I have to have dinner ready by 5:30 so DH can eat before he leaves for his second job at 6. This means that the dcks (who usually leave between 4:45 and 5:30) see/smell dinner cooking and hear me discussing it with DH and DD. They usually end up assuming that they are eating it too (despite me trying to explain that they aren't) and have been known to throw fits about it when they get picked up. I like to eat as a family so usually dinner is ready for us to eat the second the last dck walks out the door.
One DCB occasionally doesn't leave until after 5:30--in which case I just have DH eat or DH and the kids, while I stay downstairs with dcb. However, he usually ends up begging to eat dinner too, playing the "I'm so very hungry" card. It makes me feel mean, but...I know he's going to have dinner at home with his parents and I don't really WANT to feed him again. What complicates the issue is that sometimes he does stay for dinner with us when both parents work late (retail jobs), so it's hard for him to understand when he's late but not late enough to eat dinner, if that makes any sense. He's doing it today, and I know he legitimately IS hungry...because he decided not to eat the perfectly good snack I made. I feel mean...but I'm sticking to me "no I'm not feeding you" guns because it was his choice not to eat snack.
Anyway, both things--dcks nagging early and this dcb nagging late, as well as the temper tantrums--make me feel rude although the truth is I have no interest in feeding them all three meals of the day and I HAVE to make dinner this early. I don't think I should feel so uncomfortable in my own house like this.
1. Am I wrong for cooking dinner when they can see/hear/smell it?
2. Am I wrong for not wanting to share with them (except in certain circumstances)?
3. Am I being petty and ridiculous for feeling irked and annoyed about this even being an issue?
One DCB occasionally doesn't leave until after 5:30--in which case I just have DH eat or DH and the kids, while I stay downstairs with dcb. However, he usually ends up begging to eat dinner too, playing the "I'm so very hungry" card. It makes me feel mean, but...I know he's going to have dinner at home with his parents and I don't really WANT to feed him again. What complicates the issue is that sometimes he does stay for dinner with us when both parents work late (retail jobs), so it's hard for him to understand when he's late but not late enough to eat dinner, if that makes any sense. He's doing it today, and I know he legitimately IS hungry...because he decided not to eat the perfectly good snack I made. I feel mean...but I'm sticking to me "no I'm not feeding you" guns because it was his choice not to eat snack.
Anyway, both things--dcks nagging early and this dcb nagging late, as well as the temper tantrums--make me feel rude although the truth is I have no interest in feeding them all three meals of the day and I HAVE to make dinner this early. I don't think I should feel so uncomfortable in my own house like this.
1. Am I wrong for cooking dinner when they can see/hear/smell it?
2. Am I wrong for not wanting to share with them (except in certain circumstances)?
3. Am I being petty and ridiculous for feeling irked and annoyed about this even being an issue?
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