The Hour Before Dinner

I don’t know about you but the hour before dinner can be one of the craziest hours of my day. The kids are all home from school, homework needs to be done, and dinner also needs to be started. Can you feel the tension? Me too.

My main purpose during the hour before dinner is to connect with the kids and get dinner ready. I have tried many different strategies to free myself up to be able to focus on the kids.

Change

One change I made a few years ago was putting away my phone so it wouldn’t distract me. This has been helpful so I could focus on the kids.

But, I have been feeling more stressed lately. I realized that something needed to change. But, what could I change? The kids still need me and dinner still needs to be made.

I thought through my afternoon and what added to my stress. That’s when the light bulb came on! Something needed to change with dinner. I could prepare ingredients for dinner during my morning time.

Prepare

So, I tested out my theory. Our dinner the other day was Zucchini Pizza Casserole. I chopped the onions, pepperoni and made sure I had the cheese grated. I also pulled the ground chuck out of the freezer.

That afternoon, I felt much more relaxed. Since I had prepared ahead of time, I was available for our three kids during homework time at the table and other times when they needed me.

When the time came for me to make dinner, I went to the fridge and pulled out my stack of prepared items. The dinner making process went so much smoother for me.

The hour before dinner

Preparing ingredients ahead of time didn’t solve all the hour before dinner problems but it was a step in the right direction for me. It helped me to do what I could do to be a more relaxed and focused Mom for my kids.

What is the hour before dinner like at your house? Hopefully reading about my experience has been helpful to you. Maybe you don’t have time in the mornings or you have younger kids who demand more of your attention to prepare food. Preparing ingredients the night before might be more helpful for you then.

Please comment below and share what has helped you in the hour before dinner. I would love to hear about it!