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?

OP, I think if you could sort food out differently time wise and perhaps quantity wise for you children earlier in the day things would fall into place a bit better. You've said you wont cook two dinners but I think more forward planning your meals would make things easier.

sqishy that made me laugh!

OP I've been complaining about little down time for 7 years now, sorry ... DCs are 7 and 4.

I work full time, get up any time from 6 and do not stop until 10pm. I'm very tired! And the house is still a tip. This is with DH being good round the house and working part time. However, it is easier now DD1 can read as she lies fairly happily in bed reading until about 10.

I do think meal times are the key. I often make myself something at the same time as the boys and heat it up after they're in bed. Dh is doing low fodmap and I really don't want that rubbing off on the boys. It's a nightmare. Hence why he has a batch cook dinner every night.

I'll review meal times and talk to DH, thank you.

I gave ds a massive snack at 3pm yesterday and he was still screaming for dinner at four

I gave ds a massive snack at 3pm yesterday and he was still screaming for dinner at four

I think you need to give him more food earlier on in the day or change his meal times around.

Low food map? I think there's a thread on it here so perhaps do a search for some ideas. It cant be easy for you.

DP and I work full time, and due to our location and commute, he does all the drop offs and picks ups (DS is 2) and picks me up at the station. So our evening routine is like this:

6:40 he picks me up from the station. It should be 6:32 but my train is always fricking late
7:00 we get home, I start warming up something I've batch cooked.
7:15 we eat
7:30-8:15 Playtime and quality time with DS
8:15-9:00 DS nightime routine
9:00-10:00 quick clean up, then bed for me!

I also think you should change meal times. Ds usually eats at 6am, 8:15 at nursery, 11:15 at nursery, 4:15 at nursery, then 7pm with us. Kids burn off a lot of energy!

No children at home now.
DD home for 4pm, takes dog out, showers.
Me home for 6ish.
Both watch Pointless/The Chase
6.30 start making food
Eat food when ready, watch Emerdale at same time.
After tea, quick tidy up. Watch TV/play scrabble/chat (all at same time)
Do any work I may have brought home
Bed any time between 9 and 11 depending on how knackered we are.

On days I work
5.40-6.00 - get home from work and play with baby
6-6.30- feed baby and put him in the bath
6.30-7- pjs, teeth, stories and some wind down time
7PM - babies fast asleep in bed (I know we’re lucky he goes down so reliably)
7.10-7.30- one of us cooks dinner and one of us clears up the general mess
7.30-8- eat dinner and watch some tv

Usually carry on watching tv/internetting until 9/9.15 then go to bed!!

squishy yours made me laugh!

Our usual with DD6, DS2, baby 4mo:
3.30pm school pick up, kids have snack and fight/chat/whinge for a bit
5pm me into kitchen to sort dinner. Sometimes as a treat to myself I shut the door, turn the radio up and pretend I can’t hear the shouting from the lounge.
5.30pm-ish kids eat dinner, I occasionally sit down with them but more often spoon it straight out the pan while holding baby, loading dishwasher, tidying up, etc. Leave some for DH.
Once dishwasher on/ready, try fruitlessly for a while to herd kids upstairs while they remake the mess I’ve just tidied.
6.45pm-ish, DH gets back and throws kids about for a while so they’re nice and hyped up. He goes off to find & reheat leftover dinner and I get fed up with being ignored and go upstairs on my own, kids instantly follow like annoying puppies. Sometimes I dump baby on DH, increasingly she comes up and gets in bath with big 2.
7pm kids in bath. If just big 2 I run around putting laundry away, if baby in bath too I sit on bathroom floor getting drenched. Kids insist on having every bath toy ever made in bath, then get out 2 minutes later.
7.30pm chase various children around getting them ready for bed. Sometimes toddler escapes downstairs before I can get a nappy on him and celebrates by weeing on the floor.
8pm milk, teeth and stories for big 2. Usually in bed by 8.15-8.30 and, thank god, settle & go to sleep nicely.
9pm baby tired and crying, go up and put her into bed, feed, settle etc.
9.15pm downstairs, empty dishwasher & reload if needed. Get clothes wash ready to go on first thing next morning. Tidy up kids toys in lounge. Sometimes DH does one of these things but never all of them.
9.45pm collapse on sofa, read/prat about on phone until past when I should have gone to bed. I need the downtime/time to destress or I end up very ratty - IMO the quiet time is worth sacrificing the sleep.
11.30pm-ish fall into bed. Dead to the world in 10 seconds. Baby usually wakes for a feed when I get into bed, but thankfully sleeps well at night. Nonetheless I’m permanently knackered at the moment!

