Evening routine - what do you do?

[soccermama]

I pick up DS around 6 each night from school, we get home, let the dogs out, I cook dinner, we eat and he'll watch his show on Sprout while eating dinner. Then we play a game of soccer or basketball, maybe paint, do a puzzle or a game, some nights are bath nights, and then it's back to Sprout to settle in to bed, etc., What are your routines with your toddler? I guess I have a bad case of cabin fever and can't WAIT for the weather to warm up so that we can go on walks with the dogs after work or just play outside in general or garden once we get home.

[Ceinwen]

We're stuck in a bit of a rut right now too.

I work shift work (temporarily) and I get home after the kids are in bed. It's difficult to get into any kind of routine because I'm on a four on/four off schedule... anyway, I'm looking forward to starting the typical Mon-Fri/9-5 routine so we can start doing stuff at night. Even as simple as going to the park, playing outside etc. Of course, the four feet of snow has to take a hike too!

[Alyantavid]

I can't wait for warm weather too, I'm so sick of my house.

We get home around 4:15. The kids both have a snack, my oldest takes off into his room or the playroom to play games or read. My 2 year old plants himself in his recliner with a sippy of rice milk and his blankie and either falls asleep there (he's trying to give up naps) or he watches a movie while I clean up the house a little, cook dinner, get everything ready for the next day. Then we have dinner, play time, baths and to bed by 8.

[nolansmummy]

We get home around 4-5ish. The kids have been home all day so dh plays with them upstairs or outside(if warm enough) while i get dinner ready. We eat around 5:30, then its relax time. Dh and ds usually play a video game while i play downstairs with dd. We then give baths around 7pm, and then they are in bed by 8.

We have major cabin fever here too! i am ready for nighttime walks like we did in the fall. I like : better than :

[limabean]

I WAH, so I'm already here come evening time, but DH gets home around 4:30 and takes over kid duty while I veg out for about half an hour and then make dinner. Sometimes we'll go for a walk (tonight DH and the kids/dog are walking by themselves while I chill out in a quiet house -- it's lovely!!). We eat around 6, then DH gives the kids baths and I put DD to bed, then we spend some time with DS (reading, board games, puzzles, or whatever) before he goes to bed. It's pretty low-key around here, just the way I like it.

[~pi]

Our routine is fairly boring, but I will say that we manage to avoid total cabin fever by walking home from daycare. We're in Canada, and some days make for more pleasant walking weather than others, but thanks to the simple reality that we need to get home we do get that outdoor time every day. On nice days we stop at one of the three playgrounds between daycare and our house.

FWIW, DS is 2 and daycare is about a 10 minute walk away at a brisk adult speed, 30 minutes with a toddler.

Obviously this is not a realistic scenario if your dc is far from your home, but might you consider a walk regardless of weather? At least for me, getting outside staves off some of that cabin fever/dissatisfaction.

[Rosehip]

I'm a student, so it varies a bit depending on my class schedule, but typical is:

I pick the kids up from the sitter around 5, go home (we live w/my parents, I am single). If my mom is around, she might have started dinner, in either event, I usually take over from here. The kids watch usually watch TV or play in the sink while I cook. If they're cooperative (not overtired), I have them help me cook. We usually have family dinner around 6. Lately, if my Dad is going to be late, or we're otherwise delayed, I just feed the kids at 6. If I push it much later, things start to fall apart.

We take our time with dinner - the kids can leave the table once they're done & clear their plates, and then go play in the living room, or watch a movie.

I try to start bedtime between 7 & 7:30 (they're 2 & 4). Since they won't sleep later for love or money, I have pushed bedtime kind of early. The sitter gives them a bath in the afternoon, which really works well. Things are pretty non-stop play/raucous with her, and I find having her bathe them makes for a little afternoon mellow time, plus expedites getting to bed.

[lnitti]

Our evening stink! We get home from daycare between 6:15 and 6:30. I nurse my 18 month old while my 4 year old plays. That takes about 15 minutes give or take. Then I warm up some leftovers for dinner (that's all I have time for - no time to actually cook!). Some nights, dinner is a bowl of cereal. Then my 4 year old insists on a snack too before bed (cookies/crackers/ice cream or something). So that is usually tacked on to dinner before we even leave the table. After dinner, we brush teeth, potty, read books and go to bed.

