what does your evening routine look like with school age kid

curlyhead

Tue, Feb 04 2014, 5:29 pm

I struggle to get it everything done after kids come home from school.
How do you find time to make dinner, serve dinner, make lunches, clean kitchen, kids homework, kids chores, give kids attention and bath bedtime for multiple ages. What does your evening routine look like?

I started getting the kids to do their own lunches and chores but I think it makes it harder as I need to motivate them to do it and I cant clean the kitchen till they are finished making their lunches and dependent on the kids doing their chores on time for the evening to run smoothly.

rainbow dash

Tue, Feb 04 2014, 5:45 pm

I make sure that dinner is done before I pick them up and then when they come home I fed them. Then they play, baths at 630 and bed for the little ones 730 and then homework with the big ones. Their in bed by 8.

I do the dishes after they are in bed or the next day. I make the lunches before I go to bed.

It depends if you work during the day etc. Im a stay at home mum, so I clean up and cook during the day.

Good luck.

lk1234

Tue, Feb 04 2014, 8:22 pm

sounds like the kids making lunches business is throwing you off.
I would drop that expectation for now. I know that ideally kids should make their own lunch as it teaches them independence, but it may not be worth it if it throws off your schedule.

They'll be many opportunities for them them to learn to become independent and to make their own lunches. For now focus on simplifying the nighttime routine.

sky

Tue, Feb 04 2014, 8:36 pm

My kids must be younger then yours because they aren't making their own lunches (they do have school lunches, but if not).

I find that having a to do list chart helps a lot for routines - for some kids.

Like the morning routine. Ideally if they are done by a certain time for X number of times we get a reward or daily there is a hot drink.

And an after school routine that includes chores and making lunch and once done other things can be done.

I just find the chart helps me stop nagging and reminding. The chart does it for me (sometimes).

Blue jay

Tue, Feb 04 2014, 8:42 pm

I make lunches at 6:00am in the morning. I wake up a half an hour earlier than the kiddos.

Our nighttime routine ages 5-8

4:30 Pick up from bus, eat dinner, watch some TV until 5:30

5:30 Homework time at the kitchen table while I wash the dishes

6:30 baths every 1-2 days (usually 2-3 in the winter)
wash up and pajamas
7:00 practice some reading, instruments
7:30 I read aloud before bedtime
8:00 ish Bedtime.

Sometimes I have to cook dinner when the kids come home from school, so I let the kids snack on some fruit until dinner at 5:30

I leave room for margin of error, spills, homework problems, conversations. extra laundry , sticky floors etc.

Ruchel

Wed, Feb 05 2014, 6:25 am

Kids come home at 5.

Homework (only dd) is done between coming home and dinner, I may or not remind. It's not my homework.
Any chore is in between 5 and dinner.
I don't do lunches. If you want, tell your kids to make the lunch they want, they have until whatever hour, and if they don't... they won't do it twice Wink

Dinner is 8, 8.30. I don't do early dinner.
Ds goes to bed soon after, dd can go later as long as she can get up in the morning and isn't noisy.
Ds doesn’t go to bed alone, or rarely, so shema etc. dd goes alone. She refuses a routine if I try to “put her to bed” etc LOL

Bathtime is not daily (not good for the skin or necessary in my velt), when it happens I may do only one, or twice at the same time. Before or after dinner.

I give attention when I feel like and when they feel like unless I'm busy. There is no real routine here, sometimes they are mega clingy sometimes hardly want.

Until your kids do most of the bulk of the chores and house care, you set up your house the way it’s best for you Wink

Cleaning falls way back, after most duties lol

tovasara

Wed, Feb 05 2014, 8:24 am

Suggestion about lunches - make two days lunch at a time.

Same about dinners - make two days in advance (on Sunday make for Mon, Tues, on Tues make for Wed,Thurs). It may help minimize the number of evening you have to do major clean up in the kitchen.

amother

Wed, Feb 05 2014, 8:41 am

Kids are 2-7yo.
After picking up kids, we get home at 4.
They hang out with me in kitchen, have a snack, do homework, play, talk...while I finish up dinner prep and set table.
Dinners btwn 5 and 6, we usually wait til dh comes home from work and eat together. If he's late, or they're kvetchy, we eat before dh gets home.
After dinner we go upstairs and have baths every other night. If there's no bath, they have some extra playtime. By 7 they're getting into PJs and brushing teeth. Used to have them all get in bed at once, but started a new Private Bedtime routine that they love, and its wonderful to spend time alone with each kid seperately. Bedtime is staggered, youngest to oldest. Each gets to pick a book and we snuggle up together and read...then they get in bed, and its next kids turn. Oldest is in bed by 8. Then I go downstairs, straighten kitchen, make lunches, wash dishes, etc. Done before 9, and have the rest of the night free to spend on imamother! Lol.

amother

Wed, Feb 05 2014, 8:52 am

amother wrote:

Me again...
I try to prep lunch in advance, like buy a loaf of rye bread and make the entire loaf into cream cheese sandwiches and freese them seperately in sandwich bags. Sometimes buy a dozen bagels, fill and freeze. Or boil up a pot of pasta and use that for lunch everyday. The kids love that. Then making lunch is simple. Grab a brown bag, throw in a drink, a fruit, snack bag and ready prepped sandwhich/bagel/little plastic tub of pasta.

acccdac

Wed, Feb 05 2014, 9:24 am

lk1234 wrote:

my children are in charge of their snacks starting 6 years and up. At 5 I have snacks in bags for them to choose from and I ask them to get them for me. I prepare the actual lunch. 6 and up I dont remind them to prepare their snacks, and I dont punish them if they dont, they know they will be hungry if they dont prepare them.

acccdac

Wed, Feb 05 2014, 9:30 am

dinner needs to be made before the kids come home so it just needs to be warmed up or served. the nights that I do this, my house runs much smoother.

I come home with my kids which makes it hard because they want to relax from their day with their mother and I need to relax from my work day. We all take 10-15 minutes of alone time and have a snack. (kids are ages 3-10). After I start my 7 year old on homework, he does on his own with me monitoring or answering questions when needed but I DO NOT sit with him. 3 year old is occupied with an activity (coloring, helping me around the house, etc). My 10 year old comes home later than us, however he usually starts his homework on his own.

I like to serve dinner when my dh gets home so we can eat together, which is around 6:00-6:30. If he comes home later than that, I serve dinner anywhere from 5:45-6:30.

Baths happen on their own. My children know what needs to be done and by what time. I do not ask them if they've done it, it just gets done. There are consequences when they're not done by the deadline.

I started having my kids clean up dinner. I need to wash dishes or straighten up the kitchen but setting/clearing the table is no longer on me. I do the kitchen once the kids are in bed.

Raisin

Wed, Feb 05 2014, 10:34 am

3-4:30 teaching kids supplemental kodesh
4:30/5pm make supper and make sure kids are doing homework.
6/6:30 serve supper, if time clean up kitchen (two nights cleaner comes and helps with this, also I have 2 dishwashers, still, on the nights the cleaner is not there I can't say my kitchen looks perfect)
7 bathe baby and older dd (older dd every other night) feed baby and put to sleep
8:30 send 9 year old to bed, shower if needed, finish clean up kitchen if needed
9pm send 12 yer old to bed and shower if needed