If your kids' activities run 6-8ish, what does your evening look like?

[Farrar]

If you have kids in evening activities a lot, what do your evenings look like? Is dinner super early or super late? Do you try to do reading at bedtime, either aloud or individually? How do you transition kids (even tweens and teens) from dancing/playing/acting/building/working hard to winding down?

 

Ds's ballet just went from three to four evenings a week this year and other ds's theater looks to be the other weekday evening and it runs even later. I already usually try to make the midday meal the "main" meal, but I don't always succeed and especially for BalletBoy, he's hungry and beat post-dancing. It's just a tough time to schedule around, honestly. And when they get home, it's like, okay, now what because it feels like it's already time to get ready for bed.

 

I don't miss the "family time" - dh is often at a rehearsal himself during that time and his schedule is just bonkers anyway too - but now that we're transitioning back to the "school year" activities schedule, I'm remembering how hectic it is to try and make two kids get ready for bed so late. I'm curious what it looks like in other families where this schedule is common. If there are ways of managing the time that make more sense...

[ktgrok]

Mine are little. We do dinner before hand. So dance is at 5:45 we do dinner at 5pm,  when we get home she changes from dance clothes into pajamas, then maybe a snack when we get home. That one isn't super late. 

American Heritage girls is until 8pm. We do dinner beforehand (starts at 6:30), then when we get home I remind in the car that as soon as we get home they need to get in pajamas and get ready for bed. They do get to bed late but it's not awful. 

Really the big thing is to change into pajamas as soon as we walk int he door. It makes the transition easier. 

[Rebel Yell]

Dinner is before the activity. Even if it means activity child must eat alone before leaving for activities. Dinner is usually planned with that in mind... Taco meat in crockpot so it will stay in good shape for different mealtimes, for example.

 

Martial Arts girl doesn't like a full meal before, so she'll have a protein smoothie or lighter mealsnack before, with leftover dinner after.

 

Bedtime is whenever... We've never done set bedtime with story routines.

[MysteryJen]

We are generally home around 8 pm most nights and have done a similar schedule for years. Serious snack around 3:30 (sandwich and fruit or yogurt) and dinner when we get home.

 

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[Ali in OR]

No two nights look the same--different times for ballet, some afternoons have cross country, some don't, one day has cross country and soccer for one kid and ballet for the other, etc. So I have several strategies, all of which are more stressful than an evening when I can take my time with meal prep and do the prep just before dinner. Strategies:

 

-crockpot something or other. People can eat at different times. But the only recipes I have and like are chicken taco meat, chili, and marinara sauce. I'm going to try some soup recipes this fall--I think I have time earlier in the day to make bread or muffins or something to go with.

 

-meals I can make in 30 min or less. This may involve some convenience products like Trader Joe's orange chicken. I can do breakfast for dinner, pasta with jarred sauce, soup and sandwiches.

 

-grill extra on the weekend. This can work for a Monday or Tuesday dinner.

 

-assemble ahead. I can do burritos midday and just heat them up in the microwave as needed. I need more dinners in this category.

 

-eating out; often different kids eating out at different times at different places with different parents! Not ideal, but some crazy nights it's the least stressful option.

[lovinmyboys]

We usually eat an early dinner then have a snack before bed.

[happypamama]

We have to leave at 5:30 and don't get home until close to 9. Kids eat a good snack before we leave, and I sometimes leave food for DH and the littles, and sometimes we bring food home since it's also my grocery shopping night. Big kids who have the activity almost always eat after we get home. If they eat before, they are really hungry late anyway.

 

It makes for a late bedtime. Sometimes DH reads to the little ones and puts them to bed, and sometimes he just gets them ready, and they wait for me. Whether or not I read that night depends on how late it is and how tired I am.

[matrips]

For us, it's baseball at those times. We do an early dinner, about 5pm. When they get home, it's showers etc. And pretty much straight to bed. Which still means about 9:30pm or so.

 

Sometimes they come home hungry, even if they had a big dinner. So they get leftovers if there are any (rare!) or a bowl of oatmeal.

 

I'm tired by that time, so sometimes I think bedtime is more about me than them.

[Zinnia]

Our two big days are soccer. I leave at 4:30, and we get home at 8. They are still hungry after, and they don't want to practice after a big meal. So for us, we do a big snack at 3:30, then dinner at 8:20 or so. Long enough for 3 boys to shower.

[Emba]

We eat at 6 to leave by 6:30for taekwondo. Get back 8:30 or so, one child brushes teeth, uses the bathroom while the other puts on pajamas. Then they switch. no bedtime reading on those days.