No time for fun. No time to fool around. Rush rush rush every night. Often 1 or both kids are tired enough that it is also full of temper tantrums and crying.

Bedtime ritual must begin between 7-7:30 otherwise the kids get too grumpy and miserable. On a good night, the 4 year old is in bed by 8-8:15. The younger one I finish getting ready around 8:15-8:30 (potty again for her, then night time diaper). Then I nurse her. On a good night I can leave her room by 9, on other nights it is much much later. On a good night she will sleep until 10:30 then I will have to hold her the rest of the night. On other nights, I'm lucky if she doesn't wake by 9:30-9:45 and require me to hold her the rest of the night. btw- on a good night I only have to nurse her 5-6 times per night (and I might get 4-6 hours of sleep in 1-2 hour chunks, other wise it is off and on all night long (and I get even less sleep those nights).

I hate the evening (on day care days) and I always hate night time.

[soccermama]

Originally Posted by lnitti

Our evening stink! We get home from daycare between 6:15 and 6:30. I nurse my 18 month old while my 4 year old plays. That takes about 15 minutes give or take. Then I warm up some leftovers for dinner (that's all I have time for - no time to actually cook!). Some nights, dinner is a bowl of cereal. Then my 4 year old insists on a snack too before bed (cookies/crackers/ice cream or something). So that is usually tacked on to dinner before we even leave the table. After dinner, we brush teeth, potty, read books and go to bed.

No time for fun. No time to fool around. Rush rush rush every night. Often 1 or both kids are tired enough that it is also full of temper tantrums and crying.

Bedtime ritual must begin between 7-7:30 otherwise the kids get too grumpy and miserable. On a good night, the 4 year old is in bed by 8-8:15. The younger one I finish getting ready around 8:15-8:30 (potty again for her, then night time diaper). Then I nurse her. On a good night I can leave her room by 9, on other nights it is much much later. On a good night she will sleep until 10:30 then I will have to hold her the rest of the night. On other nights, I'm lucky if she doesn't wake by 9:30-9:45 and require me to hold her the rest of the night. btw- on a good night I only have to nurse her 5-6 times per night (and I might get 4-6 hours of sleep in 1-2 hour chunks, other wise it is off and on all night long (and I get even less sleep those nights).

I hate the evening (on day care days) and I always hate night time.

I know exactly what you mean by rush, rush, rush - those sort of days tend to happen when my H is out of town and I'm handling things all on my own. My DS goes to daycare every day, but it seems to work out a little better for us when my H is in town and is able to pick him up a little earlier and can get dinner started by the time I get home. I can get some things done and he can play with DS and we'll go back and forth. Bedtime for DS these days has been 9.... we do potty beforehand, brush teeth, maybe read a book or two....We're an 'outside' family and are going crazy with the see saw temperatures!!

[lnitti]

Originally Posted by soccermama

I know exactly what you mean by rush, rush, rush - those sort of days tend to happen when my H is out of town and I'm handling things all on my own. My DS goes to daycare every day, but it seems to work out a little better for us when my H is in town and is able to pick him up a little earlier and can get dinner started by the time I get home. I can get some things done and he can play with DS and we'll go back and forth. Bedtime for DS these days has been 9.... we do potty beforehand, brush teeth, maybe read a book or two....We're an 'outside' family and are going crazy with the see saw temperatures!!

Yup, I know what you mean - my dh works evenings, so I'm always on my own in the evening.

I wouldn't mind if my kids wanted to stay up a little later, but when they are tired, they are tired. My 4 year old could easily sleep for 12 hours (maybe more). I'm often waking her up at 8 or so in the morning when she would rather still be sleeping so that we can go to daycare. I'm really lucky if I make it to work by 9. I'd like to get in earlier. That would mean she would have to get up earlier, which in turn would mean she'd have to go to bed earlier, but how can I get her to bed earlier than she already is.

[kirstenb]

Right now I pick him up at 5:30ish and we get home right before 6. If I am prepared I will have something in the crockpot, but most likely I need to throw dinner together. We eat around 6:30. Since it is light later now we take a walk with the stroller for about 30 minutes, get home around 7:15, then do bedtime routine, read books, play quietly in his room, and start rocking him to sleep by 8. I agree it feels very rushed some days.

