Does anyone fancy critiquing my evening routine?

[Timeforanothernewone]

Just for a bit of fun really. Be interested to see if anyone can help me cut some corners or if anyone would run their evening different to me. Love to hear about your evening routines too.

Anyone fancy it?

You start....

6.45 get home and hope the children have been fed
6.55 give children a snack to make them stop asking to watch tv
7-9 argue with children about going to bed
9 - sleep

I fell asleep puttig the baby to bed! Sorry... Not a great start.

4 - boys have dinner
4.40 - DH home. Dh plays with boys while I tidy up from the chaos of the day. Put away dry washing, tidy kitchen, etc. Join DH and boys to chill/chat/play
5.45 (ish) - make porridge and milk for DH and boys try to maximise his time with boys and give me some child free time!!
6.15 g- DH takes toddler up for bath while i feed baby
6.25 - swap kids. Dh baths baby, I do today PJ's and start story.
6.30 story for toddler with dh. I put baby into PJ's and feed --normally fail to put to sleep and bring him downstairs
Toddler asleep by about 6.45.
6.45 - DH studies. I look after baby/chill/tidy up. Generally try to finish the tidying. I run up and down to baby about five times if he has gone down!!
9 - DH finishes studying and then we start to think about dinner. Usually something from the microwave. Sometimes watch half an hour of telly if we get chance.
10 - bed

Going to sleep now anyway! Will check in tomorrow morning

I eat with the kids about 5.30. No hope of evening otherwise

I am lucky because my DP works five mins from home so we can all eat tea together most evenings (I am SAHM of toddler). Then DP and I share the evening jobs 50:50.

5.15 Teatime, followed by kitchen tidy up
6.15 Bathtime for toddler and bedtime routine.
7pm toddler in bed; usually one of us has to sit in with her til she nods off about an hour later
Meanwhile other person will do living room tidy up, any ironing, etc
8pm-10pm downstairs reading/ tv/ Internet. sometimes I will cook something for tomorrow's lunch eg soup or savoury muffins
10pm go to bed and read until fall asleep

I know this is quite a lucky and privileged routine with a big chunk of free time

Why’re you eating porridge at tea time?

If it's a work day then:

5.30ish get dc3 (6) from childcare
5.45 start dinner
6.00-6.30 dinnertime
After dinner all kids do homework whilst I clear up the kitchen then Dc3 is allowed gadget time until 7.30. Older dc do what they like after homework
7.30 play for half an hour with Dc3
8.00 - 8.30 shower/jammies/story in bed for Dc3
8.30 onwards spend evening with dc1&2, could be watching TV, helping with homework, watching them show me something on their gadget, sorting washing.
9ish dc2 shower then bed
10/10.30 Dc1 goes to bed
11/11.30 I go to bed and read until I fall asleep

OP, I can't really remember what it was like having a toddler and a baby (older dc are 15 & 12) so if your evening works then no need to change...you'll just think you have it cracked when it will all change organically.

Id cook a larger meal at 4 of which the kids can eat some of, putting most aside for you and dh. you and dh can sit ans eat together at 7. Dh can then go off and study and you tale baby to bed.

Can you not all eat together at about 5? That way the DC won't need the porridge and you and DH aren't eating so late and can spend some time together. This is how we work it on the days I don't work and it seems to work for us. Actually feel like we get a bit of a evening m.

I'm sahm

5pm dh comes home

5.30pm we all eat dinner

6pm talk to dh while he's in the bath,bathroom is downstairs so ds might pop in too whilst playing

6.30pm play with ds then do quick tidy up

7pm ds in bed

7.15pm watch a series or film with dh

10pm bed

Today’s was really easy as DH is out (poor DH, he gets home and then DS gets a massive second wind of yay daddy’s home plaaaay play!)

6.30 have dinner
7-7.45 play trains in the living room and watch peppa
7.45. - put nappy and pjs on, brush teeth (DS usually gets a shower in the morning, the bath wakes him up)
8 - 2 stories and a breastfeed on the big bed
8.20 fast asleep
(He’s 2.4)

I've got older pre-teens but here we go: typical work/school evening

4pm - drive DD and myself home
4:30-5:00 - feed and sort out animals (wide variety including pony)
5:00-6:00pm - make dinner whilst having homework battles with DD and Ds
6:00-6:15pm - dinner
6:15 - 8:30pm - take DS to sports training (4 night per week) do extra work whilst he trains
9:00-9:30pm - persuade kids to read, wash, teeth and sleep....do laundry if time..
9:30_10:30pm - chill...MN or TV
10:30pm - sleep

And up again at 6am for animals again...

4 pm: I start preparing dinner whilst 4yo dd loses it over something ridiculously small (too much talking on the radio ). Quickly passes through a predictable cycle of utter screaming rage (which I ignore), then sadness, then very contrite and dramatic requests for a snotty hug (I wash the raw chicken off my hands and oblige).

4:30: I give dd a croissant and she's all sunshine and light. We chat for a bit then I get dinner in the oven for 5pm.

5pm: alternate between playdough with dd, job applications and occasionally poking/seasoning dinner.

6pm: dh home. Check on dinner, but it is taking longer than expected so dh plays with dd whilst I empty dishwasher, tidy up etc.

6:30pm: We eat together.

