very good at it and have a limited repertoire, whereas Mrs K is gifted and generally enjoys cooking.
Every night. To me eating together is really important.
Only a couple of times a week because he works much later than i do. I usually cook for us both from scratch and he warms his up later.
M33 and F29. Every night except Wednesdays, she's out at band practice so goes to her parents from work as it's closer. Sometimes I'll go to her parents too, maybe once a month.
Hardly ever because he does shift work so eats at weird times. Before we had a kid I used to adapt to his shifts, like wait and eat really late or whatever, because I'm self employed, but now I prioritise eating with our daughter, plus I need to keep more of a schedule to fit everything in. We all eat together at the weekend though. I don't want to be like my parents who grab random snacks most of the time and never sit down together.
Every single night unless circumstances get in the way. I couldn't imagine not. We had some friends who even ate different meals every night even when both home. Was very weird.
Every night regardless of schedule clashes, it’s an important part of our relationship to talk about things and sort of relax after the day has been done
4-5 per week as we both have hobbies and occasionally social plans which have us on different schedules.
Once or twice a week due to their work schedule (they work in the restaurant business)
We will often eat separately. It is only the two of us (most of the time) and I'm normally ready to get into bed earlier than them or I am hungry and they are not). Did your partner say she wanted you to eat together more often? If she did, I would try to work out a number of times you are both happy with. If not, then I can't see a reason to change things other than you live your partner and want to spend more time together. I would also not take too much from people's responses. Every couple is different and you have to do what is right for your relationship
Almost every night. I'd rather have less money then miss out on quality time with my loved ones.
Every night and include the boy as well. Try and spend as much time as a family until as possible as the time will soon be gone and the boy will have left and we’ll be old.
Perhaps twice a week tops, but not the same food. I have a second job so I'm in and out 4 nights a week so have to eat early. We also like completely different food, I'm veggie, they are definitely not. Sometimes we prepare our own separate food and eat at the same time.
Most nights. During the week, usually one of us is busy in an evening with something, so we base tea time around that. On weekends we're often camping or going away somewhere and eat together. Once a week we have "pizza night*, where the nearby family comes round (about a dozen people including kids). I help the youngest kids make pizza, and the rest of us eat something other than pizza.
Only on weekends. And even on weekends, I've pretty much finished by the time she sits down...
Every night. He works 12 hour shifts whilst I look after our baby so we usually eat after I’ve put the baby to bed and he gets home, 8ish.
Every night. And when children (or nowadays grandchildren) are staying with us, we all eat together in a family meal - even if not everyone has the same food. We have always eaten together, except for those years when significant other had a job that entailed shift working; then to keep up a routine with our children I would eat with them. I'm surprised to see that some people are commenting that their own activities or hobbies take precedence over an evening meal taken together. For our generation (older!) a family meal has always been the fixed point.
Every day, even if one of us working late means we don’t eat until 9 or something like that.
Daily
I’d say like four or five nights a week, and we at least have the same dinner even if we aren’t eating at the same time
Almost every night but we don’t always eat the same food - sometimes we’re on our own but we prep dinner together, sit together and eat together and watch shit tv.
We have a daily family meal. It’s important for the child as much as it is us. It fosters good relations and shows what should be expected.
We’re both shift workers so I’d say on average about one in every second night.
Every night, usually around 9pm - having a kid has made our late dinners even later!
Every night unless one of us is doing food with friends
We don't live together, but spend the night 2-4 times a week and always eat together.
What time does she come back from work?
Pretty much every night. Sometimes if my partner has to go into the office we may make an exception but it’s rare. Last night we just had dinner at 9pm rather than 6 for example.
Every night. We’re in the throws of newborn life (day 10) and still eat together even if it is 11pm at night 😵💫
Every night unless he’s home to a far away match ⚽️
Every evening
Almost every night, the only nights we don't are when he's working in the evening which is probably twice a week on average. If he's off or finishes work earlier than me then I get a freshly cooked meal waiting for me when I get back.
Almost every evening. Most evenings we're already in because we WFH, so we finish work and get cooking and eat about 6 which is before any of our evening activities. Occasionally if one of us is in the office, we might have to eat separately.
