Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

Grateful that we are still enjoying our summer break, I am gearing up to return our family to our school routine a week or two before the first day. With our relaxed summer routine coming to an end, we will revisit establishing an evening routine.

In dealing with schedules, no two days are identical. As we spontaneously go for a walk or drive to the park, we would not keep to a rigid schedule, nor would I want to be tied down.

Though I stay very organized, I do not keep our family on a timed schedule. Instead we have routines composed of the same activities in the same order but the amount of time spent each day varies.

Thinking of our change from summer to school, I want our mornings to be as non-hurried as possible. To do so, I begin by establishing an evening routine.

Preparing the night before will give us a jump start on the morning. In using time wisely, I find doing some basics enough to start our mornings off well, so enjoy a peek into our evening routine.

Our Evening Routine

At some point every evening, we have dinner or supper. This gathering of the family ends our afternoon routine and begins our evening routine.

Dinner

Typically, we eat around 6:00 p.m. during the school year. Some nights might be earlier or later depending on entertaining, activities, meetings, etc. In our home, we all eat the evening meal at the dining room table after Paul gets home from work.

Upon finishing their meal and asking to be excused, our children clear their dishes and move to the living room to play. Usually, Paul and I get a few minutes to chat before calling over our helpers to clear the table, load the dishwasher, and cleanup.

Play

During this time, our children exercise. They may rough house, play outside, go for a walk, or play a game. If homework did not get finished during our afternoon routine, then we finish it before playing.

On those nights when homework goes all the way to bedtime, we will extend play to allow this child time to burn some energy. Play continues until around 8:00 p.m. when we move to preparing for bed.

Preparing for Bed

Beginning by getting their drinks filled up to take to their rooms, we move our activities upstairs. The children bathe, put on their pajamas, brush teeth, and go potty. They also help or get out their clothing for the morning and place those items on their dressers. As they finish, each of our older children get in their beds.

Devotions

With the older children in their bunks, Paul, our youngest daughter, and I sit on the floor of their room while Paul leads our family in a short time of devotion, encouragement, instruction, and prayer. We then sing a song or two before giving hugs and kisses to each other.

Reading

After the older two settle back into bed, I read a chapter or two of our current read aloud. We have already read through the entire Nancy Drew hardback series (through book 56), around 17 of the Hardy Boys collection, and a few classics like Charlotte’s Web. When I finish reading, I kiss them both and turn out their light.

The preschooler is welcome to stay for the reading until she gets into trouble or I finish reading. Then she goes to bed.

Quiet Time

Paul and I then get our quiet time between 8:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. until we head to bed. 🙂

Establishing an Evening Routine

If you are new to planning a routine or need to readjust yours to better suit your growing family, then consider these tips to establishing an evening routine:

1. Choose parameters for your routine. For our family we start at dinner and end at bedtime.

2. Work around your family’s natural tendencies. If your family watches television together or goes to the gym, then work those into your routine.

3. Stay flexible. Some days will go more smoothly than others. If we are getting home late, then we forego the play time, and I will get the children’s clothes out for the next morning.

4. Be patient. Finding your own routine takes time. During the process, finding what doesn’t work is just as helpful as discovering what does.

In using time wisely, establishing an evening routine saves our family time and energy. We all know the typical schedule and move seamlessly through the stages.

When we first established our evening routine, we helped our children by telling them to go play or brush their teeth. Though we still need to prod every now and then, they usually go into auto-pilot and follow the routine.

As you gear up for the start of the school year, I’m wishing you a smooth transition as you establish an evening routine. Though I’m not in a hurry for my children to return to school, the time is coming. We’ll be establishing our evening routine no later than the week before school starts. Happy routine testing!

Question: What do you include in your evening routine?