DP works four on and four off, so it changes depending on whether he is at work or not (he works until 7 on his days in). We have three DDs and I'm pregnant.

3.15pm collect younger two from school.
3.20 - 4pm do their reading with them, spellings etc.
4pm DD1 gets home from school, chat, she starts homework.
5pm dinner. All of us if DP isn't at work! I'm a SAHM so I usually have the dinner done during the day.
6pm DD2 & 3 watch TV for a while/play/decide to do something crafty and messy!
7pm DD3 goes to bed
7.15pm DP gets home, he and I eat.
7.30pm DD2 goes to bed
7.30-8.30pm DD1 and I do something together, maybe play a video game, chat, help with homework.
8.30pm DD1 goes to bed to read, DP and I relax together.

On work days:

5.30: Get home, greet cat, change out of work clothes, start cooking dinner
6.00: DH and DD (3) get home. I continue cooking dinner or hand over to DH so I can spend time with DD.
6.30: Eat dinner. DD will have had lunch (main meal) and tea (afternoon snack) at nursery, and probably a snack on the way home, so only eats a small portion of whatever we're having.
7.00: Bath time for DD (every other night), or playtime. We alternate bath times, so if DH is doing it I usually take the time to do any chores (laundry, ironing, paperwork).
7.30: Bed time for DD. We also alternate doing bedtime - whoever isn't doing it does the washing up, tidies up downstairs, etc.
8.30: DD should be in bed, but we have to sit with her until she falls asleep.
9.00: DD should be asleep. Person doing bedtime comes downstairs to tidy living room, dishes done, etc. Time to relax, watch tv, read, have a conversation, do essential household admin etc
10.00: Go to bed.

It doesn't always go as smoothly as that, but we try!

Reading these rourines i need to make major changes!

if I'm not at work (work 2 days)
6 ish - dc eat dinner. If I've been organised and they've had a nap i eat with them.
6.30- 7 ish - dh home. Play with dc and chat while i tidy up
7-7.30 dc up to bed. Dc1 will often start a poo which takes forever and refuses to get in the bath with dc2, so this can take a while. I feed and settle dc2 while dh reads stories and settled dc1.
8.30 downstairs, often to cook our dinner and start chores. Dh will do chores or hobby
9.30 lounge watching tv/online/work if needed.
at somepoint dc2 will wake up so i have to resettle. Often fall asleep next to him as we cosleep.
11.30-12 up to bed myself
dh nods off on the sofa/ I'm woken repeatedly by dc2.

I will try to eat with dc more as cooking twice eats into my time and means i eat late, but they're picky snd wont eat things i like, and it means dh has to eat alone later. Desperately want to claw back some time to myself!

I have teenagers and work shifts.

If I’m on an early I would normally do the following

4pm leave work an hour late
4:20 arrive home and speak to sons who will do little more than grunt
5pm start supper
6:15 eat
6:30 hand over to dh who clear up while I watch tv

If I’m on a late, dh does it all, I go home at 9:45pm, sit on my arse and moan normally😁

Looking at the toddler and baby routines, having teenagers has its plus points. Amazing how you forget......

MrsMotherHen Do you really go to bed at 7pm?

Do you really make your dh porridge?

MrsJBaptiste yes almost every nighy we dont go to sleep straight away we watch a film or just chill alseep by about 9 or 10

@CottonSock technically I do. I make ds1 porridge and DH has some too. I think it's cute that they share porridge. Tbf in the evenings, as far as I'm concerned, anything that allows me a breather from the kids is a welcome bonus even if it means I make DH a couple of coffees and some porridge. He'll make me a drink in the morning