How to Create Your Perfect Evening Routine and Why You Should
From Evening Chaos to Evening Bliss
Does your evening start something like this, you get home from work and walk in the door, all your children rush to tell you the most important thing that happened today, they are all asking what’s for dinner at the exact same time (but not in unison), one has a new boo-boo that needs an immediate band-aid, and the dog needs attention. Â All this happened before you even had time to put your purse down or take off your shoes?
Note: This post includes affiliate links. Â Read my disclosure policy here.
Why You Need An Evening Routine
Before our children were born, we didn’t really have an evening routine. Â We would have dinner, clean up the kitchen, watch TV or read and get ready for bed. Â But when you have children everything changes. Â We decided when our children were young, we needed an evening routine.
Our evening routine has always been simple. We have dinner, play outside (if time allows), get baths, and settle down for bed. For a few years, this routine worked well. Then all the children started school. Â Now, we have homework every night and sometimes we have activities after school or in the evenings. Â A routine is essential, especially on the busy days.
As the children are getting older, the importance of the evening routine stays the same.  The children still expect to do homework either right after school or after dinner.  After dinner, it’s time for an evening shower or bath and then time to quiet down.
Without a routine for the evening, we have chaos in our house!  Three children playing and not completing their homework is no fun for mom.  With no routine, the evening becomes more stress and more work for mom.
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How to Set-up An Evening Routine
To plan a routine for your family, start with your evening essentials. Â What are the specific needs of your family every night? Â You probably need to have dinner and clean up. Â Then, you also probably need to have baths or showers and pick out clothes for tomorrow. Â You may need to complete some homework that was not done after school.
I usually time block the evening. Â For example, 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm is dinner time and cleaning. Â Then from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm is homework and preparing for bed. Â From 8:30 to 9:00, time to be quiet and get in bed for sleep. Â If I am lucky and all the children are asleep and all the chores done, Â I have from 9:00 pm to 10:00 pm to relax (take a hot bath – if there’s any hot water left, read a book, or watch a favorite TV show).
I am rarely able to follow this schedule perfectly because dinner will start late or one of the kids has extra homework, but these times are my general guide.
Remember, when you plan your evening routine, it’s your plan for the evening. Â It doesn’t have to be followed perfectly. Â It can be flexible and change when you need it to. Â But it will also help you complete the important tasks that need to be done in the evening so you are ready for tomorrow.
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Make Over Your Evenings
Because your evening routine and planning has such an impact on your entire day, I am so excited to share with you Make Over Your Evenings by Crystal Paine. Â Maybe you completed the Make Over Your Mornings Course which showed us how to use our mornings to make our day successful. Â Now, in Make Over Your Evenings, Crystal shows us how to use our evenings hours to prepare for tomorrow, set priorities and get the much-needed rest all moms need.
In this course you will learn:
- The importance of setting your priorities for the day the night before
- Preparing for tomorrow the evening before
- How to make sleep a priority so you are rested and ready for your day
- Admit your own character flaws and learn out to overcome them
- Create your own prioritized to-do list
- Being realistic with your evening routine
- Having a backup plan B & C
- And so much more…
How would you change your evenings with Make Over Your Evenings? Imagine the impact you could make on each day with right evening routine.  Every successful day starts with planning and preparing the evening before.
Your turn…
How do you manage your evening routine? Â What is your favorite way to relax and prepare for the next day?
Photo credit: Chaitra at PinkPot
Routine is defiantly key, but I find as the children get older I have to adjust the routine constantly
Charlotte, as our children get older they will have more activities and routines will change, but we can always keep the framework of the routine and teach principles like planning ahead (make your lunch for tomorrow, back your back-pack).
This is such a great idea! Thanks for sharing with #SocialButterflySunday! Hope to see you link up again this week 🙂
I feel like I get so much more done if I have a routine. Thanks for sharing with us.
Hi Charlene, I agree routines help me get more done too.
I took (and loved) Makeover Your Mornings! I can’t wait to dig into this one.
My biggest component of my evening routine is to make sure the kitchen is clean. There’s nothing worse than starting the day with a sink full of dirty dishes.
Thanks for sharing (and for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop).
Wishing you a lovely evening.
xoxo
Hi Jennifer, I agree that cleaning the kitchen is a must. I have to do it before I start anything else in the evenings.
Evening “routines” are tough for me with 3 kids in various afternoon activities. Today at least I made dinner in the afternoon so we can have dinner ready when we get home from soccer practice. Stopping by from Motivation Monday and hope you share with us at Small Victories Sunday Linkup too!
Hi Tanya, Routines are tough with children and activities. But I find the routines help me not forget important things like finish homework or projects and preparing lunches for the next day because it’s all part of my evening routine. I don’t always get it done at the same time, but when I miss a step in the routine it’s much easier to correct.
I agree night routines are SO important! We always do a family dinner (my kids are young still), watch a short show or play outside (weather dependent) , baths and then read books as a family. Thanks so much for sharing at Family Joy Blog Link UP!
Hi Laura, I love our family dinners together. Family dinner is an important part of our evening routine. It’s great to establish these routines when your children are young.
Hi Rachel,
Evenings can be tough! Actually they are killer! I have 6 kids (only 3 live at home now) but through the years I’ve homeschooled and they have gone to public school, and the evenings are so crowded – they are a race to get everything done! I find that it’s toughest when they are in public school because of all the homework competing with dinner time. Also, when they were in PS I worked outside of the home and then came home and had to figure out dinner. One thing we try to keep constant is a family dinner.
Thanks for sharing your ideas in this post.
I found you on Monday Musings! Thanks for linking up and have a great week!
Hi Tiffany, I find homework is always a struggle too and it takes up a large part of my evening routine. I keep working to make it more manageable. Family dinner is always important for everyone to sit down and share about their day.