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?

Mine are four and two. 4-5pm they are usually playing at home, about 5pm they have their dinner (I sometimes have mine as well if DH is on one of his fasting days - he does the 5:2 diet). Then they watch TV while I clear up, then bath and bed. DH is back at 7. I find it more structured than the rest of the day and I often get some downtime when they're watching TV.

Sit and mumsnet potter with DS2, after negotiating which DVD he wants to watch, until DS1 gets home. Attempt to converse with DS1, who only cares about logging onto his computer and checking out all the changes on ucoin. Referee a few shouting matches between the, until DH gets in. Make dinner. Eat. Potter a bit more while DH helps each of the boys with their baths - I usually have one boy with me, at the time and DS1 is either chattier with a full stomach, or grumbling even louder about DS2. Referee again, while DH has his bath. Make DS2's packed lunch for the next morning. Get sat on by a tired boy....

I rarely get chance to get bored. If I'm not kept busy by family and jobs to do, I can find plenty of ways of keeping myself occupied.

When mine were little I would give them tea at 4.30/5 ish, then long bath with toys etc then bedtime routine. Whatever time that all finished was time to go to sleep. On a tricky day it might be a bit earlier than usual! I used to be reciting "tea, bath, bed" over and over in my head to get me through it. I loved them dearly but as DH rarely got home before 7 it was tough. Your post brought back memories.

toomuchnutella

I think the acknowledgement here is from those with pre-schoolers. If you don't have any other adult interaction during the day, of course it's difficult. Sometimes I would have been up from six thirty in the morning, and with ds literally all day long. I was incredibly poor, so couldn't afford to go and do stuff that cost money, and by four o clock, often I would have been to the library, soft play, park, shops, all by myself with dc. It gets very lonely and crushing at times. Now, yes I was a single parent, but lots of SAHM partners leave the house at 7.30 or 8 and don't return for twelve hours. It can be really hard getting through the last bits, and it's not cos we don't want to see our dcs, it's cos we have seen nothing but them.

I found the first ridiculously hard, and was under immense pressure to get it right. Second and third was a doddle, and I loved it, but the first was really fucking relentless and hard.

It's my busiest time of the day. I get home from school run about 3:45, look through book bags and talk about day, get drinks for DC. Then start dinner while listening to DC read, eat, then out for Rainbows, Beavers, karate, swimming, ballet, football. Then home for bath (not every night), story, snack, and bed. Sometimes we'll have play dates on Fridays and those definitely keep my on my toes.

I have DC 2, 5, and 7.

I can remember when I didn't have school age children and that time of day absolutely dragged on. So many hours to fill and watching the clock until DH got home. I much prefer to be out of the house most evenings.

If they have been out in the day and been busy I see nothing wrong with tv on and relaxing down time.

Not a sahm but a nanny so similar

Days vary. Either have a school friend for a play or go to park after school

Then homework and tea and bath and tv and bed

I hate it most days. It's excruciatingly tiring, noisy and fraught. I'm on my own with two three year olds whining and carrying on, and I'm up very early so really hit the wall at 5-7pm. I get really hungry too and can eat my way through the fruit bowl easily.

I spend a lot of the time desperate for DH to come home early so he can help and I can hide in the bedroom snoozing

I try to cook dinner at lunchtime but sometimes it's impossible. It's definitely easier when I do. We do have the tv on a bit, but they don't really watch it, just tune in and out while running around, jumping on the sofa and trying to murder each other.

After they're in bed at 6.30-7 I positively collapse.