What's your routine after school please? (A reception child and a Y1 child)

[EggsOvaryZee]

I would love to avoid coming home and just turning the TV on whilst I do housework/cook!

I'd like to enjoy the kids a bit but don't really have many ideas and they do both seem exhausted...Y1 boy more than reception girl.

Neither child plays great alone...board games end in tears...and often neither one wants to play with others' toys....and when/how do you do homework etc...!

How do you all spend your time?

Thanks

DS is Y1, and comes home exhausted. I think he really needs half an hour in front of the TV with his mind in neutral to re charge a bit after school, so I try and let him have that. After that we usually go and do the horse, then come home, tea, bath, story and bed, so there doesn't seem to be time for much else. Could you manage a quick trip to the park, or a walk some evenings?

My highlight of the day is reading with DS at bed time. We both snuggle up in my bed, and he reads to me, then I read to him. That tends to be when I feel we connect, and I find out a bit about his day, mainly because he will do anything to put off going to bed for a few more minutes, so he will tell me things to delay the inevitable.

Mine are reception and year 2. I tend to give them a snack when thwy get in and then let them play together in their room.

Dh tends to do bedtime routine and that includes their reading. I tend to do yr2 dd's maths on a Friday after school and her spellings Tuesday and Thursday. She also goes to activities after tea on Monday and Thursday.

Younger dd doesn't do as much as she is more tired.

I have yr2 and reception. They are both cranky, hungry and generally FOUL when we get in. Food and TV usually rectify this.

3.30pm get back from school. TV on, snacks and drinks all round. I sit with them and chat/MN

4.15pm TV off, kids play together or on their own or get under my feet while I do tomorrow's lunchboxes and start tea

5/5.15pm Tea, kids play or chat with DH after while I clear up

5.30pm homework/reading/play something with them

6.15pm bathtime for DD while DS plays/chats/reads with DH

Both in bed for 7.15pm usually

i am finding this hard too. ds is in reception, ds 2 is a toddler. by the time we are home, it is time to think about tea, ds1 is tired and grumpy and then it just seems to be bedtime.
things i am planning to try are once my pregnancy sickness abates do food earlier in day (slow cooker or rubbish and chips a couple of night)s so dinner isnt time consuming. all gettimg excited about doing a christmassy thing after school - a craft, some baking, christmas stories, whatever as this may entice ds more than just a normal game. also limiting tv to a v short time so we dont lose a precious hour to it. maybe shortening bedtime so a quick shower rather than a bath. hoping some of this might help

TV and food are the way forward. Agree with Sunny. 3.30 get home (y2boy but very young in the year), TV on, snuggle on sofa with cuppa for me and snack and drink for him...for a good half hour if not more. After a while he will get up and play of his own accord and I can turn the tv off. Tea about 530. Homeworky bits eg spellings and reading after tea. One more bit of TV of his choice for winding down, about 30 mins. Then bath, bed, stories in bed and a drink. Leave him to read by himself for a bit whilst I pootle about tidying upstairs and folding washing etc. then lights out for 8.00.

i have ds1 in yr1 and ds2 in reception,also have dd1 in pre school and ds3 at home,dd2 due any day now.

i always take them a piece of fruit when i collect them,and before i leave to get them i put a jug of juice and some snacks(cheese and crackers,carrots,celery,sometimes biscuits or more fruit)on the table with some pens and paper/colouring books,when we get in they all go straight there and just g

get on with it really,when it was warmer they played outside more but now they just play inside.I give them dinner at 5 -5.30 and then they put pjs on and we watch a dvd,they go to bed between 7 and 8 ish.

they dont have homework only reading books which i only really manage to do on a sunday night with them.

Mine are both currently colouring in a huge cardboard box to turn it into a sledge apparently (thank you Amazon!) Usually they just bicker about what tv to watch and whine for snacks.

This time of year it is difficult, in the spring and summer I just throw them out in the garden while I cook tea.

I have a Yr1 and a R.

