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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With two teenagers and a busy life I find throwing a meal into the slow cooker in the morning is great. I think smells lovely when you come homecoming and tea is ready for when you need it! Perfect

Sorry about my last message I was typing faster than my keyboard could keep up!

I pick up DS fun school and then DD from bus stop. We all relax a bit before tea, then after it's homework, baths/showers bit of TV then bed. We're pretty lazy!!

Set bath and bedtime routines.

By teaching the dc to make fish fingers and chips! Of course they can now make other proper cooking meals, too, but that was the first they learned. It made such a difference. One less job for me to do, one child focused on a task and out of the melee.

We try to plan ahead our meals for the weeks and tend to go for quick meals that require little prep such as stir frys or a meal from batch cooking.
If DH & I are both home whilst dinner is cooked one of us will bathe DS & DD. After dinner it's play time & then wind down before they go to bed

I find evenings run smoother if I've planned dinner earlier in the day, rather than trying to think about it as they are coming home.

Sadly the number of clubs and activities the DCs have means it's hard to do dinner all of us together, as often the DCs need to eat and get back out to clubs before DH gets home.

DS has hot school dinners so I only have to make him a sandwich after school - that makes the afternoon/evening routing SO much easier.

Our routine is fairly laid back. Kids and me chill after getting in, then homework and dinner. My turning point was realising that they don't need a cook-from-scratch meal every night. Giving them beans on toast or something similar can free up a lot of time for us all.

No TV till homework finished, family meal together

I know that as soon as we hit the afterschool rush, it is chaos at home - so i brace myself with a cup of tea at 2.45 BEFORE the school run.
I try to have in mind what dinner will be and once the kids are home it is drink and small snack time, then either a bit of telly then homework or vice versa depending how tired they are whilst i get dinner ready.

After dinner it's finishing homework, any evening clubs they go to, then showers, pack bags for next day and bed.

Slow cooker teas are great for those nights when everyone is doing different activities and wanting tea at different times. Easy to serve whenever each person is ready!

Mine is definitely homework first before he gets too tired. And definitely dinneron the table so no distractions

We have a good routine and plans healthy balanced meals a week in advance. Homework gets done on the night and reading in the morning if we have a spare few minutes. When my son was at nursery they had to draw a picture about why they love mummy. As you can see, my son is a big fan of Birds Eye Fish Fingers!

Our after school routine isn't too bad although when our youngest DC gets in from school at 3.30pm he literally wants his tea there and then so I tend to have tea prepared late in the afternoon or something that doesn't take long to cook.

My youngest has just started reception and he is so tired after school there is lots of tv the days we are at home after school. My oldest is very good at getting her homework done as soon as she gets in so that it is out of the way. I really value quick meals especially on the nights we have activities.

Mine has only just started so this thread has been great for tips! So far I know to put the shoes in the same place each night, realised that on day 2 when we spent 20 minutes looking but for them!

I let them play and relax after school, my kids appreciate the down time. We then eat food, usually home cooked food or if I'm feeling lazy, some oven food - which my kids love. Then pj's read their school book then bed. My kids are too young for much homework luckily!

Menu plan 2 weeks at a time so easy freezer meals on the days I work and batch cooking on days off.

DH and I work full time so my DC spend a lot of time at school in wraparound care. Because if this, I'm not too tough on them re chores as they have precious little time at home. Monday is swimming, Tuesday football for DD, Thursday is brownies and Friday is football for DS. On those days they get a hot lunch at school and a snack at after school club so all they need is a quick sandwich or wrap for their tea. We have to be very organised. Spellings are practised before breakfast, reading is 15 mins a night and we plan which nights they will have a bath or shower. Big homework is at the weekend. Fridays is treat day for good behaviour and they can have the tv on with tea.

DS has just started reception. No homework as yet but he is rather tired and the new routine is taking some getting used to. Roughly the plan is:
Walk home from school, I bring snacks for the walk. I let him watch an hour of tv - a huge treat in our house. Then I try to get him bathed and in PJs and have dinner ready for as soon as DH gets home so that we can all eat together - it's tricky though because DH gets in at 6 and DS needs to be in bed at 7 at the moment (start of term exhaustion). Once a week he swims at 5pm high is also awkward. On Fridays I let it all slip. Our routine definitely isn't perfect yet but we are trying to slowly figure it all out.

We get home, we do homework. Then she can relax and chill and do what she wants (normally watch TV) while I prep and cook the dinner.

Our evenings are easily manageable thanks to my planning meals on day before. After tidying we have time to play games, watch movie or read stories.

We tend to have a monster roast dinner on Sunday with left overs Monday and sometimes Tuesday. Also batch cooking on Sunday to keep the freezer topped up. Being prepared avoids the temptation for ready meals or unhealthy options. But...we have a takeaway every Friday to celebrate the weekend!!!

After work I take the baby with me to walk the dog while my partner watches the older child and starts cooking tea. We eat tea together and then do baths/showers. We take a child each to put to bed.