Times have changed, literally.... dinner at 5pm anyone?

No one tells you when you are expecting a baby that your life will become consumed by food and the times in which you need to have them prepared and served by!

The reality of having children and feeding them hit me hard when It would take me all day, to prepare baby food when my eldest now 7, started solids at 6 months, I was completely overwhelmed... making everything from scratch, boiling, cooking, pureeing, placing into tiny containers, labelling and then freezing... I would spend hours doing this for her, and thank fully she loved everything I made her, thanks to Annabel Karmel and her cookbook... without that I think I would have been feeding her puree pear for breakfast lunch and dinner... and we all know how well puree pear works out!

Fast forward 7 years and I am still making food...(The kitchen is now my main place of residence!) for my now three children aged 7, 5 and 1 .... but what really has changed is the times in which meals now occur in my household,  insert REALITY here.... My kids get home from school, and kinder and are STARVING... literally as though I have never fed them a meal, So If I haven't been organised throughout the day with preparing dinner... it is all over...and they will fill up on snacks and not eat a substantial dinner! There fore we eat dinner at 5pm! 5pm.... what the heck? No wonder I end up eating again when they go to bed at night ..... breakfast is no longer at 9am. It is anywhere between 6am -715am, and while I am being honest about things changing... I must admit  I consume three times as much coffee... and wine, and my food intake is generally my kids scraps... sorry Oscar (our dog... who used to get food scraps!) My kids even call me "The left over Mummy"..

My kids are still young, and I do  expect times will start to go back to normal... (Ha! Normal... What's that?) as they get older... but wouldn't it have been nice for someone to say to me when I was expecting... Ënjoy your 8pm dinner dates lady! .......

Anyway, must be off its 2pm and I have dinner to prepare....