We come in about 3:15 and they run instantly to wash their hands and sit down for a biscuit and a drink. Then we normally have the TV on for a bit to allow them to just zone out a little.

Normally DD1 watches TV whilst I DD2 does her reading then DD2 watches TV whilst DD1 does spellings (she does her reading later).

Then they normally sit and colour/draw/cut/make/write stories etc, sometimes play a game, sometimes dress up. In the spring/summer I used to send them outside.

we have dinner at 6ish, then bath at 6:45ish, stories and then bed at 7:30 (or usually more like 8:30 for DD1 who doesn't seem to need much sleep). DD1 does her reading at bedtime.

I think the trick is to get a routine going whereby you do reading as early as possible after school but still allow them time to wind down a bit. They need some 'zoning out' time IMO.

We have activities a couple of nights a week which are a bit of a pain if I am honest but DD1 enjoys them.

DD is reception, routine is walk home, get in about 4, sit down have a snack and a chat about how her day was, do homework (20 minutes reading every night and writing or maths once a week) DD loves cooking so helps me do dinner, eat, bath, TV while she dries off and I brush her hair (she has waist length thick curly hair so it takes a while) bed about 6.30 with a story then sleep by about 7.

I have a Y1 and Y2 DD and DS. We dont get home till between 5.30 - 6. General routine is, snack (they will already have had tea at school at 4 ish), reading, spelling practice, which takes us till about 6.30 ish, followed by an hour of playing/telly/chill out time until about 7.30 when we get ready for bed. Bed at about 8pm.

We are usually home around 4.30 (he has a snack/drink on the way home in the car). DS1 (y1) does his homework straight away (he has something mon-thurs) and then we do his reading books and word tin. DS2 likes to join in with the reading books especially.

Then they watch some TV or play with Lego whilst I get their dinner ready. They eat around 5.30. Bath at 6.30 then bed/story, asleep by 7.

I have DS1 in YR and DS2 toddler. If I drive home we get in and have a snack, if we walk, DS1 has a snack on the way home.

I go with DS1's mood. Sometimes we get in and he wants to play with me - I am happy to do this as I haven't seen him all day and miss him! Sometimes he is tired and just wants to watch TV. After dinner at 5pm we do his reading (I find he perks up a bit after dinner so can concentrate better). DS2 is a nightmare at this point though - he screams and shouts and won't do anything apart from sit in my lap and try to grab DS1s book. Then we all watch CBeebies together until 6.30pm when it is bath.

I think it will be very different in the Spring/Summer. We will walk home via the playground and play there for a bit. Or they will come home and play in the garden. The darkness makes it all feel quite depressing.

We have swimming after school one day a week and one has dancing one day and another the next which gives me an hour to spend with each child without the other one which really is quality time!! The other days if dry we often go to the park if not we come home have a snack then they either go on cbeebies website or watch a bit of TV, have tea then usually do a bit of craft or drawing then bath and bed where they both read their reading books, one of them reads to me and the other to my DH!!!

Collect DS from after school club about 4.10pm and then DD from childminder around 4.30pm. Back home about 4.50pm. Play or TV depending on tiredness. I do minimum cooking so that tea is ready within 20 minutes or so. Play or 15 mins TV. Upstairs to bath/bed around 6pm. Stories over by 7pm. They are both way too tired for after school activities and until they have had had their tea are pretty grumpy!

Year 1 dd1 and reception ds1 usually play in their rooms, watch tv or occupy dd2 and ds2 after school while I sort dinner. Then I listen to them read, shower and bed.

Sometimes they'll have a snack while I listen to them read/help with their homework before dinner, then a bit of tv or playing with toys before shower and bed.

We don't do much after school tbh as they're usually tired by the time we've got home and they're in bed by 7pm or they're horrors the next morning.

My DD has always been very tired after school. I prepare tea during the day, and have it at 4 - 4:30 > watch TV > shower > read in bed at 6. She gets up early in the morning, about 5:30 so we get to do some works of maths, literacy, etc, or play games, before we leave for school. It has worked well for us: go to bed early & wake up early.