What time do your dcs have their tea aftert school?

[sunsout]

I have been struggling with my dcs' bed time for years so desperate to know how everyone else manage. How do you manage to fit in everything such as reading, homework, dinner, activities etc after school and still manage to go to bed by 7 - 7.30pm. What time do your dcs eat their tea? Do you eat as a family together? Dh hardly come home much before 7pm from work!

Straight from school or whatever activity he's been to. I don't wait for DH as DS goes to bed before he finishes work.
DS is always hungry when he gets home, then we do homework.
DS is 7 and goes to bed at 7pm, lights out 7.30 ish.

They eat straight when they come in
I eat at 6pm
Dh about 8pm

I've never had a 'set' routine as it depends on after school activities, if DH is working away (he often works from home) etc etc. But ideally we used to eat together at 6pm & then DS would have a bath and be in bed by 7pm. This worked until he was about 8. If DS was particularly busy he would have a 'sandwich type' meal between activities rather than a 'proper' meal & DH and I would eat later.

DH and I didn't really like eating our evening meal so early but tried to do so for the sake of 'family harmony' - it's a lot easier now DS is older.

About ten minutes after they get in

We do reading and spellings before school. Dc's have a snack after school and I do tea for about 5pm. Dh is hardly ever back as well so I tend to just eat with the dc's. Ds(7) bed time 7:30, Dd(10) bed time 7:45.

The DCs eat around 5.30pm. DH and I eat together after DH gets home from work, usually about 8pm.

Mine eat at 6, DS (2.5) asleep by 7.30, DD (nearly 5) asleep by 8.15.

We don't. We prefer to have a family dinner at 6.30 - 6.45pm but then DH does the pick up from childcare so they are home earlier than I am.

DD gets a tea at 4.30pm at her childminder. Pointless in my opinion as early dinner will never fill her up until 7.30am the next morning. And I don't think a bowl of cereals or similar before bedtime is the solution as well.

The odd day she has dinner at a friend's house and DH and I do dinner at 8pm I am starved and far too tired to enjoy it. It also means that one of us would have to do bedtime on his/her own, we normally share.

Also, DD doesn't have a bath every night, she has skin problems and with nearly 7 she doesn't need one yet. She has one shower during the week or two depending on the mud factor and a bath at the weekend. This cuts at least 20 minutes.

She is in bed around 7.45pm, light out at 8pm. And wide awake around 7am.

We all eat around 7-7.30.

Artandco so what time do your dcs go to bed?

DC have dinner around 5pm because they are hungry then and also ds is only 5yrs (just) and any later he won't eat as he is too tired. DD's (10 & nearly 7) have supper (fruit/toast around 7pm before bed).

DH and I eat when he gets home so earlist 7pm but more likely after 8pm.

I think eating dinner altogether is not so possible when the children are small, so eat together at breakfast and at lunches on weekends. Until the children are going to bed at around 8-8:30pm then you can all have the evening meal at 7 - 7:30pm.

I do eat with mine (5 years old) but there's only two of us so it's easy.

Most evenings we eat as a family around 6-30pm. A couple of evenings DS does sport later and I do him an early tea at 5pm such as soup/salad/bacon & egg. Bedtime is 8-30pm.

DCs have a snack after school if they are peckish and then we eat as a family anywhere between 6 - 7 unless they are at activities / friends.

Sun - they go to bed around 8.30-9pm. We aren't home until 6.30pm earliest or one of us is but other parent would never see them otherwise. They wake 8am onwards

EnB76 - we have dinner together since DD started eating solids. I returned to work when she was 11 months, we aren't home until 6pm.

Depends on after school activities. We aim for 5.15 on activity nights and 6 (or later) on non-activity nights.

5-5.30 now as one or other of them is out at swimming, cubs, brownies etc most nights after that. If they're home by about 7.15 eat after, but most nights it's 7.30-8.30 by the time they're home and they need to eat earlier than that. They are 10 and 8 and go to bed 8.30-9.

When they were a bit younger their activities were all finished by about 6pm so we ate after that, it changes over the years.

dc's eat around 5/5.30/6 depending on after school activities. Dh and I eat later (sometimes as late at 8.30/9pm). Bedtime for ds is 8pm and for dd is 8.30pm

They have it about five minutes after coming in.

DD is 6yo and DS is 2yo. They both have a snack when she gets in from school and we all have evening dinner together somewhere between 5:30pm and 6pm. We do baths/showers after that and their bed time is 7:30pm. DD reads for a while before going to sleep, but she's usually asleep by 8pm.

We do not eat until 7-7.30 because by the time we are both home from work, cooked etc then it's quite late.

Mine are older now, my 10 year old goes to bed at 9

5pm usually.

Routine for Y2 DD is:
Home from school 3.45ish
15 mins to get changed, snack if required (sometimes given on walk home!)
4pm ish homework
5pm tea (as a family - DH works from home most of the time)
6pm tidy up time!
6.30pm upstairs to get ready for bed
7pm into bed, do reading
7.30pm lights out (8pm if it's not a school night)

This will have to be tweaked come September when her brother starts Reception, not sure how it'll shake down yet though.

The younger ones have something to eat at about 4.30-5pm.

We don't have dinner/supper until around 8pm.

They go to bed when they are tired.

6 normally - they have a snack straight after school.

activities at the moment mean that some days it is 15 minutes later but normally they go upstairs at 7 and are in bed by 7:30-8.

they are R and Yr1.

will have to change slightly in the autumn when Yr1 child goes up to different groups so times change and presumably will get some homework in Yr2.