Feed Your Child Dinner at 15:00
School-age children have a period of gastrointestinal chaos, and this period lasts every weekday from 3 pm to 6 pm. At about 3 pm, when many children leave school, they go hungry . The moment my daughter buckles herself in the car, she looks at me like a sad dove and begs: “ Have a snack. Do you have a snack? “(I’m glad to see you too, child!)
Children play hard at school, and the amount of food they eat for lunch is questionable (“So you ate your crackers and nothing else?” I say when I do my daily lunchbox check). When they return home, this long time before lunch often looks something like this:
Kid: I’m hungry.
Parent: Okay, here’s a little snack.
Kid: [eating a small snack] I’m still hungry.
Parent: Can you wait? Dinner will be in an hour.
Kid: Hunger. So … much … hunger. I think my stomach is eating itself.
Parent: Okay. Eat something else.
[Two bags of popcorn, 27 pretzels, one bowl of applesauce and a tortilla later …]
Parent: Dinner is ready!
Kid: I’m full.
Parent: [Familiar look of defeat.]
Parenting requires adaptability, which means you have to follow your child’s inner clock. Scary Mommy writer Wendy Wisner did just that and started feeding her kids dinner at 3:00 pm. After this little change, life suddenly became more pleasant.
She writes:
Sometimes it’s hard to get them together so early, and I’ll admit that sometimes, if they’re really hungry, they’ll eat snacks. But it is doable, and what I cook is nothing special. Pasta, nuggets, grilled cheese, and fruits or vegetables.
They also eat it with pleasure. And this food is of better quality and more filling than the snacks I served them at the time, which only ruined their appetite for dinner. They usually eat this early dinner before doing their homework, which means they are full and happy when it comes time for homework and for the rest of the evening.
… Think about it: our kids go to bed at 8 or so, right? So why should they wait until 6 or 7 to eat?
The Wiesner kids sometimes eat healthy snacks later if they’re hungry – and that’s okay, because they’ve already eaten the main course. And yes, she also dines at noon. “I get up at dawn,” she writes. “I prefer early breakfast, early lunch and early dinner.”
As a parent, you may face several hurdles when using this meal planning strategy. First, it’s not realistic for a full-time worker if you don’t have a caregiver to feed the children. And secondly, how about a family dinner? This is important, right? Even if one parent is at home at 3:00 pm, the other is likely to return later. Is this parent having dinner alone? (If so, then I envy.)
However, even though it’s difficult, if your kids are really really hungry at 3:00 pm, I suggest feeding them dinner at 3:00 pm. Find other ways to get the whole family together (maybe a popsicle at 7:00 pm?). Their body rhythms will change over time, and you won’t always be stuck at lunch before seniors start ordering their early bird specials. But for now and always, you must do what works.
“My kids are having dinner at 15:00, and here’s why” | Scary mommy