[pammysue]

We come home, nurse and then eat dinner or DH watches DS while I make dinner. The DH plays with DS while I check e-mail, MDC, facebook, etc...sometimes while eating my dinner. Bath (when necessary 1-2x per week) or play time on the floor. Upstairs between 7:30-8:30 depending on last nap for PJs, books and crawling around on the bed until he falls asleep. Oh yeah, intersperse nursing in 4-5 times in there.

[lovemykeiki]

Originally Posted by lnitti

I hate the evening (on day care days) and I always hate night time.

I could not pass up your post without responding. Hang in there, this too shall pass!

[Carita]

i pick him up around 5:15, nurse, go home, make dinner, dinner is usually ready by 6

then after dinner, wash up, brush teeth, a bit of play time, reading some books, making something out of mega blocks, play with cars, then about 7 we start bedtime routine

bath, nurse and diaper, allergy meds, read books, lights off and nurse and go to sleep.

I moved bedtime up because he needed it, but I feel like I have very little time with him during the day. In a way, I'm not sure what I would do with more time, so it does work nicely. Good thing we co-sleep - that helps me reconnect with him for an extra 8 hrs/day.

[lolar2]

Pick up from daycare between 5:30 and 5:45 (usually DH and I manage to pick him up together, which is nice); home, eat dinner/ watch DVR'd Sesame Street/ play with toys, read a book or two (Where the Wild Things Are is the current favorite), bed. If DS has had a long nap at daycare or slept late and is wakeful at night, we watch more TV than that (usually Sprout). A lot of the time we have Sesame Street on during dinner, but we are trying to get away from that.

Cabin fever isn't really a problem for us. I get a lot of outdoor time at school (too much sometimes as I am forced to criss-cross campus several times each day), and DS gets a lot of outdoor play at daycare. I like living in a mild climate.

[beebalmmama]

Our routine right now is: Dh and Ds home at 4:30. Dh starts dinner, while ds has a snack, watches a movie, or plays. I get home at 5:30 and help dh finish dinner or start dinner if he hasn't gotten there yet. Eat at either 6:00 or 6:30. Usually kitchen cleaned and lunches packed by 7:00-7:15. Sit down and play with ds, bath night if needed, watch a nature show or tv. We've been watching movies lately with the cabin fever. I can't wait for it to warm up and take a walk after dinner.
We usually try to start bedtime at 8:00. Me picking up toys, getting on pj's, reading books, having a snack, nursies, and bedtime by 8:30 usually and sometimes 9:00 (but really 9:00 is too late for ds).

I keep thinking summer will be easier because dh is a school teacher. But last summer he waited table and so it was just me and ds in the evening after a 10 hour day because I go to 4X10's in the summer. Then dinner is a toss up. I may or may not make something, Dh may or may not have prepped something during the day, and ds may or may not eat it anyway. But ds and I always took a walk in the evening in the summer. I'm hoping we can do something else this year.

[azjen43]

I'm usually home by 6 and pick up DD from the sitter. She lives two houses down from us and has DD do her homework along with her two kids right after school and a snack, so thankfully, I don't have to worry about homework....
(don't even get me started on what I think about homework in kindergarten)

Once home, I start dinner and DD will either help, watch some TV or go play in the back yard while I'm fixing dinner. We live in a place where the weather is actually nicer in the winter. DH usually arrives home by 6:30 and we eat together shortly after that. We have TV off by 7:00 rule, so after dinner DD and I will sometimes go for a bike ride, a walk, or play inside while DH cleans up from dinner and does dishes. 7:30 we go upstairs for bath, vitamins, teeth brushing, 8:00 in the bedroom with stories, one more trip to the bathroom and lights out by 8:30. I do feel rushed, but find that DD does SO much better with a predictable routine and plenty of sleep.

DH and I also enjoy having some grown up time together after DD is in bed, although sometimes I'm so tired I'll fall asleep with her. I will be getting laid off next month, so I expect that my day will change quite a bit, (I'll be at home taking on-line classes) but I like our evening routine and hope to keep it for the most part.