Evening routine with your teens

[storminateacup74]

I am curious as to other parents of teens evening routines. My DD (15) is very hardworking she works so hard at school and does a good couple of hours homework and study every night. We all have a meal together about 630pm and talk about our day. This can take up to an hour as it is a really good time to all have a good old chat. By the time dinner is over it can be almost 745 and she carries on with her homework she then likes to facetime her cousin and a friend both at different schools to her and then she usually has a shower about 10pm. Her day is quite full on but she isn't really tired until gone 11pm so she watches TV in her room at the end of the evening but sometimes this can be past 11pm - she is really good at self regulating I have never had to control phone usage, nag her to do homework or nag her to go to bed (until now!!!) she just doesn't seem tired and she wants to be able to relax at the end of the day. For context I only need 6 hours sleep and my mum had a battle with me getting me to bed early as a teenager. I often don't go to bed till 1am and up at 630am no problem. She is the same she gets up without any nagging and is always up and ready. She gets about 7 hours sleep and copes fine but so many of my friends teens make sure lights out is by 10pm but without much time to relax. I like our routine and the fact that the evening is not rushed but wonder sometimes if I need to insist on an earlier bedtime.

If it's not broke, dont fix it I would think. Some people need less sleep and trying to get her to go to bed earlier isn't necessarily going to make her sleep more. If she's fine then it's not an issue.
She sounds lovely. I wish mine would chat to me for an hour about my day

We don't really have a routine. We do all sit together to have our evening meal, but that can be any time from 5.30-7.30pm. Other than that the teens do their own thing - sometimes that might be sitting with me and DH; other days they just vanish up to their bedrooms. They do a mixture of study, hobbies, gaming, watching stuff on Youtube or just chatting to friends on social media. They don't have a set bedtime but are normally in bed by 10 or soon after on school nights. They self-regulate and as long as they get up in time in the morning we don't get involved. We do have the sort of rule that they don't do anything "loud" (mainly DS shouting at his friends) after 10pm.

Your life with your teen sounds like a dream, I'm envious! If she's not struggling with that amount of sleep and all other signs are good then don't rock the boat

We don't really have a routine either as we are all out on different nights doing sports and other hobbies. So we don't often all eat together but we are all at home early evening. Typically we are heading out around 6.30, home by 9.30, one DC tends to spend the rest of the evening on the sofa watching telly, the other watches telly upstairs in our room. Often one of us watches with each but we all potter round the house a bit. All go to bed 11ish except DH who is a night owl. Studying is done after school or when they aren't at sports.

My 15yr old is same. She just doesn't need as much sleep and then she sleeps in at weekend.

If she's coping with that routine I'd let her stick to it.

I have a DS who's suffering from joint pain/severe fatigue at the moment so it's revision after school, dinner at 7pm and then bed by 8pm. He sleeps until 7am the next day, longer at the weekends.