 

For supper by 6 (and last year class was earlier) I like to have something iin the crockpot, leftovers, or something fast using convenience foods.

[kitten18]

Dd has ballet M-F (actually jazz and tap on Wednesday), and ds has gynmastics (rec classes) T, W, Th.

We're out of the house during those hours M-F, some days we leave by 4:30.

 

I always have them eat a meal before we leave, and then leave it in the frig for DH to eat when he gets home.

The kids usually want a snack when they get home, yogurts, crackers and hummus, something like that.

Then dd is ready for bed and just to get away from people so she goes to her room.

It's more difficult to get DS wound down and headed to bed. I have to basically shadow him to get him to brush his teeth and then I lie down with him until he falls asleep.

[myfunnybunch]

We've got boys with choir and theater and ballet until at least 8 every weeknight. Snack before, dinner after, as we realized we'd not get to all eat together unless we ate late. The one exception this year will be Monday, as high school ds and I won't be home until after 9:00, so the rest will probably eat without us when the middle schoolers get home from choir.

 

Then we unwind and the boys go to bed. Sometimes I read to them or we all read together, sometimes we watch tv or they play video games, sometimes we play cards. They go to bed late, between 9:30-10.

 

We're fortunate that dh works from home, so we get breakfast together, and we sometimes get lunch together also if I am not working. :)

 

I think it's just the way it works right now. I'm also thinking about how hectic things will get by next week. For me, too, as I volunteer for All The Things.....sigh.

[sbgrace]

We shove dinner in before the activity. My kids do have a snack, usually yogurt and cereal/toast/similar, before bed. I dislike that because it stretches bedtime that much more, but an early dinner and then no food just doesn't work here.

 

Mine do come back wound up, but the shower before bed and then snack, which usually puts enough wind down time in our day. We don't do read alouds at bedtime.

[MasaMama]

For one activity that runs from 6:40 to 7:20/8:30 two evenings, we eat an early dinner. When we come home around 8:30/9:00, DS eats the left over dinner plus a big serving of fruits. So, he eats almost same dinner twice. 

 

For another activity that we need to get there at 5:30 and be done by 7:00, we make it as an eating out night. 

 

They are both kind of "family time" for us. We all go there and DH and I work out or swim. 

 

Bed time has been struggle for us anyways with or without evening activities :(

Edited September 8, 2016 by MasaMama

[slackermom]

DD12 doesn't like to dance on a full stomach, so she has a small snack before class, and she has dinner after class. She is vegetarian, and DH and I are not, so we have a short list of basic vegetarian meals that are quick and easy and always on hand. On nights with multiple classes, I might pick up a take-out noodle or rice dish for her while I am waiting.

[bensonduck]

My older two have tae Kwon do 3x/week and basketball 1x/week in the evenings. Their activities are on the same days, but they are at different levels, so usually one has class, then the other. It makes for some long nights!

 

We eat dinner after the activity. I plan it to be something fast like leftovers or salad for the nights it is very late. DD and DS shower and straighten up their rooms and put their gear away while I get dinner on the table. DH usually walks in the door from work in here somewhere around when we get home, around 8ish. We eat together and unwind a bit and then go to bed. I do not read aloud at night. (I often read aloud to the child who is waiting for their sibling at the activity).

 

It makes for late nights. We are usually getting to bed by 9:30-10. They can and do sleep in in the mornings. DD sometimes sleeps till 8:30 and DS has been known to sleep until 10ish. He is a high sleep needs little guy. We also have quiet time daily and DS especially will often choose to nap at that time.

[Farrar]

I think the figuring out how to go from out to bed is the biggest challenge. The food I can do... we've done different things. But getting the kids to read and chill is tough. When there's nothing we eat, we hang out, we watch TV, we do a long read aloud, the kids read for an hour... Changing back to the harried routine is already such a pain. And it's not the time or the schedule, it's that transition to bed thing.

[ktgrok]

I think the figuring out how to go from out to bed is the biggest challenge. The food I can do... we've done different things. But getting the kids to read and chill is tough. When there's nothing we eat, we hang out, we watch TV, we do a long read aloud, the kids read for an hour... Changing back to the harried routine is already such a pain. And it's not the time or the schedule, it's that transition to bed thing.

 

That's where I think changing into pajamas the minute they come in, before eating, helps a lot. It gets them in the mindset of bed at least. And is one less thing to procrastinate on. 

