Juggling the dinner/bath/bed routine

[westy]

My DH doesn't get home from work until approx 6.45pm so i pretty much do the whole afternoon/night routine myself.... i have three children who are aged 7yrs, 4yrs and a 12 week old.

I always prepared and cook tea throughout the day so i don't have to worry about getting tea sorted out during the afternoon rush, then we just re-heat it when DH gets home.

The older boys have baths usually by 6.15pm while im feeding bubby, by then DH is home so we will eat tea as soon as he gets in after tea i tidy the kitchen and make lunches for the next day. Once all the above is done it's time to bath bubby so i get all of that ready - by this time its about 7.20pm bubby has a feed straight after his bath then goes to bed at approx 8pm. The older kids go to bed at 8.30pm , i'm really happy with our rountine it works really well for us....everyone goes to bed happy and refreshed to do it all again the next day

[~me~]

My DH doesn't get home from work until usually 7ish so I am very strict with routine.
I quite often plan our meals in advance and do the chopping and get ingredients ready or have our dinner sitting in the oven to turn on when he lets me know he is leaving work.
The kids eat 5pm (DD included now) then it's usually 30min giggle and hoot time.
6pm is bath for all of them together. I get the two boys out first and dress DS2 and DS1 can dress himself and then it's DD's turn.
DD feed and bed at 6:30pm while boys play quietly or noisily
Then I get a move on with dinner after DD is in bed and the boys play.
Most of the time dinner is ready to go and will only take 10mins or so to throw together and cook or if it's an oven dish it will be ready at 7:15pm. Sometimes I actually leave dinner up to DH altogether and we eat around 8ish.
DH usually does stories for DS2 at 7pm when he gets home and then bed for DS2. If he doesn't get home in time or DS2 is particularly tired I put DS2 to bed at 6:45-7pm.
Then DS1 has stories and bed at 7:30pm on a school night.
From 4:30pm for me it's go time (I cook kids dinner at around that time).
While the boys eat dinner and DD chews on some bread I do the dishes and then they all sit down and watch a little bit of giggle and hoot night time before bath. As thegoodnight song plays I am running the bath and getting DD undressed. Boys can undress themselves.
I love 4:30pm as it's busy, in a very good way. Kids are always happy after dinner and love bath time and a little play after.

[~Hestia~]

I'm flying solo for at least 4 nights out of every 9 days. I rely heavily on my chest freezer full of home cooked meals for DH & I! This way I can eat alone if DH is going to be late. Either way it's just a quick zap in the microwave when he gets home, which is usually around 8:00pm.
But nightly routine is dinner for DS at 5:30pm.
Always leave the bath for after dinner as he just gets it all over him, so this is usually around 6:00pm. He sometimes gets a little play between dinner & bath if he didn't get too messy!
I pack his toys away while the bath is running. This is so when he gets out he doesn't start playing with them & get all hyped up!
Usually by 6:30pm I'm getting his pjs on, if not earlier. Depends on how tired he is & how much he is enjoying his bath (or not!).
After this he gets a booby feed, then we read books until he starts yawning.
Bed is somewhere between 6:45 and 7:00pm.
As I said if DH is working, dinner is usually something out of the freezer that I just have to reheat.
Or if I am cooking from scratch I start when DS goes to bed.

If DH is home we kinda do tag team. But I'll usually start preparing dinner while DS is having his or is in the bath. Depends on what it is I'm making.

But I am probably going to change all this now DS is getting older. I want to start eating together as a family, on DH's work days I'll just reheat DH's later on. So I will have to work out how to cook with DS around so we can all eat around 6:00pmish!

[rhyb]

Well my routine is different. I found with 4 babies (well DS is 2 so I may have to give in and *gulp* admit he's a toddler )
I bath my DDs in the morning. I get nappies and clothes ready after they feed then like a crazy production line I bath one after another stopping to dress everyone then put them down to play.
At dinner time DS waits for us to eat dinner which could be as late as 8 (I know, I know but some nights it cant be helped). DS showers with me (if its morning or night I pick). For bedtime I change everyone at once (again like a whacky production line), everyone gets a night time bottle and then door gets closed and lights off and Im out of there!!!

