Meal times. Why?

Good thinking, jess.

The more I read of the irritations and foibles and complaints that other people have to put up with, the more I appreciate what reasonable and understanding people I live with! If I mention that I'm going to have a rest (sometimes I just go and lie down without a word) I might get a nod from one of my 'housemates', but nothing more.

I provide an evening meal for when Dh is expected home because he's usually starving. He doesn't bother to take a packed lunch or buy something. More fool him; I'm not doing it for him; he's an adult. At weekends, I sometimes say it's a "feed yourself day" because I can't be bothered to cook. They get on with it from the usually well-stocked home stores.

Silly old them granny23 - and rude too.
You could regain the moral high ground by declaring that you "meditate for an hour every afternoon"

I am still bound by school and work hours, so our mealtimes are pretty well set in stone.

But, both my mother and my parents in law are absolutely inflexible when it comes to their mealtimes. They are all in their eighties and get extremely agitated if, for example, lunch is ten minutes late.

Everyone has a personal clock I think and the joy of being retired is to be able to go with the flow rather than at the dictates of your employment etc. I am a morning person so tend to wake and be up by 6 or 7 and then potter through the morning and after lunch tend to sit and read or whatever for an hour and often drop off for a while - nothing wrong with that - perfectly normal for my body - by 5pm I am good for nothing - have a bit of a blip by say 7 and totter to bed often between 9 and 10. Mind you if we are out to a party etc - I can dance all night!!! Sod the body clock.

Oh, the joys of living alone and being retired! I wake very early but often nod off in the afternoon which always feels luxurious. I eat what and when I like - I also need much less food now even though I am more active than I ever was when I was working. I wait until I have a hunger pang before I eat.
My days are differentiated by the TV programmes I watch. I have to remember that my little local supermarket is closed on Mondays, as are many restaurants, and of course the big supermarkets here now open on Sunday mornings, but only until 12.30.

I quite agree that we are all entitled to set our own rules about our own lives, as long as they do not inconvenience others. I feel a bit guilty now, remembering how we used to tease our mother when she fell asleep on a Sunday afternoon, having worked all week and done the washing for six people without a washing machine, and cooked a large Sunday lunch. It was accepted that men would go to bed on Sunday afternoons, after their lunch and a couple of pints.

NO ga I am sleep typing.

I am usually awake until around three but it is unusual to see you still active at this time. Off to bed now and hoping I will not be back up in an hour taking my restless legs for a walk. Night All

Granny23; I always used to have a nap in the afternoon. I like staying up late [as you can see] and I work mornings, so I used to go home and sleep for a couple of hours. Used to do it a lot when the kids were teenagers as well because, living in a village I used to have to get up in the middle of the night to taxi them around. Don't seem to have my naps any more, and I do miss them. As for meals, I eat when I feel like eating, but when the S.O. comes round at the weekend we have a proper evening meal. I do have a problem at weekends in that, on my days off I like to wake up when I wake up, but the S.O. being a morning person wakes me up [not deliberately]. I keep wanting to ask him not to come round one weekend but can't pluck up the courage to say so [he only lives a few hundred yards up the road!].

isthis . Yes, it was a daft question! My only excuse is that it's after 1am and I'm not functioning as I oughta!!

No.

Are you both still awake isthis and Granny23?

Oh God, Granny23! The value judgements people pass on us, I agree.

I agree with you wholeheartedly. I was never a breakfast person but had to force myself to eat something before going to work. Now I usually have 'brunch' about midday and an evening meal around 6.30 - 7.00. DH gets his evening meal when I choose to make it but can please himself, as to what and when he eats throughout the day.

My annoyance is to do with sleeping patterns. Everybody and their Granny seems to take exception to my preference for short nights supplemented by afternoon naps. I am constantly accused of decadent behaviour for being in bed during the hours of daylight. I have no problem with people who drag themselves out of bed, in the dark, at 6.30 on a midwinter morning for no good reason other than 'it is time to get up'. I wish they would afford me the same courtesy.

I'm still feeding the five thousand (okay, slight exaggeration, but close) so we still eat at sevenish in the evening. I do enjoy our family mealtime and enjoy the opportunity to chat with my husband and our sons. On the rare occasions I'm alone though I revel in eating what I please and when I please.
My husband and I are still busy during the week, so weekends remain different. My husband is ten years younger than me so that by the time he retires I'll probably be desperate for a slower pace of life and will be very happy to have every day feeling like the weekend.