At ages 2 and 4 they should be eating dinner at 6, then bath and bed by 7pm at latest. Stop letting them watch tv at all during that window. Get them out of the house.

When my kids were in preschool/grade school we played outside in the neighborhood before dinner -- 3:30 to 5:30. Then I made dinner while they did any homework (not much in 1st grade), read a book, or watched a TV show.

They're teens and I'm still mostly a SAHM (a few small projects here and there). Now I go exercise at 4:30 while they're at after school ECs or at home taking a nap (HS students love naps). I go on an hour-long walk every weekday around that time. It's kept me in good shape!

In terms of outdoor time, consider a regular visit to a wooded park like Rock Creek. We didn't do it enough when my kids were young, but they really loved it. Just tromping around, collecting sticks, rocks, leaves. Sit on a rock and have a snack. Even better if they can bring a friend as they get older. It really was the easiest form of entertainment and a great reset for everyone's state of mind.

Sorry seeing op has a nanny which definitely is a little different and probably why the transition outside doesn't always make sense because kids are settled in. Anyway just sharing what has worked for me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Because they beg for TV and I prefer to use TV more strategically, when I need it (when I'm cooking for example).

Kids hit a time of day where they are DONE. They can’t hit the ball where they want, they can’t build the Lego structure they want, and frustration boils over. TV isn’t a bad thing in the late afternoon.

I have a highly sensitive kid with some special needs who can struggle at the end of the day, if we are outside it eliminates this kind of meltdown much of the time though not all of the time for sure! of course TV is fine, but after a long day at daycare some fresh air and time with a parent can be really good for everyone, in my opinion. For me, that time has been really precious as a working parent.

I try to do outside time. It is not, in my experience, the time to try to get everyone out of the house.

Yeah this is the hard part of little kids when you have a job. Even if you have long evenings together, they are TIRED and they save up their worst behavior for you.

My 1 piece of advice would be to transition to caring for them outside of the house. So if nanny takes them to the park at 3:30, you head there when you're done and take over and nanny leaves from there. That way you might sneak in some play time with them before they are over it. This might not work every day, but some days.

Otherwise, you just hang out at home. They fight and cry and whine and laugh, you exist in the same room as they do reacting to it all. Then you make dinner and decide if it's a tv night or not.

I have a similar early work schedule and love it. We are usually outside. Play in the backyard, walk to a playground, go on a bike ride, recently we've been going to a nearby creek and just playing around and the kids have loved that. Or if we are just hanging at the house, drawing or just playing around with toys. But most of the time it is outside, just became my habit - pick up, get home and immediately outside.

For us, it works better to do TV on the weekends and just not have it as a weekday thing. Completely eliminates the asking and begging, which for me is much preferred.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Because they beg for TV and I prefer to use TV more strategically, when I need it (when I'm cooking for example).

Kids hit a time of day where they are DONE. They can’t hit the ball where they want, they can’t build the Lego structure they want, and frustration boils over. TV isn’t a bad thing in the late afternoon.

My kids used to love playing outside at that time in the yard.

Follow their lead. If they want to play, build Legos, read, fine. If they’re tired and want to watch TV, fine.

OP here. Because they beg for TV and I prefer to use TV more strategically, when I need it (when I'm cooking for example).

Mine go to the playground twice a day. We live in an area with lots of different ones so switch things up.

Why does it need to be filled more meaningfully? Serious question.

I'm actually a working mom, but I close my laptop for the day around 4/4:30 because I work in a different time zone. I have my nanny til then each day. My kids are 2 and 4.

I really like this extra time with my kids, but I don't really know what to do with it. We will sometimes play in the backyard, maybe run an errand if we have one, maybe watch a little TV. I start cooking around 5/5:15 and we eat anywhere between 5:30 and 6.

Any ideas for how to fill that hour more meaningfully? If you're a stay at home mom, what is left to do with kids by then, especially when they've been in school part of the day so they've already gone to the playground, done arts and crafts, don't need a snack, etc. etc.