Afternoon schedule

Here's a peek at what works for our family after school:

3 p.m.
School's out!

3:20
Arrive home, unpack lunchboxes and backpacks

3:30

Time for a snack--we try for something both filling and somewhat healthy--the girls come home from school STARVED

until 5:00

Play, be a kid

5:00-6:00

Homework time (Audrey does her homework mostly with Toben--either in his office or at the "homework table," a dining room table that's up in the loft equipped with dry erase boards, index cards, pens, pencils, calculator, computer)

5:45

I usually start dinner preparation around this time; Emma helps cook and helps set the table

6:30

Dinner

7:00

Toben cleans up the kitchen and the girls head upstairs for baths; I pack lunches and get the coffee ready for the next morning--and when I'm really with it, I'll go ahead and set the table for breakfast the next morning too

8:00 

Into bed to snuggle/read together

8:30 

Lights out for the girls; into bed to read for me

9-9:30

Lights out for me

A couple of things:

We play before homework. Last year, Audrey started her homework around 4 o'clock and it took her two and a half hours to do what she now does in about an hour. She's the kind of kid who will take as long as you give her. So we purposely limit homework time to an hour.

Emma doesn't have that much homework. We're working on finding things for her to do during this hour. Reading, workbook pages, and educational computer games are on the list. After our parent teacher conference the other day, I think we're also going to practice writing letters to help Emma's penmanship.

We don't watch television on school days--for the most part. When Toben travels, the girls and I will often have movie nights--if homework and baths get done early. It helps the evening go smoothly and keeps them from missing their dad too much. Evenings can drag when everyone's tired, so it helps to do something fun and out of the ordinary.

We eat dinner together every night--usually in the dining room. It's a good time to talk and to find out more about everybody's day. We typically go around the table asking, "What was the best part of your day?" And we often hear the worst part too!

The girls take LONG baths--every night. It's just part of our bedtime routine. Audrey usually does her reading in the bath, and Emma loves to play with her Littlest Pet Shops. It relaxes them and gets them feeling all warm and sleepy.

You'll notice we don't have after school commitments. That's a deliberate choice we've made because it's what works best for our family. The girls have been involved in Girl Scouts, which is a twice-a-month commitment. Other than that, they don't play sports, take dance lessons, or play instruments. That may change in the future, but this is what's best for this season.

Like our morning schedule, this isn't really written down anywhere, but everyone knows the drill. And like their morning chores, their afternoon and evening tasks are on their chore charts too.

Again, this is what works best for our family. What works best for your family may be completely different. 

I think the important thing is that there's time to do what needs to be done, so there's no running around at bedtime in a panic because a homework assignment was forgotten. Even when Audrey has lots of homework, she's confident that there will be time to get it all done--and knows she'll have time to play too.

Like with the morning schedule, here are some questions to think about:

• How much time do you have in the afternoon/evenings?
• What time do you need to go to bed?
• What time do kids need to go to bed?
• What needs to be done every night? How long do those things take?
• How can the family help with any chores that need to be done?
• How can you make time to relax and play?
• If you have after-school/evening commitments, the schedule might vary from day to day. Even with that, how can you keep some consistency in your days--homework time, bedtime, and so on?

A big part of evenings is dinner. I think we'll tackle menu planning/grocery shopping next!

Comments

[Gretchen]

I applaud you for being prudent in scheduling after school activities. Again, I know what's best for every family is different, but when I hear of some of my friends kids--elementary age--up till 11 doing homework, I just cringe. Those babies need their sleep. And as a mom...I do much better with less running around. I'm less of a hag, which is bound to be good for everybody. :)

[Kim Feth]

Good input. We've just recently had a major family schedule change, and we're trying to wrap our brains around it. I loved your comment @ morning schedule where you read to them during breakfast. I've only got the one, but he has a "required breakfast" to treat his ADD. I never thought about it before, but that would make the mealtime fly by. We're definitely going to give that one a try on Monday.

[Kim Feth]

Good input. We've just recently had a major family schedule change, and we're trying to wrap our brains around it. I loved your comment @ morning schedule where you read to them during breakfast. I've only got the one, but he has a "required breakfast" to treat his ADD. I never thought about it before, but that would make the mealtime fly by. We're definitely going to give that one a try on Monday.

[erin s]

Joanne I found it very refreshing reading about your daily routines. Thanks for sharing. I am curious...what do you pack for lunches? I find that task daunting at times. I always pack lunches the night before but it's always the same old stuff!

[Misty]

I am also interested in what you pack for lunch. I usually send a sandwich for my one that is in school, one morning when DH was gone and I had to take her to school and get everyone around I almost forgot to fix her lunch! I was afraid that sandwiches would get soggy.....also I use a sandwich wrap instead of baggies....

I am working on getting a more organized routine going on! With 4 little ones it needs to happen!

[Meredith]

With the exception of a few things our afternoon/evening schedule is pretty similar. We like to eat early (5:30) which gives us plenty of family time before bed. Brownies (Abbey) and Book Club (Sarah) are our only after school activities and they're on the same day which helps. And we eat dinner together every night too!

Thanks for sharing. I love seeing what other peoples lives look like!

[Joanne (The Simple Wife)]

Hi Erin,

I have to say that I really don’t like packing lunches—but I’m too cheap to spring for hot lunch at school! Our school is nut free—so no PB&J for my kids. And they don’t really love sandwiches.

They eat a lot of yogurt, a lot of carrots and sugar snap peas, cheese and crackers, beef jerky, sliced apples, satsumas (in season), granola bars, fruit cups, applesauce, and string cheese. They seem to be happier with lots of little things to choose from.

I have a big basket in the pantry filled with the non-perishable things, I buy small yogurts and put them in the freezer. I’d love to be better about packing up fruit and veggies once a week, but doing it the night before is working for now.

It is mostly the same old stuff around here—but they don’t seem to mind! What same old stuff do you pack?

Joanne