If you stay at home with youngish kids in school, how do your afternoons look?

[Anonymous]

Next year I'll have a child in PK3 and a child in K. I work from home and have a bit of flexibility. I have this idea that maybe I'll try to work from 8 to 3, and then again for a bit after the kids go to bed.

If you SAH with kids this age, what do you guys do in the afternoons?

[Anonymous]

I work 6:30-2:30 and pick DS, 7, from school at 3:30.

Normally we come home, he plays on his iPad while I get in 30-40 minutes of exercise. He does home work or plays while I make dinner. We do something together after dinner when he doesn’t have a activity.

One night a week he has a sport and one night a week he has Cub Scouts.

He has selected some PTA offered extra school activities, this last quarter he choose three. He choose four this coming quarter. I pick him up at 4:30 on those days.

Some days he has play dates, like today.

[Anonymous]

My friend does what she calls a "split shift". She's an attorney. Works from 9:30 to 2:30 and then from about 8:30-11pm.

[Anonymous]

I also work from home with young kids in early elementary. I work 8:30-2:30. I spend my afternoons either getting kids to activities or running errands or letting them running around a park on nice days. I occasionally have to do more work after bedtime but mostly that’s my time to relax. The job isn’t my favorite but I love the ability to have free afternoons.

[Anonymous]

My kid is still napping, so I can get in a couple of hours of work in the the early afternoon, but then he wakes up and we try to play outside. He goes to ballet 1x a week. When we get home from playing or class, I throw him in the yard with the dog while I cook dinner. He goes to bed fairly soon after dinner, so I unwind and work a few more hours.

[Anonymous]

I'm also a split shift WAH parent. Kids hit the front door around 4:00, then it's some combination of snack/play with friends/homework/dinner/activity until bedtime. There always seems to be less time than I thought there would be.

[Anonymous]

I currently am a SAHM of 3 kids but I used to be a part time working mom of 2 boys - 1 in preschool and 1 in kindergarten.

My kindergarten son played a sport per season, cub scouts and a few after school activities at school run by the pta. Over the years, he has done art club, chess club, robotics, 3D printing, lego engineering and pottery at school.

The younger son did not to any activities when he was 3. I stopped working when he was 4 and I signed him up for a nature class at the nature center and soccer.

My older kids are now 8 and 10 plus I have a preschooler. My boys still do sports, scouts and activities at school plus they now play piano. School activities are much more intense as well as sports. Everything is more demanding and practices more frequently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm also a split shift WAH parent. Kids hit the front door around 4:00, then it's some combination of snack/play with friends/homework/dinner/activity until bedtime. There always seems to be less time than I thought there would be.

Do you feel like it's worth it for you to do this vs. paying a high school kid or something to come over and hang out for a couple hours?

One thing holding me back from wanting to try this is that I feel like it won't necessarily be quality time. It'll just be driving them around to activities etc.

[Anonymous]

I was a SAHM until my kids were in K and 2nd then worked a schedule that let me pick up every day on time for the next two years.

I only sent my preschoolers half day when they were 3, so I’d pick the little one up, walk home for a nap and then get the Kindergartener and we’d go to the school playground. As my older kid started activities they usually did things at the school (my kids go to a parochial school, and there are sports and a Cub Scout troop and church choir as after school options) so I’d pick up whoever didn’t have an activity and let them play until their sibling was done.

When we got home they’d play or do homework when that started and then we’d have dinner, bath, stories, bed. Maybe a little more playing in there than before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm also a split shift WAH parent. Kids hit the front door around 4:00, then it's some combination of snack/play with friends/homework/dinner/activity until bedtime. There always seems to be less time than I thought there would be.

Do you feel like it's worth it for you to do this vs. paying a high school kid or something to come over and hang out for a couple hours?

One thing holding me back from wanting to try this is that I feel like it won't necessarily be quality time. It'll just be driving them around to activities etc.

We walk to our activities so there's time to chat or stop for a snack to or from. It's very relaxing and a nice way to unwind and connect. Not sure of that's possible for you but we deliberately pick walkable things to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm also a split shift WAH parent. Kids hit the front door around 4:00, then it's some combination of snack/play with friends/homework/dinner/activity until bedtime. There always seems to be less time than I thought there would be.

Do you feel like it's worth it for you to do this vs. paying a high school kid or something to come over and hang out for a couple hours?

One thing holding me back from wanting to try this is that I feel like it won't necessarily be quality time. It'll just be driving them around to activities etc.

We walk to our activities so there's time to chat or stop for a snack to or from. It's very relaxing and a nice way to unwind and connect. Not sure of that's possible for you but we deliberately pick walkable things to do.

I think whether walking or driving, you get quality time with your kids. I've heard many parents say that time int he car with their kids is the best quality time. Both allow the opportunity to talk without distractions (assuming your kid isn't on electronics in the car).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm also a split shift WAH parent. Kids hit the front door around 4:00, then it's some combination of snack/play with friends/homework/dinner/activity until bedtime. There always seems to be less time than I thought there would be.

Do you feel like it's worth it for you to do this vs. paying a high school kid or something to come over and hang out for a couple hours?

One thing holding me back from wanting to try this is that I feel like it won't necessarily be quality time. It'll just be driving them around to activities etc.

We walk to our activities so there's time to chat or stop for a snack to or from. It's very relaxing and a nice way to unwind and connect. Not sure of that's possible for you but we deliberately pick walkable things to do.

I think whether walking or driving, you get quality time with your kids. I've heard many parents say that time int he car with their kids is the best quality time. Both allow the opportunity to talk without distractions (assuming your kid isn't on electronics in the car).

+1. Driving (or walking) time is good talking time with kids because you're not required to look the other person in the eye so there's less pressure. But yeah you gotta keep the electronics away.

Also, many parents lament the lack of reliable PT help. High schoolers often have after-school sports or activities. College students have changing schedules every semester. It's easier (and nicer IMO) to do it yourself. You can answer e-mails on your phone while they're doing the activity.

[Anonymous]

I drive them around to practices, host play dates, or just hang out at home. Kids do homework or they play, I cook dinner and do stuff around the house. Sometimes we go to Barnes & Noble or Michaels because they like craft supplies.

[Anonymous]

I’ve got one in PK3. Our afternoons look like this:

Mondays and Wednesdays: get home from school at 3:30, have a snack, take a walk if weather is nice. When cold, sometimes go to indoor play area at local shopping center. Child gets 30-45 mins of screen time while I make dinner. Half the time child actually watches the show, half the time child does some other quiet play and ignores the show. Then we eat, clean up after dinner and clean up any toys that have been taken out. Bath/books/bedtime.

Tuesdays and Thursdays: activity/sports class after school which means we get home at 4:45. Then we go right to screen time/quiet independent play/dinner prep. Then dinner, clean up, bath bed routine.

Fridays are a half day from school so we are home by 1 and do a 90min-2 hour rest period. Then we do something “fun” like go to the library, or to target to look at Christmas decorations etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My friend does what she calls a "split shift". She's an attorney. Works from 9:30 to 2:30 and then from about 8:30-11pm.

This sounds like hell. Working all damn day.