7pm: DD runs around like a mad thing as she is definitely not tired. Normally dh does bedtime, but today I do.

7:15pm: Take dd upstairs. She says she needs a poo. The toilet is her favourite place to have long chats. The strict topic of discussion is villains in Disney Princess films. Malificient is compared to the crab in Moana etc. Neither of us know the name of the witch/queen in Snow White. DD has some suggestions.

7:30pm: dd finishes on the loo. We brush teeth and head for bed.

7:45: still reading stories. She is about to drop off at any moment

8:00: Still reading stories. dd so sleepy and about to drop off at any moment.

8:30: Still reading stories.

etc.

9:30: dh wakes me up. I feel very groggy and take a while to summon the motivation to head downstairs.

9:45. Downstairs. Make peppermint tea. Sit down at the computer to send Very Important Email.

10:00 dh heads to bed. I am V. tired and should follow him immediately. I quickly check facebook and mumsnet first (big mistake).

11:15: Start typing out long response to thread. Why?

11:30: Bed.

Flipping hell that sounds blissful!! Husband home by 4:40. Toddler in bed by 6:45! Why the hell would you want to change it??

My evening routine on a work day.

4pm Leave the kids with SIL and Drive to work
5pm Commence work and leave it all to DH
11pm Arrive home to a house not quite as tidy as I left it but everyone is in bed and I get some quiet time to myself before falling asleep

5:30 we all have dinner, usually 3 different dinners I have cooked due to fussy gits. We all try to encourage DS to try a vegetable..from look at. DD eating hers, to we must tell Santa then.

6:30pm everyone does a chore,me & DP doing the majority whilst the kids abandon theirs in favour of devices/tv
7:30pm Kids shower/ cut toenails/ look For nits.
8pm reading with DS or discussing the latest YouTube video/ Kiki challenge with DD. DD makes everyone tea/coffee/biscuit/fruit snack
8:30pm Attempt to put DS to bed...he will fall asleep anytime between now & 9:15pm. If DP has the pleasure I usually watch tv, if it’s me he does the usual social media.
DD will decide now is the best time to film herself doing a make up tutorial 🙄

9:30pm DD is supposed to be winding down for bed, lights out at 9:45pm. DP leaves for work/or showers if he’s at home.
I water plants.

10pm- midnight= mindless phone scrolling/ adding stuff to online baskets that I never actually buy/watching tv & having a cheeky fag.

we have Me DH DDage1 DSage3

5.15 DH home from work we all eat tea together

5.45 DH baths both kids while I potter tiding the kitchen and living room

6ish We all go into living room and have "quiet time" which is settling them fown ready for bed with a glass/bottle of milk and a small biscuit and either watch simpsons or ceebies bedtime hour

6.30/6.45 we take both kids to bed they share a room. DH settles baby in her cot while I read DS3 a story.

7pm Normally fast asleep then me and DH go straight to bed ourselves and chill.

5:20 get home from work
5:30 collect DS toddler from daycare
5:45 DS watches Tv, plays with toys while I make his dinner
6pm DH arrives home - stories and play time with daddy while I sort things out for bed/bath routine
6:45 DH baths toddler
7pm milk and cuddles for DS
7:15pm teeth and bed (usually asleep straight away)
7:30pm DH cooks dinner, I tidy house, get everyone's clothes out for tomorrow, put away laundry
8pm - 9:30 dinner, chat, tv, house admin,
930pm bed for me, DH stays up for a bit

Really interesting evening routines. I must be boring that I find it so fascinating

To answer a couple of questions. Dh finishing at four is a new thing as I go back to work next week, starting at 5. Dinner for toddler at four seems to work quite well currently because no matter how big of a snack I give at three, he's starving by four. I'm not making two evening dinners. Dh is also on a really restrictive diet that I don't particularly fancy catering for.

I guess I feel that I get very little evening down time and spend too much time tidying up. I suppose with a 19mo and a 7mo is it really any surprise though

4.00pm DH home, plays with toddler while I cook
5.00pm Have dinner & clean up
6.00pm Ds watches whatever his latest favourite programme is (changes daily)
6.30pm DS bath & pjs
7.00pm DS bed, tidy up any toys
7.30pm Relax together /DH shower
10.00pm Bed

4pm finish work and pick up kids from childcare
4.30 home, kids sort out school bags and chill out for a bit, I do any Jobs that need doing (bathrooms/laundry/shopping list etc)
5.30 boys sit at kitchen worktop and do homework while I cook dinner
6pm Dinner
6.30 the boys sort themselves out for bed and do their chores while dh cleans kitchen from dinner and I drink coffee
7pm read or play LEGO or board games with dh and kids.
7.30 Ds2 in bed
7.45 Ds1 in bed
8pm Crash on the sofa while dh makes next days lunches.
10.30 bed, asleep ready to get up at 6.30am to take boys to childcare for 7am and start work at 7.30am

At the moment, because of school holidays:

5pm pick DS2 up from holiday club
5.30pm put TV on for DS2, make dinner, put DS2 in pj's
6pm have dinner
8pm put DS2 to bed
11pm DD goes to bed, I go to bed

Why don't you eat together at 6pm ish. Then less clearing up, less work, family time together etc. It frees up some of your evening. Give the DCs a snack at 4pm instead.