Madness with no 'real' structure I know but best I can do at the moment

[Taurean]

Well my routine is different. I found with 4 babies (well DS is 2 so I may have to give in and *gulp* admit he's a toddler )
I bath my DDs in the morning. I get nappies and clothes ready after they feed then like a crazy production line I bath one after another stopping to dress everyone then put them down to play.
At dinner time DS waits for us to eat dinner which could be as late as 8 (I know, I know but some nights it cant be helped). DS showers with me (if its morning or night I pick). For bedtime I change everyone at once (again like a whacky production line), everyone gets a night time bottle and then door gets closed and lights off and Im out of there!!!

Madness with no 'real' structure I know but best I can do at the moment

Rhyb, hats off to you hon!!! What an awesome effort! I would love to hear a day in the life of 'Rhyb'.

My DH helps out quite a bit by cooking dinner and if he's home early enough, he feeds and baths DD (in which case I cook dinner).

On a good day we aim to have DD fed around 5.30, she's in the bath around 6ish and then having her last breastfeed at 6.30ish. We often eat around 8ish as we prefer to have DD in bed and settled so we can both enjoy our dinner. I'd like to eat earlier but DD's routine seems to go for about 2 hours so instead of keeping her up, we deal with her first then we eat dinner. It works for us.

We have a dishwasher so one of us packs that at some stage (usually the one that didn't cook) and wipes down the kitchen benches. We both chill out in the evenings so I tackle the laundry, if need be, during the day. As long as the kitchen is clean and the dishwasher on before I go to bed, I'm happy.

[Serendypyty]

I'm lucky, my DH does help out with Josie. Dinner usually happens around 6pm, shower around 6:30 (he jumps in the shower with her and cleans her, then she comes out all bundled in a towel and I put her in her PJ's). She has a small glass of warm milk at around 7:15pm and about 7:20 or a bit after, I take Josie to bed, we read a couple of books and then she is usually out like a light by 7:30!
DH doesn't really read her books though, unless I'm really running around like an idiot or have other things to do. He whinges that he can't fit on her bed properly to read them to her! Lol

[AliBaby]

First of all I see your sig says it was Hayley's birthday on Monday!!! Happy 1st Birthday

DP works 5 nights out of a week and has done so since DD was 1 week old. It's just me and DD

My routine:

I cook 3 times a week. The meals that I make will always last us for 2 days. I may just cook up some fresh veggies or make a salad on the day that its leftovers. I cook during the day when DD is having a nap and also then DP who leaves home at 2pm can take his in a container to work for dinner that night. The rest gets put in the fridge with gladwrap. I will even put DD's into a bowl ready so all I have to do is put it in the microwave later on. I then wash up then as well. That way in the evening all that will be left is 2 plates and cutlery and that is just rinsed, left in the sink for the next day (no dishwasher). I also make up bottles at this time as well so I dont have to do it later in the evening.

Then between 5pm and 5:30, DD will have dinner. I normally eat then or am doing some other jobs while she is eating in her high chair. She watches In the Night Garden while she eats and I normally go an run the bath then and get her pj's, nappy, etc out and ready on the change table. I personally could never bath DD before dinner as she makes such a mess that it would become pointless and create more work for myself. I should also add that some nights when I am getting DD's bath run and clothes ready, I will get my pj's out and put them in the bathroom and we will ahve a bath together. Then I would get out first but obviously be right there getting dressed then get her out.

At 6pm, In the Night garden is finished and I tell her its bath time. She has a bath and I clean the bathroom while I am in there. Just a quick wipe over things and when she's finished, we pack up the toys and she is out and into her room getting dressed.

6:0pm is stories and quiet time.

By 7pm she is in bed with a bottle.

Then its my time! (I actually just let a sigh out loud go)! LOL! I love this time.

[ss_storm]

thanks for all your responses, they've been very helpful!

Rhyb- you must be supermum! I struggle with getting one organised sometimes, you are doing such a wonderful job!

Last night I tried having dinner early, I was making pasta so started at 5.30 and it was ready by about 6 so we all sat down and ate then, then gave DD a bath and she played a bit while I cleaned up. i think I just need to give her an afternoon snack a bit later because she was starting to get a bit grumpy! I think that's the way to go though, DD was having 2 dinners because she would have her own at 5.30 and then be picking stuff off my plate when we sat down for dinner later! Probably not a good habit for her to get into. Lol