In today’s column, Beer is good for you, I wrote about getting through “hell hour “with my kids. Hell hour is that time just before dinner when everyone in the family is tired, hungry, and whiny. I bring out the beer. And I often give my kids a healthy appetizer to keep ‘em quiet.

Anyone else got any good solutions for dealing with “hell hour”?

for me, it was (sorta) loud music while i was cooking supper ... hip-hop/rap, preferably ... when the whining commenced, i would scruntch up my face and say, “whaaaat?! i can’t HEAR you!”

plus it inspired us to dance ... dancing together with the kids around the kitchen and the living room broke the tension many, many nights ...

Nice, Lumina! We’ve done some music therapy as well, although now the kids have opinions. So I, unfortunately, know all the words to all the songs on BOTH High School Musical CDs.

by the time my girl was 5, her dad and brother had both moved out, leaving the house very peaceful most of the time. it was just her and me, and i often had her sit on the kitchen counter and read to me (her older brother had read aloud to me from the kitchen table many nights, and it advanced his reading level from 1st grade to 8th grade in one year!) or “help” with stirring and such. i had it easy by then ... :)

I definitely bring out the beer or the vino.

If I can’t get my son out of the kitchen altogether, I ask him to help me make dinner. He’ll be over there scrubbing taters or chopping something up...and then....suddenly, he’s nowhere to be found.

My problem is keeping them out of the food while I’m still trying to cook it. They’ll dig the food right out of the cooking pot and then run off before I can give them a good smack ;0)