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Most nights she watches TV while eating a snack otherwise she wants me and I can't be with her and watch the baby and make dinner. On a good night she will draw at her easel or play quietly by herself. Most nights she's watching tv and baby sister is crying her head off while I make dinner on nights DH works till 9.

You need more crock pot meals! And make two night meals so you only have to cook every other night.

If I'm organized enough to do it, I find it helps tremendously to make as much as I can in advance so the nightly process goes quickly. Casseroles are great -- you can assemble the whole thing the night before and just pop it in the oven to heat. Same with crockpot meals, you ax put everything in the insert in advance and then just pull it out of the fridge and drop it into the heating element in the morning. Realistically, though, it's hard to recover if you miss a night of pre-prepping so even though I always mean to do this, it doesn't happen as often as I'd like.

DD is one so she either plays in the next room over, or sits t the fridge and plays with magnets. If she's super clingy or getting herself into trouble, I'll wear her or give her a snack in the high chair. Having a good lineup of quick, easy meals helps! We eat a lot of ground turkey or chicken with pre-cut veggies that I can throw different sauces on to keep it semi interesting. Meal prep on weekends or crockpot would be helpful but i can't bring myself to do it. Wednesday is reserved for pizza night now instead of Friday because it's easier to not have to cook on a work night! Oh and Sunday's I make a two night casserole type of meal, which take care of Monday!

If it's just the two of us she'll play in her play kitchen, which is right outside our kitchen, or she'll play with our letter magnets on the fridge. If she's starting to get in the way, I sometimes turn on the music channel or let her watch some Sprout on my phone.

Also, I don't always have to cook a full dinner, I try to batch cook on the weekends to make my life easier. If I need to make a full dinner I pull out the super quick and easy recipes like pasta or quesadillas.

We frequently prep her dinner the night before. As soon as we get home she is ready to eat so she eats her dinner and watches a show while I cook for DH and I. She takes so long to eat that we have time to cook and eat ourselves before she is do e most of the time.

He watches a show or plays with his cars in the kitchen with me! It's definitely a struggle sometimes and some days are worse than others but you'll get into a good routine!

I don't cook during the week but we eat homemade food every single night. Here's how:

On Sunday, I do batch cooking. I am very picky about what I use the crockpot for, most recipes aren't for me as I don't like "wet" meat. So, I will make something like a pork shoulder and freeze 2 portions and save one for Monday's dinner.

I also do a big portion of protein on Sunday night, like a salmon filet. We'll eat it hot on Sunday, but another night during the week we will use the leftovers in a salad or fish tacos.

Another thing I like to make in bulk/ahead is meatloaf. We can eat it hot one night, and on sandwiches another night. Basically, I like things that I can make ahead and freeze then defrost in the fridge and then heat back up during the week. Curries are great for this, as are soupy things like chili.

I make really easy stuff during the week (last night spicy rice and slices of turkey sausage (steamed broccoli seperate)--like a jambalaya). And lately since I got pregnant again and have so little energy, I started letting LO watch TV while I meal prep. Before pregnancy, I would just set her up with a coloring station or her megablox, which would keep her fairly occupied.

I want to try a kitchen helper, too... I've been waiting for a sale.

Oh! Also sometimes I give LO a chore that takes her a while--like I throw a huge pile of dirty clothes by the washer and she will put it in piece by piece.

We eat leftover from the weekend or super easy stuff. When DH is traveling she watches Mickey will I throw dinner together. Or if he is home and not working still, then he and her play till dinner is ready.

LO is 18 months old and the best new "trick" has been to stand her on a chair at the counter so she can see what's going on. She sometimes has a snack there. When she gets bored, she goes on go-fer duty. Takes bits of garbage one by one and throws it out. I send her to the table with cutlery, one by one. Usually by the time that's all done, supper is almost ready.

When it's just me making dinner, I try to get him to play on his own, which he usually likes to do. Occasionally he'll want to stand in his tower and "help". If I'm making something more complicated that needs more attention, I let him watch an episode of TV.
I'm also obsessive about meal planning. We have meals for every night written on the calendar & I take into consideration our busy days to go "easy". (I'm crazy, I even check the weather forecast, because if it's nice I don't want to be stuck inside stirring something!) It's helped us to be less rushed when we get home and dinner is ready faster.

@mediagirl: I try to make weeknight cooking as easy as possible. I do a lot of freezer cooking by making casseroles and soups ahead of time. Pinterest has a ton of ideas and I really like the cookbook "Don't Panic, Dinner's in the Freezer." I also bulk cook spaghetti sauce, bbq chicken, and taco meat and freeze them in dinner sized portions, so we can make quick meals of spaghetti, sandwiches, tacos, salads, etc. We also do breakfast for dinner once or twice a week.

My daughter plays with magnetic letters on the fridge or sits in her high chair and munches on sliced veggies while my husband or I make dinner.