I missing cooking dinner wholeheartedly

[snlmommy]

Random silly complaint.
I enjoy cooking. Unless my husband pisses me off. lol

But ever since baby, all my dinner is whatever is the fastest. What can I whip up within 30min-1hr(maybe).
LO goes to bed between 6:30-7:30. Which is around dinner time. And I like putting her to bed and doing the routines. So I’m rushing to cook. Eat(if I have time). And put her down. Husband will probably do half ass job. Nor does he cook or put baby down. (Maybe when she’s older..walking)

I just want to make a nice loving, I put in the effort, dinner. Dinner that takes longer than 30min to prep and cook. Without feeling rushed. You know?

Edit: my husband does watch the baby while I cook. It’s not that he doesn’t want to help. He just really can’t cook. I don’t want to eat his cooking anyways. And like I said I like to put the baby down. And husband doesn’t get home until 5pm.
Even if he helps, it’s not realistic to spend 1-2 hours prepping/cooking anymore with a baby and how tired I am.

Edit edit: omg okay I should’ve left out my husband. And re-worded my story better. Im sorry. I’m not the best at explaining things/feelings. I appreciate everyone tips on dinner and prepping early. And having husband help.
The point is, if you ever watched Master Chef. lol I miss having time and leisure to prep and cook 4/5 star meals without interruptions. For those who get that feeling understands.

 

[1joy1]

@snlmommy Solidarity, I was a chef before becoming a mom. I need my husband to take our son if I want to cook a good meal the way I find enjoyable. Even with his help, there are a lot of days I’m just too tired.

 

[wren84]

@snlmommy Sounds like you have a husband problem. Tell him he needs to pick up the slack!

 

[snlmommy]

@wren84 My husband does watch the baby while I cook. It’s the racing with bedtime that’s hard. He doesn’t get home until 5pm from work. And like I said bedtime is 6:30-7:30. So I only have so much time. I try to prep a head when I can.
Just missing being able to spend the heart into cooking a 1+hour dinner.

 

[kidkaos2]

@snlmommy Eventually you’ll be able to leave your kid in front of the tv or with a toy or something for 30 min so you can prep dinner before he gets home! It won’t last forever

 

[wren84]

@snlmommy I would just be a little more flexible with bedtime then. Maybe push a nap to later in the afternoon, so you can push bedtime back by 30 minutes or so

 

[snlmommy]

@wren84 If LO lets me. lol she’s almost 6mo. On 3 naps. Depends on when she wakes up, how long her naps are. 30min or 2hours.

 

[wren84]

@snlmommy Or just push bedtime back in general! Doesn’t need to involve changing naps. That extra 30 minutes might help you get more cooking done if that’s what you enjoy.

My point was you said he doesn’t cook or put the baby down to sleep. That’s not very fair to you, and it seems like he needs to step up!

 

[seekinghope]

@snlmommy Have the baby go to bed before you even start dinner. We didn't start having family meals until my girls were significantly older (like 2nd grade).

 

[jacknorth]

@wren84 At my house we trade, whoever wants to cook the other one keeps the kids in the living room for however long it takes the other person to finish cooking.

 

[bynom]

@snlmommy Preach!!! It doesn't help that ingredients are so outrageously expensive. A lot of the fancy complicated meals I used to make just aren't realistic anymore, both because of time and cost

 

[snlmommy]

@bynom Right? I’m look at recipes for crock pot or one pan meals now.

 

[yaoshi]

@snlmommy You can’t cook a meal while also watching your baby.

Why can’t your husband parent his child while you prepare dinner?

 

[kidkaos2]

@snlmommy “Can’t cook” is a cop out. I’m not taking away from your wants/needs and I totally get how you feel. I miss cooking elaborate dinners too. I just don’t have the energy anymore!!

But your husband can also 100% learn how to cook if he wants to. Following a recipe isn’t hard

 

[maurits]

@snlmommy Same!!! Pre-baby I loved trying new recipes. To be completely honest, my picky child has sucked that joy from me completely. Maybe one day again, hopefully.

 

[snlmommy]

@maurits Yes. Pre-baby leisures lol

 

[epassenglish]

@snlmommy It took me a good 6 months postpartum after each kid before I could manage to put together a good dinner at an appropriate time. Now my kids are 3 and 1 and planning for dinner is literally my entire day. I need to decide what meal we’re having at least a day in advance. When I’m really on top of it, I’ll plan what’s for dinner for the whole week. This helps me waste less groceries too. If there are a lot of components I will pull out all ingredients the night before. And then I’ll spend the whole day prepping little by little so I haven’t saved all the work for right before the meal needs to be ready. So I chop all the veggies I need in the morning. Or even pre cook some components if I get the opportunity. I’ll take out all the pots and pans and utensils I’ll need hours in advance just so everything is ready to go, a few less steps to think about. By the time I need to cook, it’s a simple as heating things up. It’s never too complicated, we stick to a meat, veggie, starch model. If the veggie part is a side salad, well that’s easy, I can make that in the morning, and then I’m only worrying about two other parts of dinner. I usually go easy on the starch, instant mash or rice a roni, simple as boiling water. And if you’re open to screen time, use that tool! I make sure not to give my kids too much tv throughout the day so that when dinner time rolls around and I need them to not need me for a good hour, I can put something on and it’s a treat for them and gives me the uninterrupted time I need to put a meal together. Also, if making a good dinner each night is important to you, start incorporating that into the family schedule, involve baby. Soon enough they’ll be eating with you so that inevitably means your new dinner time will become closer to 5:30 to accommodate their bedtime schedule. That was something my husband and I noticed early on when we were trying to make meals at the exact time the baby needed the most tending to. Bump it all up an hour or two and it becomes a different experience. Sorry this is so long winded, just thought I had some relevant experience to share. Getting into a consistent routine has done wonders for my personal and household well being. It is challenging and takes effort but is not impossible.

 

[snlmommy]

@epassenglish I hope I can get into that routine. Mine LO is still 6mo.

 

[00sweetpea00]

@snlmommy I miss cooking, too. I am hoping to involve my baby in the process more now that she can stand up and walk on her own and she knows the terms for different stuff, like "bowl" or spoon, or the food ingredients in the fridge.

Edit edit: omg okay I should’ve left out my husband. And re-worded my story better. Im sorry. I’m not the best at explaining things/feelings.

Nah, you did fine. I feel sorry that people gave you so much flack for being honest.

 

[snlmommy]

@00sweetpea00 Yeah I can’t wait until mine is older and start learning cooking items. It’ll be fun making food with her(I think lol).

I know everyone is being helpful about preparations and time management. I really was just trying to say I miss not even having to plan like that before I had kids. I just… cooked. Whenever. However. For however long. Ya know…?