To ask SAHM's what do you do from 4pm until 7pm? The depressing hours.

[SixToSeven]

Am I the only one to find this time of day horribly depressing and boring? My kids are between 6 months and 7 years old and I get so bored and tired at this time of day.

Apart from eating dinner, what do you do between after school and bedtime?

I have a 19 month old and a 2 week old. I agree those hours are the worst! We watch some cartoons and have a snack, then he "helps" me prep dinner, then we play with toys, then daddy's home so we have a wrestle. Then dinner and bath and bedtime.

Mine are older now (two teenagers and an eight year old). Monday we try to get as much of the homework done as possible before dinner. Tuesday pick ds2 up from orchestra at 4:45 home to change and straight to his piano lesson at 5:30. Ds3 to choir at 5:45 on the other side of the (fortunately small) city. Pick ds2 up from piano at 6:15 and ds3 up from choir 6:45 and home to cook dinner. Wednesday ds3s piano lesson which I sit through as I need a rest. Thursday ds2&3 swimming. ( I'm so glad ds3 decided to give up Cubs) On Friday I mumsnet and the boys play their games and we chill. Every evening they have their violin/piano practice to do. I supervise ds3's.

Ds3 goes to bed at 9 and the hour before that is devoted to reading/chatting to him. The others put themselves to bed.

3-7 hours are my worst nightmare! I've got a four year old in reception and a three year old in nursery.

It's horrid I tell you! They fight constantly and give me attitude die to tiredness/hunger or just sheer delight at being able to wind each other up

Oh! Mine go up to bed at 6.40 ish for bedtime stories and are tucked in asleep by 7.

I let them stay up until 7.30 on a weekend to get a lie in.

I didn't mind 4-7pm during the toddler years. It was tea, mad half hour then wind down, bath, books, bed, asleep exhausted by 7.

Let me tell you op, the witching hours extend as they get older. In my house it's 3-9pm. And they're early risers. It's a killer, especially in the winter.

i work and i hate this time

although I work in school hours

mostly referee between the 5 and 8 year old. which usually ends in screaming at them to go and play in separate rooms. Oh and distract the baby from having a tired afternoon meltdown that lasts for like 3 hours

in between attempting to clean / tidy plus make all their dinners

I work. Out the house at 6.45 then nursery pick up about 5 to 5.30. I have a 20 month old and it was always a tough one when he was younger and I was on mat leave too. I feel like it needs to be time that counts as i am at work 4 days out of 7. The reality is he is tired and cross and I often feel he would happily go to bed at 6.15 but I try to jolly him along so his dad gets to see him between 6.45 and his bedtime at 7. I 'plan' one or two activities for the four days I am in work. Nothing major just going through the flash cards he has developed an odd interest in or doing jigsaws that normally live upstairs. We also watch fireman Sam, bing bunny and wooly and tig as I can't bear the flippin night garden! I may try and walk a bit more as the nights get lighter... Glad it's not just me who finds this time tough

Craft activity, play dough, board games, they help me make dinner. Play outside if weather nice or free play inside if not. I think they need that free play if they've been at school so we don't really do after school activities. Mine are 7, 5, 3 and 16weeks.

I used to make tea while children play (hang off your ankle screaming). Feed children an I about 5, keep dh's till later. Children would eat (chuck food about and mash into hair) while I tidied. On a nice day they get put outside to play, on a bad weather day they play indoors and I bath them before 6. We have disco time for youngest, homework for the eldest. Sit and watch some tv or play a game together. I sort washing, tidy kitchen, get bags ready for next day. Then by 6.30 its story time, bottle and cot for youngest while oldest watches kids tv. Then its time alone with eldest to discuss his day. Dh maybe home by 6.30 which helps!

Was always my favourite time when the kids were young- not so much now as they have after school activities every night of the week.

As a SAHM I would make sure that I kept this time free to give attention to the children. So all housework , cooking would be done and dusted before they got back from school.
Tired hungry kids with a parent busy in the kitchen cooking is never going to end well.

I would cook earlier in the day, plate up dinner and eat early, usually by 5pm. The remaining hours would be spent in the garden if the weather was nice, bubbles, sandpit, chalking on the paving stones, digging etc. Or they would have friends around.
If the weather was bad then we would draw, some craft activities- nothing too complicated or messy, just a pack of piple cleaners or a pack of plasticine. We would bake or read books, play with puppets or some indoor physica; sctivity- again nothing too strenuous- use paper napkins to make stepping stones across the "crocodile river" on the carpet.

Most of all just give some input as a parent- that's what kids love best of all

I have a 2yo I find those hours quite busy. watch tv, get tea ready,eat, tidy up together, bath and bedtine routine. it's 2-4 that drags for me with no naptime! with your 7 yo could you play a board game or something similar?

This is actually one of my favourite times of day because the time-to-myself is in sight!