[Ellie]

If you have kids in evening activities a lot, what do your evenings look like? Is dinner super early or super late? Do you try to do reading at bedtime, either aloud or individually? How do you transition kids (even tweens and teens) from dancing/playing/acting/building/working hard to winding down?

 

Ds's ballet just went from three to four evenings a week this year and other ds's theater looks to be the other weekday evening and it runs even later. I already usually try to make the midday meal the "main" meal, but I don't always succeed and especially for BalletBoy, he's hungry and beat post-dancing. It's just a tough time to schedule around, honestly. And when they get home, it's like, okay, now what because it feels like it's already time to get ready for bed.

 

I don't miss the "family time" - dh is often at a rehearsal himself during that time and his schedule is just bonkers anyway too - but now that we're transitioning back to the "school year" activities schedule, I'm remembering how hectic it is to try and make two kids get ready for bed so late. I'm curious what it looks like in other families where this schedule is common. If there are ways of managing the time that make more sense...

 

We always ate early, so for us, on nights with activities, we ate before we went to the activity.

 

I read aloud to the dc at lunch, not at bedtime.

 

We didn't seem to have trouble winding down, although maybe it was that our bedtime routine was so ingrained it just kicked in regardless of what time it started?

 

Our "family time" was mostly on weekends, I guess; we didn't think much about it, though. DDs and I were together all.day.long, which seems much like family time to me. We spent weekends with Mr. Ellie, of course, and sometimes he was able to be the parent-in-charge on DDs' activities, so there's that.

[dancingmama]

My daughter has evening activities four nights a week. On our easy nights where it's only two hours, we have a late, hearty lunch and then have a light dinner as we walk in the door after dance. Then she usually crafts quietly for awhile, listens to music, and/or reads until lights out at 10. She sleeps until about 8 or 9 in the morning depending on what time she actually falls asleep. Tonight she walked in the door at 9 and I can tell she's still awake now at nearly 11. She has always been a night owl,though.

[dancingmama]

We didn't seem to have trouble winding down, although maybe it was that our bedtime routine was so ingrained it just kicked in regardless of what time it started?

 

 

I think this is the key at our house to. Bedtime routine is the same regardless. Brush teeth, wash face, pjs, play quietly in room or read or listen to music and I shut lights out at the appointed time. You can be up until midnight or whatever as long as your quiet, in dark, in bed. If they "can't sleep" I tell them they have to count to 1000 and then come see me. This takes about 15 minutes and 99% of the time they fall asleep. If they don't, they can get up and cuddle with me in bed for a bit and then try again (if they don't fall asleep while in bed with me).

[ktgrok]

I should have said, after pagamas, and a snack if need be, they brush teeth and then get to snuggle on the couch for a bit. Nights we don't start late they snuggle for 30 minutes or more. Nights we start late might only be 10 minutes. But similar routine at least. 

[SKL]

This year is different from the past, but so far it looks like this (with minor variations from day to day):

• Kids walk up the hill from school bus around 4:30, grab a small "healthy snack."
• Kids do their homework.  Mom is still doing "work" work.
• Dinner, usually between 5:30 and 6:30.
• Sports / scouts.
• We listen to audiobooks on the drive to & from the activity (middle school fiction).
• Baths.
• If we have time, I read aloud.  It's about 50/50 at best right now.  Sometimes, to save time, I sit in the hall and read while they are getting ready for bed.  Sometimes I read during dinner, or even during certain mindless homework assignments.
• Bed.  Target tuck-in time is 9:30, but reality is usually closer to 10.

My kids' individual reading:  one kid always fits reading in somehow, as she loves it.  My other kid isn't a reader, but I do encourage her to read a chapter or two a day, if she doesn't have too much homework.  Usually I'm not militant about it.

 

Some nights the sports and homework are light enough to allow free computer time and such.  Computer access is a motivator for one of my kids to work efficiently and stay out of trouble.

[LucyStoner]

Soccer 2x a week 5:30-6:30 puts us eating something that doesn't take long to cook or repurposed leftovers around 7pm, get ready for bed by 8 and read and perhaps snag an episode of the wonder years on Netflix until 9.

 

Scouts 3x a month from 6-8 usually means eating at 5 or 5:15 and then on getting home, getting ready for bed right away and read until 9ish. We are lucky scouts is very close so no commute. If I am slick, dinner those nights comes from the Dutch oven or is a prepared ahead thing.

 

These are our only regular evening activities and I refuse to schedule more because evenings at home are important to the boys. Occasionally we go out for a special event but that's not a weekly thing that eats up all or most evenings.

