How many moms (or dads) plan real meals most nights at home?

I'm a single mom, working 6 days a week. I feel it is important to have dinner as a family. My child and I sit down for dinner 6 days out of the 7. This is where we get to air our day, sit down together, thank God for our many blessings and the food that we are about to eat. We both participate with the cooking and the cleaning. This helps build responsibility, and character. On Friday nights, we dine out! TGIF!!! I feel this is also an important ritual of our week, as this helps children with their table manners, how to order their own food, and how to treat waitress/Waiter with respect and courtesy. And to be rewarded for another week done! Its a time to relax and enjoy ourselves. This is also considered a treat. I permit my pre teen to have a soft drink, which I don't typically buy unless we are dining out. Now breakfasts these days are fast and easy. Not by choice but by schedule and situation. A few examples: Cereal or cereal bars, banana, milk, once in awhile muffins in winter and pancakes. The occasional pop tart. My child is okay with that. I'm no Betty Crocker, but I have the heart of her.

I guess the bottom line is to organize your priorities. Our household income is below the poverty level since I quit my job to stay home with my child and 2 school age step children. Gone are the expensive dinners out, we have two older cars, there are no more fun spend-sprees, I no longer have the cool new shoes every couple weeks, and I no longer fly to see my out of state best friend a couple times a year. But you know, I wouldn't trade those things for the world. Already my daughter is nearing 2.5 yrs old, saying the funniest things, and amazing me every day. I know that this part of my life is short--she's already half way to kindergarten, at which point I'll go back to work. Honestly, I can look over my life and do I really appreciate at this moment all that money I spent on clothes and things etc, before? No, now I think about how far a $3,000 spending spree weekend with my girlfriends would go--how many diapers and groceries could I buy with that etc. We don't have extra money, but we did not have debit before I stopped working, and we are very careful. Although we are eligible, we do not accept ANY state or private assistance (no wic, fuel assistance, food stamps, nothing) and frankly, I'm proud of that. I am proud that we are able to be resourceful and make it on our own--even when society says we shouldn't be able to. I clip coupons, buy generic foods, plant a garden in the summer, buy second hand clothes and mend the ones we have, participate in my local freecycle, and browse the web for local deals. If you truly wish to make the sacrifice, it IS possible. That said, this was MY choice, and there is nothing wrong with wanting to maintain your standard of living and work. Being a teacher allows you extra early evenings home (as opposed to a 9-5) and summers off which is still a great deal of mommy-baby time. Either way, I can tell by your question that you are a great and loving mom and want to do the best by your child so I'm sure you will fine no matter what you choose. Good luck to you.

Well, I work full time, have a meal planning -clueless DH (sorry, but it is true), 4 step sons and a toddler. When the boys were still home (they are now older and moved out), we ate at home every night. They used to bring their friends, and I think they liked to "freak out" the ones who didn't eat family meals.

Now that it is usually just DH, me, and my daughter, we still eat as a family almost every night. The exceptions are when Daddy is doing something with the older kids (men, actually) and isn't home. At that point, we might have leftovers, or make a fire in the fireplace and roast hot dogs.

When DH was away for a few months in the winter, my daughter and I used to rent a movie one night a week and eat cheese fondue and veggies. That's as close to a non-dinner as we got. Even then, we'd pick out the movie together, and watch it together.

I want to make sure that she eats real food. Also, I miss her all day, and don't want to just sit her somewhere and ignore her when we get home.

It does take time, but because I've been doing this for so long, I can usually get dinner on the table within half an hour. We grill a great deal, buy rinsed salad, and I cook things like tomato sauce on the weekends. You could feed a family of five for a week from my freezer.

I'd love to be a stay at home Mom, but we do need to eat. Enjoy it!

I work a full time job, and run an ebay store. I have 5 children, and 2 more on the way.

We used to make a lot of junk for dinners. A lot of pizza, frozen stuff, fish sticks - really, crap. I was always tired, thought if I can just get something on the table, it was fine.

I was overweight. My oldest son & younger daughter were also overweight. We were tired. And not really wanting to do anything but watch tv. Then my oldest son was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, and it changed our lives.

We incorporated exercise into our daily routines - bought a dog, bought a PS2 with dance pads & dance games. Now, instead of sitting around watching TV or playing video games, they ride bikes or if it's raining we'll do dance revolution.

I started the south beach diet. Incorporated into our regular meals. Fresh meat, salads, healthy dinners instead of hamburger helper and chicken patties with fries. I have found that grilling real chicken breast or steaks - is far more quicker & easier than casseroles. I can make a full dinner in less than 30 minutes, complete with sweet baked potatoes.

I lost about 50 pounds. My son's arthritis is in remission. My daughter's in a dance class. They're not as tired & crabby all the time as they used to be. And reaching for apples and string cheese, instead of chips.

Yeah, we'll have pizza once in awhile. Eat eggo waffles for breakfast. But for the most part, we're healthier. And happy.

It doesn't matter if you're a stay at home mom making meals - it's that you're a good mom making healthy meals. And it doesn't take long to make a real dinner. And for us - dinner is the only meal that I can make sure that they're eating real food. And, knowing that I've maintained a better lifestyle, it's so much easier this pregnancy keeping a good tab on my weight gain with the twins!

I believe it is very common for families to have home cooked meals for dinner. I know I do, of course I also have those "cereal" nights too on occasion. It depends on the family and what is going on. I have those "cereal" nights less often now that I'm a stay at home mom, but even when I was working, I made most of our dinners.

We cannot avoid the time issue. As for me, there were still a number of moms and dads who have exerted great effort in planning meals. If you love your family, you will be concerned on their health particularly the food that they eat. Make it a habit to plan healthy meals. With the healthy family meal ideas you'll find in http://www.mealplans4thefamily.com/, your stand as a parent will not be questioned but be admired.

THANKYOU!!!

What a good mom! I do stay at home and have for 8 years. I love it, but it's hard work. Meals are something I focus on too. When I looked at our check register a couple of years ago and realized how much we ate out, I was mortified. Now, we eat at home except for Friday nights and Sundays after church. My kids don't even want to eat out now. If I say we are, they say "Why can't we just eat here?"

That makes me feel good. Thankyou for being a mom (working or not) and caring enough for your kids to set a good example and not cram them full of junk!

I make dinner for my husband and daughter every night. I think it's really important to build good eating habits young and to have family time. I am a stay at home mom. It' pretty cool to hear there are other people that care that much about there children. Obviously the people joking about feeding there kids cereal aren't taking parenting seriously.

In this day and age it seems pretty uncommon for families to eat together, let alone have a parent cook a meal.

I am happy to say that we are NOT one of those families, we sit down for supper every night to a meal that has been cooked from scratch. I don't cook from frozen, we don't eat processed or packaged food (no Kraft Dinner, or nuggets etc.). If we have chicken nuggets I have made them, we even make our own pizza (yes, I make the dough, let it rise blah blah blah). At breakfast it's just my son (age 8) and I,husband leaves the house at 6am and lunch is at school :)

When my son was a baby I made his food, never did I buy the jars. bleck!

Yes, we have lives, my husband coaches football, my son plays football etc. but we all manage to sit down at the table and share a meal and our day.

I am a stay at home Mom and I cook supper 5-7 nights aweek. But honestly, I know of very few Mom's who do. I make roasts, or steak or chicken, spagetti. Sometimes burgers or hotdogs on the grill. Some nights grilled cheese and fries or canned soup. Chilly, beef stews