Share your tips with Birds Eye: how do you manage the after-school evening routine? £300 voucher to be won! NOW CLOSED

[EllieMumsnet]

With the new term officially up and running, getting your DC back into a good routine after the holidays can be tricky; from juggling after-school clubs, homework, chores, mealtimes and bedtimes. Birds Eye want to know your top tips on managing your family's evening routine.

Here’s what Birds Eye have to say: "Evening times are extremely busy for young families, and at Birds Eye we’re committed to helping mum and dad when it comes to easing stress at teatime. Our entire chicken range has just been awarded Mumsnet Rated, following an independent tasting panel judging us on our taste and quality - this is something we are incredibly proud of. All of our chicken is made with 100% chicken breast, and can be cooked in 20 mins. It is also packed with protein, and has no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives and makes a great addition to a nutritionally balanced meal. Convenience without the guilt, freeing up your evening for other important tasks."

So, do you opt for great meals from the freezer? Is there a no-TV-until-homework-is-finished rule? Or maybe you take inspiration from this ‘fidget spinner chores’ and turn your evening routines into a fun game? Whatever it is, Birds Eye want to hear it!

Share your top tips on the thread below and every MNer who posts will be entered into a prize draw. One lucky winner will be randomly selected to receive a £300 Amazon voucher.

Thanks, and good luck.

MNHQ

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Working from home it is much easier, especially now mine are all teenagers. I was so stressed out organising everything when I didn't work from home!
These days I usually have a meal cooked in the slow cooker that I put in that morning or sometimes a tray bake in the oven but we have at least one school night which is a freezer day and they all get to choose what they want putting in- pizzas, fish fingers, chicken burgers etc. I usually do a salad bowl for them to all help themselves to on these days.
They are great at organising themselves for homework, showers etc so I often feel like a spare part and the early days of managing 3 under 4s is thankfully a distant memory.

My children know to do their homework when they come home from school before watching tv or playing in their rooms etc. I meal prep so there's always a healthy meal ready and the kids know what they're having for dinner in advance. After dinner me and My husband relax and talk about our day while the kids have what we call happy hour which is when they're allowed to do an activity of their choice before their bath and bed at 8 O'clock.

a mixture of oven style easy meals and home cooked for us. After school is very busy with homework etc - no shame in bunging fish fingers in the oven sometimes!

I do huge batch cooks on Sunday afternoon so we always have a healthy meal ready to go. Our freezer is filled with tupperware - then we have treat night on Friday which is a takeaway or something naughty. But only if homework has been done on time, chores done etc throughout the week

My son does a few after school activities so we do those first and then have a snack when we get home. I leave him to have a break and watch some TV before getting on with homework while I make tea.
As we usually have this routine it is easy to keep to and saves arguements!
The evenings finish by bathtimevand a story
.

we try and allow them some time to themselves for a little while and then its sitting down to a nice healthy meal most of the time, sometimes it's a quick snack followed by a light bite later on

homework then tea then relax

We have easy home cooked meals every night. I prepare the ingredients before picking the children up and start cooking as soon as we get home, ready for reading, baths and bedtime.

We are very busy during the week, so tend to plan quicker meals that can be cooked and prepared easily and eaten on the go if necessary. Hot n spicy chicken wraps are a favourite here, as well as fish finger sandwiches with fruit.

Saturday morning is when homework is done here.

No supper until pjs are on. No ipads until eaten tea. All about the bribery !

i try to prepare as much as i can before the afternoon school run & meal plan every week x

Prepare everything as early as possible or find quick meals to make. If Im having a lazy day then it will be a frozen meal.

Preparation the night before, I always cook from scratch!

I used to find even I g quite stressful. The kids would bicker with each other and then moan at me about what was for tea.
Now when we get in they each have a job, one puts the shoes away, one hangs the coats up and one puts the school bags away.
We all sit together for a quick snack and a chat. Then each child has a night to help, it gives me some 121 time with each of them and also takes the pressure off getting everything done. They also all love to cook so it's nice for them to help

I get home from work after my two teenagers have been home for an hour or so. My first job is to nag them to empty the dishwasher, bring their dirty dishes down from their bedrooms and put their washing in the basket! We have one easy freezer meal a week but normally I turn the radio up loud and potter about the kitchen cooking, whilst the kids mess about on their tablet/phones/laptop get on with their homework.

I plan the meals ahead for the week. On some nights when we know we're not going to have time to cook properly (from scratch) we do venture down the frozen food road. Tonight for example we had school followed by 2 different clubs (for 2 different DC) so we had frozen southern fried chicken, frozen chips & frozen peas for dinner!

Once dinner is done, the routine is always the same- bath, pj's, teeth, books, bed!

My older two are 18 and 17 so more of less sort their selves out. My youngest is 4 , after school she is usually very tired , so she has tea quite early then has a little tv time , then reading and drawing

Homework needs to be done and home cooked meals

Definitely homework first, up to 60mins.
Electrical time when finished.
Then all sit down for meal.

If homework is still unfinished, up to DCs whether they need to continue with it or defer it.

We usually go to activities, then they come home and do homework while I finish making dinner. After eating we get them in their PJs then they can chill out for a bit before bedtime.

First thing i do is check bags for letters, then its get changed out of uniform, and do any homework or reading. Then out to play, in for tea, telly for a bit , then bed :)

When my son comes home from school we sort the bags/lunchbox out and he gets changed into his 'comfies', then he is allowed to play on the xbox until teatime at 5, followed by homework and reading and a little more free time until its bath and shower time, followed by bed. I always cook things from scratch or batch cook so meals aren't too stressful, I also recommend a slow cooker, it definitely helps with the busier evenings and the house smells lovely of foodie smells.

Kids sort school bags, then start homework if any while I cook tea, then they have the rest of the evening free to play until bathtime and bed

We are super lucky as my mum cooks dinner for us 3 times a week. She watches the kids for us as she collects them from school, when I finish work I collect the kids and we eat dinner at my mum's house. I then bring them home for a bath and bed. I have one day off and my husband has one too so on those days we are home to cook dinner. We like to try and make good meals, but on Weds which is my hubby's day off my eldest has swimming straight after school so we usually have something really quick from the freezer such as chicken nuggets, chips and garden peas.

We sit together in the dining room, no tech allowed! Homemade food on my days off, something quick and easy on my working days!!