Stay at Home Moms, What Do You Do Between 4:30-Dinner Time?
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Anonymous
| I also finish work at 4:30 to relieve our nanny. We often go for a walk so I can chat with neighbors because work from home is isolating. She never gets bored of picking up acorns. If I’m really tired, I do let DD watch Sesame Street while DH cooks dinner. She is 2 and doesn’t beg for tv because it’s rare. She does ask to look at the videos I’ve taken on my phone but I feel like that is fine because we’re sharing memories. It’s helped her remember relatives she rarely sees. |
Anonymous
| when my kids were that age, we were almost always outside during that time, either at a playground or a community garden. They loved it, i chatted with other parents and played with them a bit. |
Anonymous
| I work but I'm done at 4 daily. My kids are in a FCPS school with a late start and end time, so I get my kids from the bus stop at 4:20 ish. We usually play outside until DH comes home a little after 5. Sometimes if it's not nice out we go inside and play. |
Anonymous
| Take a walk outside, go to a playground, or I start dinner early and baby watches tv. |
Anonymous
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I’m a SAHM and I try to do one more day outside thing if our afternoon activity is over by 4:30. Usually close to home so playing in our yard, or walking the dog, or a neighborhood playground.
If I have a more intensive dinner to cook then there’s often tv. That’s when we do that which makes sense to me because everyone is tired. Sometimes we walk to pick up take out too. |
Anonymous
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I work 7-3:30 and got home at 4.
I immediately took my kids out. Playground, hike in woods, bike rides, soccer in back yard. I always went out. My neighbor /friend is a SAHM with a H who travelled M-Th so I’d grab her kids too sometimes to give her a break. |
Anonymous
NP. It is ridiculous that you write this. This may be what works for you and your family, or what you prefer, but please don't make up universal rules. |
Anonymous
| Not a SAHM but I work a schedule similar to yours and my kids are about the same age but in daycare/public preK. In your shoes I would institute a kid-directed walk. What I do is collect the 4yo from the elementary school across the street walk with her to my 2yo’s daycare (about 3/4th of a mile) then we all walk back together. I leave at 4 and we get home between 5 and 5:30 and the kids are feeling better/connected to me again and ready to play independently while I get dinner. |
Anonymous
| I work too but nanny leaves at 4. Dinner is at 5. Kids are 4, 3 and 1 and watch tv while I make dinner. Subscribe to my parenting podcast. |
Anonymous
NP what time do your kids wake up? Because mine, like most, wake up between 6 and 7 no matter what time I put them down. At that age they need close to 12 hours of sleep, the 2 year old certainly does. So unless your kids wake up at 9 am, yes this actually is close to a universal rule. |
Anonymous
| We got outside or we go down to their playroom. Read a few books, get out some lesser played toys. Practice letter writing and sounds with 4 yo. I always saved TV for cooking too. |
Anonymous
DP here. There are many comprehensive child sleep studies that found 7pm is the most developmentally appropriate bed time for these ages. |
Anonymous
+1 not all kids are the same. Mine never went to bed before 8pm, even when we tried. But she also doesn’t get up at 6am. She is still getting enough sleep. |
Anonymous
+1000 People who say this are just too lazy to get their kids to bed at a normal hour and want to justify it. |
Anonymous
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PP here who said what the other PP said about sleep time is ridiculous:
My kids get plenty of sleep, 12 hours at night and one naps for 3-4 hours during the day and the other 1.5-2 hours. We don't eat "dinner" at 5:30 because that is also ridiculous, and we're not senior citizens. But again, you do you. Don't pull rules up from wherever to justify your preferences. |