Posted on 09/08/2025 4:38:47 PM PDT by Mariner
I used to tease my parents that if they started eating dinner at 4:30 or 5 p.m., it was the first official sign of old age. And because they have a good sense of humor, whenever they would hop out for an early bird special, they would call me from the restaurant to say, “It’s 5 p.m. and we’re having dinner!”
While it’s no surprise that there are plenty of retirees and parents with little kids who dive into their dinners before many people have wrapped up work, that’s starting to shift. Younger people, particularly Gen Z-ers, are getting on board the early train, with some posting about #EarlyDinner on TikTok. “The stereotype around early dinners being for retirees is fading,” Yelp trend expert Tara Lewis tells Yahoo. “These days, a 5 p.m. dinner is just as much for young professionals, wellness-focused diners and casual friend group meet-ups. In many cities, an early reservation is just as desirable as the once-coveted 8 p.m. table.”
That’s the case for Jennifer Mathews, a personal chef and writer whose ideal dinner time is 5 o’clock sharp. “By the time most people are browsing menus at eight, I’m already in pajamas bingeing Netflix,” she tells Yahoo. Do her friends ever tease her about her preference for eating dinner while the sun is still up? “Constantly,” she says. “I’ve been called everything from an 8-year-old to a senior citizen. Apparently, I’ve skipped right over adulthood and gone straight to the early bird special years.”
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
Not necessarily. Check out “Generation Jones”.
I’ve never identified with Boomers but do ID with the Jonesers ;^)
Breakfast with eggs/toast/bacon or waffles!
Lunch and pm snacks.
Dinner
Post dinner snacks
Same here. To the minute.
“””As in, born in 1966, or 66 years old? Cause last time I looked anyone 66 years old is a bona fide Boomer.”””””””
Actually, they would be Generation Jones like me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Jones
I’m a Boomer. When I was a kid, we always had dinner at 5 p.m.
Never heard of it
My mother insisted we eat as a family also. I’m not sure why because nary a word was spoken. I lived in the house for 18 years and my father and I never had a conversation.
Only Sunday has dinner at noon. At least, to my parents.
*** My mother didn’t work.***
Your mother worked, but she wasn’t paid for doing it.
Perhaps you need to read the actual book titled “Generation X”, since your timeline seems a bit skewed. The book has gen X starting around 1960, but apparently GenX runs from 1965-ish to 1985-ish
Those in the 1955-1965 cohort are actually “Generation Jones”, since most of them entered the job market during a major economic contraction and they were “jonesing” for jobs, since most major employers were downsizing and “rightsizing”.
We sat down to eat today at 8:30pm and that felt a little early. I’ve served dinner (yes, I know, but last meal was always dinner) anywhere from 4:30p to 1am, even for holiday meals like Christmas or New Years. Even when we had house parties for the holidays we would eat well after 6. Eating out with friends who had to eat at 5 was always tough and we’d have to find compromise times.
It’s whenever I feel like it. Could be 4:00 PM, 5:00 PM or 9:00 PM.
6pm to 7pm here.
In my family growing up, Dad walked in the door at 5:55. At 6 pm, the evening news was on. He’d have a cocktail while the National news was on. Dinner was at 7.
And if my brothers worked late that day, we held dinner until whenever they got finished with their work day (blue collar family business.) Dinner at 8 was not unheard of.
Fast forward to my life with late-working husband and children. I wanted us to eat dinner together, as it was when I grew up. Hubby worked 12 hour days. Gone at 6:30, home at 6:30. (We lived less than 5 minutes from his job, so maybe 11-1/2 hour days). Dinner was usually around 7.
All the while, I watched our other neighbors have dinner at 5 pm. It perplexed me. Not remotely doable for us.
Kids in bath after dinner, then bed. Bedtime was 8 pm. It was as soon as I could handle. Sometimes it would sneak into 8:30. As they got older and had projects, it turned into 9 pm bedtime. Thankfully, our youngest just wanted to go to sleep. Our oldest was a night owl, like me. Always pushing the boundaries. The middle kid was somewhere in between the two.
My husband worked long hours, but when he was home, he was present. Lots of conversations with the family. Everyone.
These days? We are empty nesters. He still works until 6 pm (if not later), every day. After that, we take a walk to decompress from his workday. Some days we talk about his work and what’s going on. Other days, he doesn’t want to discuss it, so we talk about my day. I guess you can say I’m retired, but I work everyday around the house and yard, doing yard work and housework, depending what’s needed. I’m a decent Jack of all trades.
Dinner is usually around 7 or 7:30 depending on the complexity of what I’m making, or if he’s firing up the smoker. I enjoy making meals from scratch. They taste better, cost less, plus you know what’s in it.
We are both a bit of night owls. Usually head to bed around 11. Sometimes it’s later. Rarely is it earlier, though on occasion that does happen. We get up around 7 or 7:30. He works from home now, so he can be “in the office” by 8. If he starts without coffee or breakfast, I make it and bring it to him. We usually only eat two real meals, with snacks like cheese or fruit during the day if needed.
Works for us.
Sounds good.
Ditto. I was born in 1960, which makes me a Boomer ('46 to '64), but I never had anything in common with any of those hippies that were born in the late '40s and early '50s. I was 8 years old when they were getting stoned at Woodstock.
Sounds like fake news to me. In that case Boomers are from ‘46 to’53 ... a 7 year generation??? Ludicrous!
You and I could make dinner plans together without a problem. I’m used to later dinners.
It’s much healthier to eat your last meal by 6pm
We called it supper, and it was expected soon after he got home around 4pm from the base. I think my friends’ families ate in the 6 to 7 range, whether or not their dads were in the military.
Dinner was around mid-day on Sundays and on Christmas, Resurrection Day and Thanksgiving.
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