Every night. We eat later so that we can both eat together. By thr time weve got the kids settled its betwen half 7 and 8. So we tend to eat between 8 and 8.30pm but we always sit together At the weekends we try to sit as a family for at least 1 meal
Once a week. I work evenings so my partner wouldn’t eat until 10-11pm if they waited for me to get home.
We do every night. I occasionally have to work late last minute and she’ll usually wait for me until it’s going to be ridiculously late, and even then sometimes we’ll just happily settle for some cereal or toast together and then go to bed
Every night
Of old we worked similar out early, late back. So we would have evening meal together as a way of being together.
Every night if we are both home. Tonight I'm out with work so he'll eat with our daughter.
My partner works a mix of long and short days. On long days he gets home around 8pm so I usually make dinner for both of us and eat before him because I can't wait that long. On short days he gets home about 4:30pm so he makes dinner in time for when I get home at 6 and we eat together :)
Every night unless one of us is out for some reason. We’re both WFH and have been for nearly 2yrs now, but it was the same even when we both worked onsite. However, I didn’t grow up like that as Dad was a shift worker, so Mum usually ate with us.
Unless one of us working late we eat together. Sometimes with our toddler, sometimes later if eg one of wants to go for a run after work/finish up some work
Every morning and every night, I am lucky in that I can work from home though I go on to the office twice a week, on those in office days I make sure I leave the office on time to have our evening meal together knowing I can just continue to work from home if needed.
Every night unless something unusual comes up. We both work so it's a nice way to unwind together in the evening.
Every night. We commute together so both get back home at the same time. I do the cooking/clean the kitchen and he does whatever other chores need doing (hoovering, washing etc).
Every night. There's maybe twice a month that we don't.
Every night
Maybe twice a week, competing work schedules plus my family tradition that we didn’t need to eat together.
Maybe once a week. I typically skip dinner and she'll eat earlier with the kids. We spend a lot of time together as our work allows it, we just don't eat dinner together. When we do it's a whole event and I look forward to it.
Every night. Exercise and work are important, but a family eating together matters a lot to us.
Pretty much every night. Unless one of us is too unwell to eat, out with friends, or away for the weekend etc, we always eat together.
We only really manage to eat dinner like 3 nights a week at the minute but previously would eat together 5 nights a week
38M and 43M, eat together every night that we’re both home for - which is most of them, probably 19/20 week nights.
All weekends
At the moment, every night. Usually only weekends. My partner is usually at work until midnight, sometimes later, so it’s not feasible. They’re out of work now though, so it’s nice having them home, but a bit of a worry.
Pretty much every night. If he’s going to be home later than usual I’ll have an earlier dinner with our 5yr old. Normally he has his dinner about 5:30 and since that’s too early for us we sit with him and have a coffee or something instead.
Every night
With my last partner, she would often get home from work anywhere between 6pm and sometimes as late as 10pm. I'd wait until she was home and cook us a meal so we could eat together nearly every night
Due to both of us on shift work, on average maybe once a week and a couple more during annual leave.
Every night, four out of seven days up to table, TV off.
Family dinner every night, together in the kitchen. The only deviation is on a weekend where we will have a takeaway in the living room watching a movie.
We’re both busy people unfortunately in old school ‘professions’ so probably just once a week on Sunday if we’re lucky and the kid is out.
Most evenings, but then again we both work from home for the most part. Due to her work schedule we don't eat together Thursdays and there will of course be ad-hoc exceptions but I think having a meal together on the regular is an important part of the relationship, chance to put the devices down and enjoy some food together, chat about shit. 39M/39F
Every night, things like gym I do it before work just so we can eat and spend evenings together
Every night. I work pretty long days, but we’ll always have our tea together, even if it’s 8.30/9pm. I do the cooking, so it’s usually get kids their tea, then bath them, bed. I’ll start cooking tea whilst partner reads the stories to kids.
Maybe 30-40% of the time we will eat together! (30M, 35F). As a pilot I work early or late shifts which often don’t work with traditional office hours and we both do social/exercise groups in the evenings. Though never felt like we’re missing out or having a strong desire to eat every meal together.
We manage it 5 nights out of 7, which is fine for us. But, twice a week, my husband doesn't get back until 8.30pm. So I make our dinner and eat mine around 6pm. He eats his portion when he gets back.
Most nights - sometimes it's in front of the TV, and sometimes our 9 year old has eaten already, but usually we eat together.
