After school routines - we're always knackered and just watch TV!!

[fluffykinscat]

Anyone shed any light on your after school routines and how I can improve mine? Apart from the one day a week we go to an activity, we just tend to flop in front of TV after school, as we're shattered.

DD is 6 and in yr 1. It goes like this:

• 3pm pickup, 30 min walk home (slowly!)
• 3.30pm home, snack, TV on
• basically the TV is on most afternoon / early eve with intermittent playing with toys until bedtime
• we don't have dinner together as I am LP and am generally tidying, getting on with things and we eat totally different foods! (I know we could improve this)

-DD is too young for much homework (we don't get any) and we read together at bedtime and other times (mornings). I just dread to think of the times when we have homework to do as well when she's older.

Is anyone else more productive?

We're both so tired, it's a time management thing, and just the ease of having TV on. However I feel so guilty. Invariably I am trying to do additional work or housework from home in evenings (freelance) and TV is such a convenient way to get this done.

If anyone has any ideas for a more productive routine I would welcome it...Also feel like the rest is necessary - DD Is still young and I am a LP and very tired / busy, so something to fit around this situation is tough...

Does anyone find they have bags of energy in afternoons? If so share your secrets. As a completely LP with a freelance busy job I do appreciate this complicates things in terms of energy etc.

Thank you!

Well this is us for three months of the tear during winter. And I admit it’s nice to have that time in the house to chill. But then the light comes back in the evenings and the great outdoors beckons.

I wish!

DS is full of beans and wants to scoot or park or softplay or anything that doesn’t involve sitting down and being quiet.

He’s 4, in reception and finishes at 3.30pm.

I think you should go easy on yourself. When the mornings and evenings are so dark, we all feel more tired. It's fine to hibernate indoors and I don't think there's anything wrong with relaxing in front of the TV if that's what you and DD like to do. I'm sure when the weather gets better you'll both have more energy and want to get outside and do stuff.

We are fairly similar!

DD2 is 6 and DD1 is 2. DD2 is in after school club twice a week and on the other days we mostly flop at home in the winter but one day a week we try and do something, eg cafe

I wouldn't worry about it. Do you do lots at the weekend? My kids (yr 1 and 4) probably dream of just watching TV after school. They are at after-school club till 5.30ish three days a week and I squeeze dancing/football/rainbows into the other days. We even do swimming one evening after work. It's probably too much to be honest, but they enjoy the activities and don't want to give them up.

As your DC gets older, you could add in some extra-curricular activities if that's feasible for you.

Mine have (had at that age) activities most nights.

Straight from school to swimming/gymnastics/dance. I’d take the laptop and get some work done while waiting.

My kids (literally) start climbing the walls though if they have a free evening, they need some sort of activity.

Agree you should go easy on yourself. Y1 is a big step up from Reception so nothing wrong with unwinding with tv. You could have a colouring book and pens out and if she gravitates towards them turn off the TV. Or Playdoh stuff maybe.

DD1 is 5 and in reception. 2 nights a week she has a club/activity. On a non club night we get home at 3.30 and have about 45 mins of TV/snack. Then they (her and my 3.5 year old) get bored of sitting still and tend to do drawing/play doh/a craft that I’ve set up before they eat dinner at 5ish. No TV after dinner so they play with their toys until bath at 6ish. School reading plus I read a couple of books to them after their bath, then up to bed at 7/7.30ish. I have a newborn so it’s pretty low key at the moment!

DH does pickups Mon-Thurs. He and DS hang out at the park then come home for about 5.30-6, more towards 6 as it is getting lighter. School finishes at 4.30 here.
One afternoon his mate comes round for 1hr30, one day DS goes round to his mate's house. Thursdays DS has an activity after school, gets home around 8.15.
Friday's I do pickup, I meet other parents and go for beer while the DC run around, outside (we are in Spain). We get home when it's too dark to see the DC!
Homework is read one school book, they have a week. At home DS alternates between drawing, Lego, TV, building something out of cardboard and Playmobil figures. He"ll read before bed. His afternoon is very much his to do with as he wishes, if he's pooped on a Wednesday and wants to watch TV then that's what he'll do.

My girls are 6 and in year one and never sit still. Monday and Tuesdays we're home for 3:30 so try to get all the set homework done as we're busy the rest of the week. They will come in, have a snack then we'll do around 30 minutes of homework. They usually watch TV or they have a bike ride before dinner. Dinner is at 5:30pm followed by showers and stories. Bed is 7pm.

The rest of the well is busy with gymnastics, music and football Wed-Fri. So we're only home around 5:30 on those days. They chill out at the weekends, play, go to the park, bike rides etc. They are busy and active girls, they've never liked sitting around.

