Managing bedtimes?

@joint_praise Right? My mind is kind of blown. Is this kid going to be the next Cristiano Ronaldo or something?

I'd probably confine sports to the weekend, or try to find a group that starts and ends earlier.
 
@joint_praise Not everyday but she has tball 3 times a week, varying hours. Usually it’s 5-6 or 6-7 for practice. Games are 6:15-7 during the week or weekends, plus gymnastics twice a week. I don’t think an hour of sports daily is an issue but I definitely need to wait til they’re asleep for chores & rethink dinner time.
 
@kaiti I think it’s a lot for a 4 year old. Every moment of her day is structured once she’s in school. I mean, that’s cool if you want a life like that but my kiddos enjoy some unstructured play and we also enjoy not catering 95% of our free time to structured activities. Unless you have plans on sending her to the Olympics, gymnastics twice a week at that age is overkill. I say this as someone who was doing 20 hours/week of gymnastics age 10-12.
 
@joint_praise Yes, she isn’t in school now just a kids day out program twice a week so we are mainly doing the activities for socialization. Once she starts Kindergarten, she won’t be doing gymnastics twice a week. Maybe just once a week. We will have to think about tball because the time commitment (practice/games 3 times a week is just crazy). I think an hour of gymnastics after school once per week is fine though. It’s a little later than I prefer (6-7), but I’ll have to make sure we get to bed early enough. She loves gymnastics. All sports really, but there is time for that later.
 
@kaiti Do they have an earlier gymnastics class? My 4 year old’s class is 4-5 and my almost 7 year old is in the 6-10 class and it’s 5-6. That’s just really late for that age.

I’d drop the other activities until the spring. Adjust to school and see how it goes. Add them back in as you can.
 
@joint_praise I was wondering the same. I’m going to ask if they have an earlier class. I think they do because they have an after school program. It is late considering she will get out of school at 3:30.
 
@kaiti If you have activities from 6-7, I’d consider eating dinner before that time, if possible.

Our 8-year-old has activities from 5-6 three weeknights right now. I take him, while my husband picks up our daughter from daycare. Then he’ll make dinner or get takeout or arrange for his mom to make dinner. We have never really meal prepped, and divide and conquer is the only way we manage.

The 8-year-old is usually in bed by 9:00, and the 3-year-old by 8:00.
 
@kaiti When my stepson had soccer from 4-6 two days a week I would put something in the oven at 200° or so like a pot roast or my husband would take him and I would put something in when I got home from work for dinner. We’d eat ASAP (like 6:15/6:30) and then bath and jammies and then he could play until his 8pm bedtime. I have a 13 month old who turns into a pumpkin at 8pm and we get home around 6. Then I reheat something easy, or tonight I sat with her and we ate cold tortellini while dad and brother were at lacrosse practice and then went to play outside for 45 minutes and then popped her in the tub for 15 minutes, brushed teeth and then tucked her in at 7:20ish.
 
@serina1995 Look at you! You are killin’ it with the schedule, seriously!!!! I will get there. Definitely jumping on Pinterest for some inspiration for meals/meal prepping. When I do have leftovers it helps tremendously, so much that I’d almost just eat that same meal every day to avoid any additional work! 😰
 
@kaiti I’m a huge fan of meal prepping. If that doesn’t work for your family, can you cook during your lunch break at home? Can you or husband start bedtime routine while the other handles dogs/ prep for tomorrow?
 
Also what are you prepping for tomorrow? We lay out a weeks worth of clothes on Sunday and don’t fuss through the week. We don’t have to pack lunches, but I’d honestly meal prep those too lol
 
@christfollower21 Well I guess a big part of this answer is getting dad aka husband (lol) to step up. I’m trying. I was actually having a bit of a shit fit earlier before posting this saying we are never going to have this schedule thing down and to my SURPRISE I came out of the shower to find both kids asleep! Every other night I have to come back and find nothing done, so maybe the answer is have more shit fits? 🤣🤣🤣🤣
 
@christfollower21 Thankfully she will have uniforms but definitely need to look into prepping lunches. She has some basic lunches now that I pack for her kids day out program (2 days/week) but I’ll need a bit more variety.
 
@kaiti Admittedly I don’t have a kindergarten age kiddo yet but I immediately was like “why does a 4yo need to do sports on a weeknight?” And are these sports happening EVERY night?

OP, if you’re committed to keeping the sports, can one of you handle the kid and the other stays home and cooks/does dog chores/cleans? Or at least heat up leftovers (or have stuff meal prepped) to offer dinner before the sports
 
@willyt1562 Well for now it’s every day since she doesn’t do much else. She has a kids day out program 9-2 2 days a week & begs to do more things.. so we do. But when she starts kinder we won’t be doing so much. It will be time to focus on school for a bit. Sports can come later, although she still wants to do everything. We will have to pick and say no to the more time-intensive activities.
 
@kaiti I would be doing a faster dinner preferably before sports, so right after work at 5. Easy things that can be cooking in a slow cooker all day or made quickly at the end of your work day. I'd also try to flex your work day a bit earlier, if possible, to be done by 5 at the latest. Then when you get home from sports, have a snack if needed, and straight into bath and bedtime routines by 8 or 8:30 at the latest. Any other chores or self-care for the adults can be done after the kids are in bed.

Also at that age, we usually did not have evening sports or activities, and if we did they were only 1-2x a week.
 
@kaiti My 5yo (full-time school/daycare) goes to bed at 8:30 most nights and wakes up at 6:30ish on his own. He’s hyperactive, so extracurricular activities are a must to keep us sane. Mondays it’s swimming, and flag football Wed-Saturday (big time commitment for us, but he loves it). We’re home by 6:30-7pm and he’ll eat dinner then.

I WFH (husband is hybrid), so the dogs get attention during the day, but I don’t do house chores during business hours because I’m always busy with work.

We meal prep, so there’s always something ready to eat, and we eat on the go, as needed.

We clean/pickup the house and do laundry almost daily to keep things from piling up. We’re usually in bed by 9-9:30, depending on what needs to get done after the boys go to bed.
 
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