To avoid living through hellish evenings amid the cries of children (and parents) between the time of returning from school and that of bedtime, some parents have found and validated a very simple solution. And this good idea is to establish an evening routine, we explain how to do it in a few points.
It’s the end of the holidays, your toddlers are back at school and with that a new routine is needed. School days are long and stimulating for your children, but returning home is rarely synonymous with rest. Between homework, showering and eating, it’s often chaos at home…and it’s exhausting and stressful for everyone.
In order to find calm and serenity for you, as for your children, creating an evening routine can be a good idea. It is in any case a solution validated by many families who have found the means to overcome the mess of the evening. Christophe, father of 4 children aged 5 to 12, assures us: “Since we set up a routine for everyone, parents and children, everyone knows what to do and the house is much quieter in the evening. The older ones love helping the younger ones and easily know where everyone is. is in its unfolding and what is the next task to accomplish. But with us we do not speak of “tasks” but of “missions”, as for special agents. The children feel valued, important, competent and autonomous they adhere completely”. So if the routine can help you, in practice, how do you do it?
How do I create my personalized evening routine?
To do your routine :
- Download (right click) our customizable checklist available below
- Print the sheet
- feel free to cut if the order does not suit you, then, on another sheet, ask your child to paste the evening actions in the correct order depending on the organization of your family.
- Add extra-curricular activities if necessary
- Complete the timetables on the clocks if your children are old enough to understand
- Decorate if desired
- You can also laminate and post it in your child’s room, in the hallway or any other place within reach
At the beginning, it is important to accompany your child to explain to him how it works and where he is in his evening routine. To make his life easier, if you have plasticized your routine, you can propose to put a sticker for each action performed. Do not hesitate to congratulate him and, little by little, he will follow his own progress. It’s a new organization for him and for you and if it doesn’t work immediately, no problem, you can modify the routine until you find the one that suits you. The important thing is that it suits you and makes your life easier.
Why is it important to create an evening routine?
A routine provides a framework and puts in place automatisms which, once installed, reassure the children who know in advance how their evening will unfold, what they will have to do and in what order. It’s easier for the children who no longer face the unknown, but also for you. You know that all the stages of the evening have been completed and it’s less stress for everyone.
The evening routine can help your child find its balance and a certain security, he follows a precise and fixed schedule that he will repeat every evening when he comes home from school. You can also complete your evening routine with another specially planned for the morning. If it suits your child, he will gradually become more autonomous and therefore leave you more time and space for you and your own routine! And yes, in the family everyone has the right to their evening routine. In addition to becoming more independent, your child and the whole family will evolve in an environment more calm and serene. No need to repeat the same thing 10 times to be listened to, and in the event of a problem, you can read or have your child reread the checklist calmly.
For even more choices, here are 3 customizable routines approved by parents
Don’t forget the quiet times
And if your child is still bursting with energy after a long day at school, don’t hesitate to impose a quiet time before starting the checklist. By breaking with the rhythm of school, your child will have time to readapt to the world of the house, which is much less noisy and less populated than that of recess. Reading, creative activities, calm games, puzzles, everything is good to create a return to calm before attacking the evening routine.
And to prolong your well-organized evening, consider reading time before bedtime that allows your child to calm down while spending time with you. Then treat yourself to a good dose of cuddles before falling asleep and start again the next day if your evening routine suits you!
Have a good evening !