My dc is the same age and does after school activities 4 days in the week, the only day off is Thursday and we love nothing more that watching tv, I wouldn't worry about on these freezing cold dark nights

Mine are 4, 7 & 10. We have activities 3 evenings a week (different child each evening but all have to come as no childcare). On the other 2 weeknights, we tend to chill on one, then go to the library or do playdates on the other. Some weeks we will chill on both those nights, depends how we are feeling & what the weather is like.

I guess my only thought is why you don’t eat together. We don’t always but the only thing that scuppers this is if DP comes in late. If I was a LP and home with the kids in the evening, I could see no reason not to eat together. Breaks the evening up nicely. Is a good time and way to catch up

I wouldn't beat yourself up about it, after 6 hours at school some children just need to zone out, and TV is good for that. My DS watched a lot of tv after school in the winter when he was in reception. By the Summer term we could go to the park or he could play in the garden. Now in Y1 he has more stamina and we have a few things lined up after school in the week - after school club one day, swimming lessons on another, and a drop in games session at the library most weeks as well. He also spends time reading and drawing, which he didn't really have the attention span for in reception.

I'd just go with it for now (doesn't sound like your DC is watching TV non stop anyway), and reassess at a later date.

This is our weekends but week days are packed with afterschool club activities. I feel guilty about the tv and have made an effort to bake together, play a bit more with them and get more involved in their little lives. I've really enjoyed it but you need time which isn't always possible.

DD is obsessed with drawing at the moment so left to her own devices she'll produce hundreds of similar pieces of artwork. In the summer I like going to soft play because it's empty but mainly I turf them out in the garden. I don't really like going anywhere because then I lose all the time for cooking and serving tea at a decent time, I'm only up for an afterschool activity if I've got something quick ready to cook when we get in.

I find that TV makes me the DC grumpy and not interested in doing anything else. So, for example, planning to watch TV and then doing something else wouldn't work, but the other way round would.

What do you want your evenings to look like? How much time would you like to spend working, playing with your DD, doing chores, cooking and eating? Do you want more playdates or activities, or do you need to work every evening so can't have things which take up the whole time?

The most important thing is you're reading together. Keep at that. It will pay dividends.
How about inserting a cooking activity together - cakes or a simple supper? Just one day a week? It would get you eating together perhaps.
Other than that I'd stop being too hard on yourself. All I ever did after school was watch TV!

My dc are 10 and 8. My youngest especially finds school exhausting.

3.30...arrive home.

3.30-4...kids play, watch cbbc, go on tablets whilst I cook their dinner.

4.00-4.30...they eat dinner

More playing, tv, tablets whilst I clear up and run bath.

5-6...bath time

6-7...they eat again...something light like toast and milk, whilst watching tv and sitting chatting as a family.

7-8...reading and bedtime

I think downtime after school is fine and much needed, especially in winter.

Mine go to after school club so we don’t get home til gone 5 most days. I chill for 20 mins then start dinner. They do homework if they have it or watch tv / play computer games til dinner at 6. After dinner we all watch TV til bedtime.
I am a much better / more fun / interesting mum in the school holidays!!

I would try and eat together, starting with one night a week if this is difficult for you, and working up to more. And the TV would be turned off during dinner!
Could you go somewhere with her on the way home from school? Thinking a park (although probably easier when it gets a bit lighter), or a cafe for hot chocolate and cake?
Would she be able to do Rainbows as an after school activity? I volunteer in a primary school, and most of the younger girls seem to do this, and enjoy it. Would give you an hour or so to work whilst she is there.

Mondays is my day off work, so on a Monday I pick dd up, usually she goes to her best friend's for an hour, and I have a brew and a chat.
We go home, Dd panics she can't find her brownie uniform 🙄
dd has a snack, and we walk to brownies.
Me and DH have pizza, and I cook something quick for dd for when she gets home.
We play a quick board game, brush teeth and reading and bed.
Tuesday - Friday
I pick dd up at 17.30.
I cook dinner, She sorts out her lunch for following day, She also sorts recycling.
We eat, play games, Watch tv, She has a bath, reads then bed.
I try to be really relaxed about everything, I don't really mind how much tv she watches after school. If she needs to chill out it's fine.

DS2 and I come in. DD comes in just before us. I make supper. The DC change into their pyjamas and play or watch YouTube on their tablets. DS2 has ADHD, so isn't allowed to do anything energetic once he's in the house. We have supper, the DC do homework if necessary, have winding down time and then bed.

Twice a week DD has SAT boosters and comes home at 4.40, once a week they have animation club, DD gets home at 4.10, DS2 and I get home at 4.30, once a week DS2 goes to a charity run after school club, we get home at 6.30.