Edited September 8, 2016 by LucyStoner

[LucyStoner]

Sometimes I have my cub scout get his pjs on before we leave scouts. So get home, brush teeth, reading, fall asleep.

[Melissa B]

We eat after, between 7:30 and 8:30. If a child is going to be home after 8:30 (theater) that child eats something before and a light snack after. I have late bedtimes. My younger kids have to be in bed by 10 and by high school there is no "bedtime." They don't get up until at least 7 in the morning. The all usually read in bed for a while before going to sleep.

[kroe1]

We eat a ton of fast or frozen food. DD16 now eats after dance about 10p.

[Carrie12345]

We left the house at 4:30 last night, and got back at 9.  (Well, me and 3 kids.)

Early dinner, first kid's karate class, second kid's karate class, an hour break (not long enough to go home) with snack, some Pokemoning, and running around, 3rd kid's karate class.

 

During soft/baseball season, we also do the early dinner thing, and leave between 4:30 and 5:30, depending on whether there's a practice or game and what the location is that night. We're usually back between 7:30 and 9pm with an occasional game that goes later.  Quick snack and off to bed.

 

Many of their class/teammates do not eat before evening activities, and I don't know how they manage.  I refuse to be cooking at 9pm, lol.  

 

 

[bettyandbob]

Big "dinner" is available mid afternoon before activity. I let my dc decide how much time before (right before or 1-2 hours before).

 

My dd left for ballet at 5. She ate between 3:30 and 4:00. She got home 10ish. She usually had a large glass of milk at that time, but sometimes she'd have more substantial snacks. Yogurt and cereal, nuts,

[SparklyUnicorn]

We eat dinner before we go.  Early.  So sometimes that means we end up having something when we get back.  Late.  It is what it is.  It's not every day of the week though.  It's mostly chaotic for me because I'm the taxi and driving at that time of day in the city is a royal pain.  At least on the way back it's not so bad.  Winding down, well no that all usually means we go to bed fairly late. 

[JudoMom]

We eat after. The earliest we ever eat dinner is 7. We've been eating on the later side for over a decade, though, so we're used to it.

 

If it's a really late night, I try to have dinner been a crockpot dinner or something quick, like tacos.

 

My boys will often eat a snack before they go. If it's a physical activity, this "snack" is often a sandwich or two.

Edited September 8, 2016 by JudoMom

[SparklyUnicorn]

Oh and reading at bedtime, well I don't do that anymore.  I still read to my kids, but I just do it at other times.

 

 

[Wabi Sabi]

My kids have a activity from 4:30-7:00 two nights a week. For us that usually means a big, late lunch (for example, yesterday they had a big plate of smoked sausage, sauerkraut and green beans at 3:00) and then we eat dinner around 8:00 when they get home. They don't get to bed until around 10:00, but the nice thing about being homeschoolers is that we have the flexibility to make that work for us. 

[Soror]

On the bad days we eat when we get home and the good ones we eat before and have a snack afterward. Last year we had dance at 4:15 and then Scouts to 8:00, I rarely got supper done early enough and quite often we'd eat at 8:30- even up to 9:30, which was way too late for all of us. No dance now so we have some extra time and I've been working on earlier meal b/c we all need more sleep. So far, so good. Hopefully I can keep it up!

 

eta- we do not do bedtime reading, reading is done during the day. As it is we need to get in bed as early as we can w' dh's schedule.

Edited September 8, 2016 by soror

[UmmIbrahim]

I like reading all of these posts about the crazy evening activities schedule. It's so nice to know that we are not alone in the whole evening out without getting in an official family sit-down dinner! I'm just so happy that all three of my boys like the same activity (parkour) and we can all be in one place for the evening rush.

 

Regarding the bedtime transition, we usually get home around 9 and everyone immediately goes for showers and changing (they stink!). After that we have a kitchen "last call" for late dinner or a snack if they ate "dinner" in the late afternoon. I usually bring snacks to the gym with us, but they still always want more back at home  :001_rolleyes:

 

Following kitchen last call, they have an option of doing a bit of reading (usually around 30 minutes). On quiet nights we definitely would do what you do with lots of reading aloud plus individual reading, but on parkour nights (which have slowly crept to being every.single.weeknight) all reading aloud has to happen either in the morning or the middle of the day. I think having them changed and showered first thing helps them to calm down and transition from high energy activity to home at night. It triggers their brains to realize how tired they really are from working out for 4 hours!

