The Afternoon Routine

When I walk in the door after the school run, its bedlam. Shoes, jackets, school bags and notes go flying. Mama goes a little crazy in this first hour after school :)

Apart from the necessity of feeding the children their after school snack (think a nest full of baby chicks all clamouring for food and you've about hit the mark), if I can manage to do just two or three other things during this time it makes life so much easier later on in the evening.

Lizzie's Afternoon Routine

* Help the kids change out of their uniforms (if it's clean enough to wear again the next day, it gets folded to be reworn - no point playing the martyr!)
* Afternoon tea (the standard deal is whatever they've got leftover in their lunchboxes, with a tub of yoghurt thrown in for good measure)
* Unpack / repack school bags (check for notes, dig up library books for the next day etc)
* Reading Time (each kid has to read to a grown up)
* Fold / iron clothes (I'm happy if I can just iron two or three things...)
* Hotspot (there's always something that needs doing!)

The main purpose of the Afternoon Routine is to kill as many birds with as few stones as possible. Repacking the bags now helps me later when I do the Evening Routine, reading with the kids now helps minimise the (worse!) craziness of the kids' bedtime routines, and so on. At a pinch, its the one that get drops first, but most days I try hard to stick to the plan. The Afternoon Routine is (loosely) pencilled in for 4:00 - 5:00.

Then comes another break until around 5:30. Mama takes a couple of headache pills and sends the kids to their rooms for some peace! (Just kidding....sort of!)

I try to get dinner going by 5:30. Sometimes I can get away with starting later, if its a really simple dinner. I also try to get dinner on the table by around 6:30. I'm laughing inside my head as I type this though because I can't remember the last time I actually managed to achieve this, but its the ideal, LOL. The days are getting shorter down my way and little tummies somehow get hungrier sooner with the cooler weather :)

Cheers,
Lizzie