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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Snacks ready for straight after school (even if "snack" means "an entire round of sandwich")
Dinner already prepped or made or simple to make
Make sure the kids have had enough exercise before dinnertime
Then after dinner, telly off, so they have to play/read/draw/etc
That way they're tired enough for bedtime which then (mostly) goes smoothly.

The kids chill and play for a little while then we have dinner, wash and pjs on and then we settle down and read!

Prep before hand so it's ready to just heat up.
I make most of my meals through the day or on a weekend and just defrost from the freezer in the morning and heat up on an evening. Also means there are less pots and pans to wash too.

try and get homework done before tea then all sit down as a family for our meal. then bath and bed, for me too that is lol

I do something quick and easy on school nights. I rely on my freezer a lot - lasagne, bolognese, cottage pie etc.
The kids are always starving so it's home from work and get cooking straight away.

Great meals from the freezer mean I can make better use of my time :)

My kids are a big part of sorting out the evening meal, as I home educate my three youngest, and my fourth is at college, they are home most of the day and we plan meals together. We really try to make meal times an event, its the one time they get to have some decent time with their dad, and as they are all getting older and going out to their own clubs and such, its a time to be together and chat and reconnect.
We usually all eat our meal together that the older kids will have planned and shopped for, and the younger two help us cook it, and its a real family affair.
When I was growing up, we never had this as my dad was a Paramedic, and my Mum was a Nurse, they were always on call or working, and so dinner was whatever I could warm up in the microwave and sit and eat in front of the telly with my brother.
I love it when we set the table and sit together. We might not be well off, but when it comes to the times that matter, we are definitely not skint! x

I am always prepared with my stock of Birds Eye Chicken Nuggets as well as all the other range of Birds Eye products.

we have a routine snack and drink when we get home playtime tidy up then tv time and tea followed by bath story bed witha warm milk :D

We try and have the kids in bed by 7 so wherever possible we batch cook earlier in the week so that dinners are quick and easy

We get in from school and have a snack and drink. Mine are often really hungry and they need their sleep so as soon as they are settled i am sorting tea. I do a mix of things for tea including freezer stuff. We love chicken dippers in wraps as well as traditional meals like spag bol. I often get the kids to help as they have a much higher eating sucess rate if they have helped prep and get it ready. Then its bath, stories, bed. I try and do school books with stories and homework gets left to a friday night only.

• Top tip for us:

1 - change out of school clothes (saves on the washing ;-) ) as soon as kids get in the door 2 - Quick snack and get the homework out of the way! 3 - outside play (tired them out before dinner!)

Freezer food is great, whether it's batch cooked staples of quick and easy things like potato waffles with something. On busy days I couldn't be without it.

Homework done straight away. Also have a chalk board in the kitchen where we write up what's going on to help me keep track.

It's all about the food in this house. The DC arrive home ravenous, so I always have a snack handy, but one that won't ruin their tea.

I have 1 dd so likely easier than many.

I do a lot of batch cooking or cook a big portion of something so that it can be leftovers for the next couple of nights.
Prepare veg in the morning and leave in a saucepan of water ready to cook when home
Give dd warnings before she has to start homework e.g. In 2 mins it's piano time
Allow dd up to half an hour down time once she gets home from school with no expectations of doing work etc to let her wind down
sometimes it's chips
Incentivise as needed
Try not to leave things until the last minute

Wednesdays and Fridays are our most manic days with lots of after school clubs! (Taekwondo,Ballet,Football and Beavers)..

We will get in on a Wednesday and I will cook something QUICK before we go to taekwondo for two hours.. The children will have another snack when we get home before bed.

Friday after football and ballet i will prepare tea while the children wind down for a hour before I take my son to beavers later on in the evening.

DD has reached teens and gone vegan. At first that complicated things but now she prepares here own food (calling it cooking would be pushing it) so it's no longer a complication. So we only have to manage food for DS. Both DH and I work so we agree who's doing the evening meal each morning. The cooking task includes the organising element and that person arranges DS around what's going on.

Prepare what you can ahead of tea time

I'm a morning person, so would rather get up early and precook pasta, rice, potatoes, get things out the freezer

So it's more of a quick grill or bake or fry and an assembly job in the evening

Just started to teach meditation. Results : Try calming a bag of ferrets or falling asleep .

We walk home, they get changed with some nagging and then either play or watch TV until they have their dinner. Then TV while I clear up and start getting ready for bed. Wednesdays are the only activity evening (karate).

we have the same basic routine but varies slightly depending on the day, come in kids a table doing homework while I sort dinner and clean their lunch boxes, we discuss what happened that day while doing this

Plan meals and have low-prep stuff during the week.
DD is still if an age where she's willing to do homework so that isn't too onerous - yet. Get the DDs to share a bath - it's quicker and they enjoy it.

I am a big fan of batch cooking on the weekend to free up time in the weekday evenings. The kids know the order we do things and we try to stick to the routine as much as possible.

We try and have 3 out of 7 meals a week at least from scratch. We arent all in every night due to late nights at work and after school clubs so three is do able at the min. Freezer food is a good fall back. Good for when the children show up with friends for tea too. We always have extras in the freezer ready for extra mouths.

They tend to do their home work in their rooms and they dont have tvs in there so they just do it then come down for tea. Getting homework out of the way means more time for play.