 

Good luck adjusting to the new schedule!

SaveSave

Edited September 8, 2016 by UmmIbrahim

[Wabi Sabi]

We do not do bedtime reading either. My kids usually read in the mornings when they first wake up, and we tend to do our read alouds as audiobooks when we're in the car going to afternoon/evening activities. 

We keep our bedtime routine simple and pared down to the bare essentials: let out their dogs for one last pee, pajamas, brush teeth, bed. 

[Miss Tick]

I think the figuring out how to go from out to bed is the biggest challenge. The food I can do... we've done different things. But getting the kids to read and chill is tough. When there's nothing we eat, we hang out, we watch TV, we do a long read aloud, the kids read for an hour... Changing back to the harried routine is already such a pain. And it's not the time or the schedule, it's that transition to bed thing.

We have busy evenings with no two alike. I have often internally cursed the length of our bedtime routine, but it is super consistent and currently involves three read-alouds (usually two is my limit). Everybody listens, although often while reading something else (but they pass my spontaneous pop-quizzes). Here is where I've been leveraging the homeschool card, because we have some cushion in the morning, so if bedtime stretched to 10 and they need another 20 minutes of sleep we can do that.

 

You may be on the cusp of a tween-hormone induced circadian schedule change, though. No one here has much trouble making that transition to bedtime. Yet.

[Farrar]

My boys definitely can sleep later than they used to, but later is relative when you're talking about kids who really, really wanted to be up at 5 am for many years. Occasionally they make it to 8 now, but 7 is more common.

 

Some of these ideas are good. We do have a bedtime routine, but it makes no sense in the context of starting it at 9 pm when Mushroom is pretty much at the point of leaning on walls moaning about sleep (but also, conversely, is generally still too wound up to get to sleep... sigh). We don't wear pajamas. Alas.

 

Maybe I'll try to move us to a large mid-morning meal and a large mid-afternoon meal. Right now, we usually eat lunch at 12 or 12:30 and then they're hungry again in the afternoon. No clue what I'll do about reading. They like it before bed. I'm just realizing we're going to be not just a few evenings a week like last year, but all the evenings out.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I used to try to only do daytime activities.  Now all activities are at night and late.  I thought I wouldn't like that, but I prefer it because when we did the daytime stuff it totally interfered with our daytime routine and we were often not getting stuff done.  The night stuff doesn't do that.

 

 

[regentrude]

We always have the big meal at mid day. Since dinner is just sandwiches or leftovers, it is easy to eat before the activity or after, or even both.

My kids did not start to have evening activities until they were old enough not to want a big bedtime ritual and reading aloud, so that was never an issue.

Edited September 8, 2016 by regentrude

[Lady Marmalade]

I manage the evening chaos by starting with a later lunch time.  M, T, Th we have lunch between 1:00-1:30, then they'll have a healthier snack before heading to the studio for the evening.  So something like an apple with PB, popcorn, cheese and crackers between 3:30-4:00 and then we all eat dinner after 8:00.   We eat dinner in front of the TV, so they are filling their bellies and relaxing at the same time.  Depending on when they finish eating we stay up and watch the rest of something, or they'll decide to turn in and get in some reading time before sleep.  

 

I think the real key to making the late dinner successful was getting out of the noon=lunch mindset that I had.  I tried making the lunch meal the big meal but that bombed big time.  Works best to just adjust the time for lunch.   On Wednesday we have church activities, and that's the one day we eat earlier because we never really know when we'll be back home.  So usually we lunch at noon, have dinner at 5:00 and then the kids will have ice cream/dessert after we get home from church. 

 

Mine are past the bedtime read-aloud stage though.  Not sure how I'd work that in.  If it was really important to them, maybe an audio book during meal time?  

[ItoLina]

Monday and Wednesday we are out of the house for activities from 3:45-7:15ish. Tuesday and Thursday we are out from 2:15-6:45. Friday its 3:45-7:00. So yeah, I feel your pain.

 

We always eat a big snack before we leave the house. Sometimes I bring little snacks for the kids to eat in between activities in the car (pretty much everyday we are going to more than one activity back to back or one kid is stuck hanging out and waiting for the other one to do their thing.)

 

We eat when we get home. The kids shower and get pajamas on while I prep dinner. I usually try to have all the Oreo work done so I am just throwing it together or hearing it up. Something that won't take more than 15-20 minutes. Sometimes we crock pot. Sometimes we eat a big lunch and then eat lunch stuff for dinner (sandwiches, quesadillas, etc). Some days we do breakfast for dinner.