Probably similar to you. He (35M) is a fussy eater and doesn't always feel like eating and I (39F) like to have time for exercise. There is no 'set time' for meals. It's more like when I've finished exercising, I ask if he fancies something. Time might vary and likewise he might choose to make something whilst I'm out.
Most nights. Usually about 630
Most nights except Thursday, unless one of us is out late for some reason. Thursday, I have training until 9, get back about 9:45, by which point my wife is in bed, never mind already eaten 🤣
Every night, unless he’s away. We generally eat different things, but we make a point of timing it so all meals (one kid, 2 dogs and us) are ready at the same time.
3 times a week, as he isn't here on the other 4 evenings. Occasionally one of us will be out at dinnertime but generally we eat together.
Not often at all unfortunately. I often finish work at 10. So we either eat together late at night (which we do at times), or he just gets something on his own, and I’ll eat at work. He does sometimes do late shifts too, but has more variety in his schedule than I do. Joys of retail!
Every night, unless one is getting home past about 8:30/9pm. We value it massively.
Every single night unless either one of us is out. It’s actually very important to me
Practically every night unless one of us is going out with work colleagues/friends.
At weekends. We work opposite shifts as we have a baby and can’t afford childcare.
Every night.
Every night. Sometimes we cook together, sometimes one of us cooks for the other, but we always eat together.
Well until the last few year rarely. Then I made a career change that resulted in me working essentially 9-5 and always weekends off. Now it been a steady of nearly every night for the last 3 years with few a exceptions.
> My partner (48F) and I (33M) "Bloody teenagers, swanning in here and treating the place like a hotel..." 😋
Every day and it’s the best part of my day.
These days once a week as I finish work at 4 on a Sunday and he's off as he looks after our daughter and I work on his days off. He's not home until between 6.30-7 so we can't eat together I'm usually doing a bath for our daughter Before our daughter it was rare, if we had a day off together we'd eat together but often I'd be home from work around 9pm and even days we were both home in the evening if he finishex work early he wouldn't want to eat. We never eat together. Not even breakfast and if we do eat breakfast he's always been on his phone so what's the point.
Almost every single night unless one of us needs to eat earlier than the other to go do something.
Every night, except for the occasional occurrence of my wife having a meal out with the girls.
Every night unless we're apart for some reason.
Rare these days despite both being home, she wants to eat her last meal of the day around 16:00 that's way to early for me.
A few times a week. My wife teaches Yoga on a Monday so usually isn't in for dinner. I work in the office on Thursdays so I'm usually not back in time. I have Cricket practice on Wednesdays & Football on Fridays. Sometimes there is time for us both to eat before hand, sometimes there is not.
Pretty much daily, only occasionally when one of us has a social event with friends do we eat alone.
Most nights. Except once or twice a week perhaps when it’s either my day with my friends or her day with her friends
Every night even if that means eating slightly later.
Me and my husband, plus our teenager and toddler eat together every night, unless one of us is out or away. We both work from home, so it makes it easier. Before we had kids we'd still eat together but not always at the dinner table, and not always as well put together meals. There was a lot more oven pizzas.
Almost never. I'm veggie, he loves meat so we cook our own food. Both have after work activities most days so we tend to do our own thing
Every night, except when partner is away on a work trip.
Every night. We have a 2yo and, like others, prioritise dinner and bedtime as family activities. We always eat at the table, apart from the occasional pizza on the sofa with a film on a Sunday for a treat.
This is weird as only five months ago you were complaining to Reddit that you'd been stood up?
Every night pretty much. My wife often works later than me, but if she is I'll wait for her and then have dinner ready for when she gets home.
Never, it’s not something we’ve never really cared about because we have different diets and cook different meals. It’s been like this since the beginning so we don’t even think twice about it!
Pretty much never. I can't sleep if I have an evening meal.
Different diets entirely so we cannot eat the same foods therefore must cook separately
Most nights as the urn is never too far away.
Most nights as the urn is never too far away.
Most nights as the urn is never too far away.
Every evening
Nightly
Every evening. I work late sometimes, but we both wait to eat together. It would feel strange not to for us.
Hey. Same age gap here between me and my wife. Anyway, if I'm at home we eat all of our meals together. Otherwise we eat whatever whenever.
Every night, cause she means a lot to me.