What is your routine with your kids (particularly time of your evening meal) ???

mrcow

My children don't have a routine. They are generally in bed by 7pm though.

After school, we other play or cook or do messy stuff together. They only watch tv if we're having a lazy time. I usually get my son to do any homework etc up the kitchen table whilst I'm cooking dinner or after the younger girls have gone to bed.

Krystaltips

I don't have a routine either... DD goes to bed around 7pm... Earlier if she's tired and miserable, no later than 8 if she's happy... She wakes about 6-6:30 and Daddy gets her up gives her breakfast and gets himself ready for work... I get up and get her and myself dressed, we go through her stage words (she's 4 1/2) and we leave for school about 8:40.
After school we cuddle in the chair and talk about what she did, had for lunch etc... Then we read her reading book... Anything after that is not structured and just happens... Weekends are slacker....

Gingham_Ribbon

The only routine we have is a relaxing bedtime one, bath, teeth, stories etc.

But homework gets done as soon as he gets in from school before he's allowed to do anything else. He can have a quick snack first if he's hungry.

blackcoffee

We have to have breakfast at 7.45, then we are all out of the door for 8.30. kids normally up any time after 7am, thanks to thier little sister !!

we do any homework the night it comes home from school. we have a chart on our fridge which tells us what days we have things, and last thing at night, my 8 & 6 year old have to check that thier bags are ready for the next day. i then double check ! they thankfully are now allowed to keep p.e & karate kit in school on thier pegs, which makes life easier.

we do reading everynight at bedtime, whether its school, library or book from home.


teatime isnt set as we have activities after school, but i hope they have eaten at least an hour before bed ! they should be in bed by 7.30pm -8pm.

Mics_chick

elainew wrote: »

I am a stickler for routine and it works for us. We have a child who has been a great sleeper since she was 9 weeks old.
works for some and not for others.

The one thing I concentrated on with both my kids was to get them sleeping through as soon as possible...;)
My dd was only 7 weeks old and my ds was about 4-4.5 months old coz he suffered from colic until then

Mics_chick

blackcoffee wrote: »

we do reading everynight at bedtime, whether its school, library or book from home..

I hadn't thought of this :rolleyes2

Spendless

Mine need 'fire-gazing' time when they come in from school. I could not work a days shift, come in from work and immediately start on paperwork I'd fetched home from the office. I need 'chill time' first and so do my kids. It wouldn't be too bad dd's homework as she is only in yr1, but homework has become harder and longer since ds reached junior school.

A play park is between our house and the school so, especially in summer we call there first.

They are always starving hungry so a snack and then homework is tackled either shortly before or after tea when dh comes in at 5.45pm

sarymclary

I find that mine thrive on a routine. Kids (a bit like men really) like to know when they can expect to eat, when they need to be ready, where they need to be, and when.

When mine were little, even before they could tell the time properly, I had a list on the wall with a timetable of what they needed to do, and when. So, it when something like this (for a schoolday):
7.30am Wake up
7.45am Be up and dressed
8.00am Be breakfasted
8.15am Have brushed teeth
8.25am Get my shoes on/get bags
8.30am Be in car

With the benefit of a digital clock (or the time on the Sky TV info) they were able to work the times out quite well, even from age 4.

The routine has to stay the same. Don't let them change the order of the routine. My only means of deviating from it, is if they get ready extra quickly, and have everything done by 8 - 8.15, they can use the spare time to play, so they may opt to have a quick bounce on the trampoline, or whatever.

I do not allow any childrens programmes on TV in the morning. I mainly have the radio on, but I now allow the teenagers to watch the news, and get the sports scores, but they organise themselves very well anyway. The younger 2 certainly need no distractions.

I find that we leave the house happier, the children go to school calmly and happy too.

After school it's straight in to change out of uniform. They can go out to play, chill out and watch TV, whatever they want.

They have to be responsible for doing their homework in the time set. They generally get about 3 days to turn it around in, so I ask them to fit it into that timescale, and it definitely cannot be left to the last minute. We have had some tears at bedtime about that, but they have to learn to organise themselves, and their teachers agree with me on that score. If they don't do the homework, easier to learn the lesson of losing a playtime, than all the nagging in the world from me. I find they're often quite tired straight after school, and lack concentration to do it as soon as they get home.

Dinnertime is at 6pm. It would take something quite mammoth to make anyone deviate from this event! Teenagers are expected home from being out with mates to attend. It a time for the family to regroup, exchange stories about their day, catch up, and just be together. It's very important, and really does work at bringing us all closer, whilst ensuring the children get a decent hot meal.

Bedtimes have always been a strict affair in our house. The grown ups need their time at the end of the day!
Younger 2 in bed by 8pm. Lights out at 8.30pm
15 y/o goes up to bed at 9.30pm
16 y/o goes up to bed at 10pm - the older 2 share a room and they don't have to turn the lights out till 10.30 on weekdays, 11pm @ weekends.

In the morning, at the weekends no one is allowed to leave their rooms until 8am. It means the older boys can have a bit of a lie in now that they need it, we can too, and the younger two are learning to stay in bed longer too. We imposed that 'rule' when my 2nd youngest was getting up earlier and earlier, and waking everyone else up! Now they put a DVD on in their room quietly, if they're both awake early, and watch that until 8am.

bestpud

We don't really have a routine as such as DD does clubs and I work one or two nights a week, when she is collected from school by my dad and taken home to DH as I take the car to work with me.

But we usually watch the Simpsons after tea and then it's bed and story - usually by 7pm but later on her Brownie night. DH tends to play cards with her instead of a bedtime story.

Before tea, it just depends but she usually watches TV for a while when she first gets home. Sometimes she goes on the computer.

Her reading book is usually done in the morning.

I get up when DH leaves, at about 6 and DD is usually up by 6.30. Then it's breakfast, teeth, get dressed, hair, bags/lunch if needed and reading book. Often she will then have five or ten minutes TV time before we leave at 7.45 if I am at uni, or 8.30 if not. We do the same but tend to go slower if we are leaving later.

On the morings I have worked the night before, DD has usually eaten her breakfast and is getting dreessed by the time I get home at about 7.20. DH puts her clothes etc ready and DD(16) (looks after her until I get home) helps her with breakfast. The rest of the morning follows the same pattern. Wednesday is always a bit of a rush as I get in at 7.20 and we have to be back out by 7.45 so I can get to uni.

DD(16) sorts herself thank goodness.

Homework is given on a Thursday to be back in the following Tuesday so we do it on Sunday morning before we go swimming. The swimming keeps her mind on the job!

Seems to work better having homework this way - could you suggest your child's school does that?

Hope you got the gist of that - basically we don't really have a routine because life gets in the way!

RoxieW

Hi - I have 2 the same age as yours. Our after school routine is usually - homework, the tv/play time until daddy gets home (about 5.30pm) - then we all eat dinner together. Then its abit of play/tv and twice weekly bath, before warm milk and story at 7pm then sleep. On weekends/holidays they are allowed to watch a dvd in their room before sleep. If we have a party/visitors etc then the routine just gets adapted - usually story and milk are given a miss if late night.