 

Honestly it's a constant struggle for me to figure out he meal situation. I should probably try to have more of a routine and do less flying by the seat of my pants from day to day.

 

After dinner it's brush teeth and get to bed. I don't read to them at night any more. It's just too late and we are all cranky by then. I read to them in the morning and often during lunch. They often will read a little silently in bed before they fall asleep. Or sometimes my 8 year old will read to my 6 year old (they share a room). If they choose to do this on their own that's fine. Once they are in bed I am free to clean up and do whatever I need to do for the night, so I am not strict about what time they actually fall asleep as long as they are quiet and in bed. Especially since we just wake up when we wake up and start school whenever we are up and going.

 

 

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[Bluegoat]

We would have to have dinner before for any child that would be out to 8 - even when it is 7 they don't really last.  But we'd need food avialable after as well.

 

I would probably have everyone else eat while that kid was out, if possible.

[HS Mom in NC]

We have to eat dinner well before or just after Tae Kwon Do because it's so physically demanding kids vomit if they've eaten a lot too soon beforehand.

Mondays

Eat dinner              5:30-6:00

Get ready for TKD 7:00-7:10

Drive to TKD          7:10-7:30

TKD Class              7:35-8:15

 

Tuesdays

Eat dinner              5:00-5:30

Get ready for TKD 6:20-6:30

Drive to TKD          6:30-6:50

TKD class              6:55-7:35

 

Wednesdays

Eat dinner              5:30-6:00

Drive to small group (church related) 6:40-7:00

Small group            7:00-9:00

 

Thursdays

Get ready for TKD 5:40-5:50

Drive to TKD          5:50-6:10

TKD class              6:15-6:55

Drive home            7:00-7:20

Eat dinner              7:30-8:00

I read aloud during school hours.  My husband reads aloud after dinner or after TKD. He works from home most of the time and he works 50-60 hours so he just does what works for him at the time.

 

[Acadie]

We eat at 4:30 pm before cross country practice at 6 pm, and girls get cereal or other DIY snacks after. It's a pain for me to make dinner that early, but also easier having dinner served and cleaned up on the early side, rather than 8 pm. 

 

Can you consolidate the after-activity routine? 15 min snack, 15 min shower/get ready for bed, 15 min read aloud? Classical music for the snack/shower part? Or if you have a kid who really likes routine, a set list of songs to move through the routine--one song to get the snack, one to eat, one to gather bedtime stuff, one to brush teeth, etc... The set list can free you up and also feel better to kid who doesn't like to be badgered.

 

Or, post-activity snack in car, with calming musical accompaniment...it does sound like timing is tight and would only work as a very choreographed interval here.

 

Amy

 

 

[Arctic Bunny]

Supper, karate, showers, PJs, story while snacking, teeth and bed!

[lexi]

We just started swim team which is at 6 (3 nights per week) and AHG which is also at 6 on another night.

 

We eat at 5 before we go. While I'm cooking or getting the food ready my kids are doing some chores and laying out pj's for when we come home. We eat together and then leave the house. When we get back we do a quick snack, showers, brush teeth, and get ready for bed. Then my kids have 30 minutes of audio book time in their room while they play quietly or color. This really helps them wind down and get ready for bed. Then it's lights out.

 

I gave up trying to do much of our reading in the evening. After dinner I'm so exhausted that I want to be done with school things and I just want a break once the house is picked up. So my kids have room time in the evening which allows me to have some down time. I do our read alouds from 2-3 in the afternoon. Then my kids have their independent reading time and some playtime while I get a few things done before dinner. Usually I try to prep meals for the next day and start on dinner.

[HS Mom in NC]

Our winding down is an hour (give or take) before her bedtime.  Youngest and I read silently to ourselves on my bed. She chooses whatever book she wants. Then she brushes her teeth and goes to bed.

[mathnerd]

We are out 4 nights a week until 8:30 pm for activities. My son cannot eat a meal before the activity - we tried, but he got severe stomach cramps if he did sports even if he had dinner 1 hour before the start of the activity. We come home around 8:30 - 8:45 pm and he has a quick shower (too sweaty to change into PJs) and then eats dinner by 9:00. I prepare dinner before hand and it is ready to go. After that he either plays chess with his dad (I hate board games and stay away) or I send him off to his room with an audiobook and the app has a timer and it shuts it off at 9:45 pm. No normal bedtime rituals in our house because of the weird schedules.

[Junie]

Could you do an audiobook in the car on your way home from the activity?