The suicide hour(or between 4&5pm!!)

[Yummymum1]

What do you do with your dcs when they get home from school? Do you play with them,hit the bottle or do they just play nicely while you get the tea???I find it quite a stressful time and wondered what anyone else i doing at this time.

I dont have any advice but can comiserate, I had a complete nightmare yesterday, with DS (4) and DD (20m) at this time, as soon as I had one relatively happy/ settled for example doing colouring the other would kick off and usually set the other one off.
Things I try (although with varying sucess) are :

1. Colouring, painting playdough at the kitchen table while I cook

2. Helping me cook particularly in winter little one would "wash" the vegatables I would chop and DS put them into the pot to make veg soup.

3)Watering the plants with their own watering cans (filled by me)

4. Setting the table little one carries cutlery DS makes the settings.

5. Lately DS has started playing with his friends in the street before dinner which makes life easier.

I think life is easier if I give them something simple to eat or that I prepared earlier in the day. However as I say with the best will in the world i do find this time difficult and can often go wrong.

Yes it is hard.Mine are 7 and nearly 5 and when they get home they are just so tired that they dont really know what they want to do,except wind each other up!!
Thank you for your suggestions.It is def easir in the summer when they can just go outside.It is nice to know that i am not alone in the daily struggle!