Baby gets put in a safe space to roll around the floor or in his bouncer, Toddler gets a dvd or usb stick playlist of various animals making animal noises (he loves this!) so that they will be content by themselves for a bit.

Then I prep/start dinner, fold the day's dry laundry while oven heating, water boiling, etc.

Then I do any tidying/cleaning that needs to be done so that I can have the evening to relax. Toys/books in the living room get put away except for 1 or 2 the toddler is still playing with. Surfaces get tidied/wiped. All cups/dishes/cooking pots washed and set to dry.

Then I bath the kids so they can eat dinner with us and have playtime with DH before bedtime (theirs).

Then it's and blissful rest time.

antumbra - you are talking about when the dc are at school so can get all the necessary done in the day and then be free for them at this time. What about when you had them all day too, before they started school? when would you be able to get all your cooking and housework done? And at what age did your dc start enjoying all those wholesome activities? (i'm wondering because my 2.6 year old hates everything you have suggested)

Mrs - we just cook with the children, and housework done after in bed/ throw washing in before going to work. Ds's are 3 and 5 I I wouldn't say the above is 'wholesome', it's just a normal day surely with kids. You can hand a pile of chalk for them to draw and cook at same time also.

antumbra what a smug post

The OP, and most others who have posted here have babies and preschool aged children. So they are spending the whole day caring for them - no chance to 'do the dusting and plate up the dinner' FFS.

And I'm actually roaring at the idea of making crocodiles from napkins to go across a river. Mine want a box of lego and to be left alone - they are 6 and almost 4.

Arf at a pile of chalk for my 2yo while i cook

No, the above is not a normal day with my kids. Nowhere near it. I've seen your posts about your dc before Art, and i'm pretty sure my dc are a completely different species!

Two under fours here, sometimes it's peaceful, sometimes it's empty all the cupboards, have picnics, make dens, refuse food, eat food, bicker, crying, tripping up, scrapping, sometimes we go to the park..
Sometimes it's 2-3hrs of toddler whinging, which means by bed time, nerve endings can be a little fried..

amtumbra i couldn't find a sticket for you bit well done you and heres your virtal certificate> >>>
For going above and beyond in exceptional parenting. Arf

No my 8 year old absolutely does not want my input. She wants to play with her mates and watch the Simpsons. My role is to provide food and transport (oh and to nag about homework, chores and personal hygeine) :)

Dcs are 7 and 8

4-7 on a weekday generally involves:
Collecting one or other dc from an after school sporting activity
Taking Dcs to swimming lessons
Rounding Dcs up from friends' houses or sending friends home from ours
Taking/collecting Dcs to beavers and cubs
Fitting in dinner for Dcs into this
Bathing/showering (they do it themselves but I supervise and cajole/nag)

I hated that time of day when they were toddler age. Now there's less of the tantrums, tiredness, meltdowns and the focus is more on logistics and time management.

The benefit of young ones is that they are in bed at around 7 so you get an evening to yourself. Now they're older my evening doesn't start until 9pm.

I'm not a SAHM but I finish work early for school pickup.

their activities dictate half the week, so it's a quick sandwich or beans on toast and out to their activity, or snack, activity, later quick tea. On activity free days (2x per week) they will sometimes have a playdate, so days with nothing at all are not that common. Homework becomes the priority. I usually sit at least one of them in the kitchen while I cook and they help, or do homework, or play on the ipad. They watch a good bit of TV, but they watch v little most days of the week so that's ok.

When they were toddlers it was harder. Tea at 5pm, then tidy toys, I think the tv went on about 6pm for about 40mins then up for baths etc. Bedtimes still take us an age. If it was a bad evening I'd do recreational baths before tea just to kill some time. I imagine it must be difficult with such a range of ages. Now there isno 'witching hour' but it's more of a squeeze with their clubs, homework etc so a different sort of pressure.

I'm not SAHM but my work day finishes at 3.00pm and now its a great time of day for reconnecting with the dcs getting the breakfast bombsite dealt with and making/eating dinner, showers, bed stories

BUT when I had dc1 back in the day, another friend and I referred to it as either 'the graveyard shift' or whinge o clock. It felt like a lifetime stretching out before me. Especially in winter. I think you're limited in what you can do as certain activities such as going for a walk could spell disaster if dc falls asleep in pushchair, or is too tired to walk. It's one of the things the school run can really break up, in a good way.

The park at 3.15 next to a local school could be great. Even if the weather is rank there's usually other kids to play with, and parents to grimly smile at over the swings

Basically anything goes, whatever gets you through those hours, and reassure yourself it gets better

depends, mine don't go to school. I have 5 and my eldest is 7 and youngest is 18 months.

They play or watch TV while I make dinner. sometimes one of them will help me.

eat dinner, more playing, tidy up, bath time, watch a film read stories and go to bed.

I find it sad that so many find it hard when they haven't even seen them all day! are your children really that unbearable?