I am sure we are like most families: one or two nights a week we have that evening where each of our kids has an activity that overlaps and by the time we all get home it is after 6:30 pm. Then we still have showers and dinners, by the time it is all over our kids are not going to bed until close to 9 pm.
In our house, we have always had an early bedtime, so when the kids go to bed much later than normal it can be dicey the next morning. I was mentioning this dilemma to a girlfriend and she gave me the BEST advice!
My Dilemma:
On Tuesday’s my daughter (Keeley) has a gymnastics class that starts at 5 and goes until 5:55 pm. My son (Connor) has a soccer practice that starts at 5:45 and goes until 6:30 pm. Some nights my husband and I can divide and conquer and get them to their respective practices. But that still leaves the question of what and when are we going to eat dinner.
The first few weeks I tried crockpot meals, and easy meals…but no matter what I did we were still not getting to bed until almost 9 pm.
Because my husband works shift work there are many Tuesdays that I am the sole chauffeur for the night. This means that Connor and I take Keeley to Gymnastics where we hang out in the Jeep, then when she is released we rush over to Soccer practice and he catches the last 30 mins of practice. Then we are home by 6:45 pm.
The Advice:
So as I was detailing this to one of my best girlfriends, she gave me the suggestion to use the time in the car to have a picnic with each of the kids. That way dinner is done by the time we get home.
It is such an OBVIOUS solution! But it honestly hadn’t crossed my mind to do this!
For the last 3 weeks, we have done just this! We have ordered Firehouse sandwiches ahead of time and picked them up on our way to gymnastics. Connor and I picnic in the Jeep and wait. And then when it is his turn for practice, Keeley and I picnic.
This means when we get home at 6:45, the kids can go straight to the showers, into jammies, and ready for bed!
Not only did this solve our busy night dilemma, but it gives me such a great opportunity to connect with the kids one on one and give them a little dedicated time. I wanted to share this dilemma and the great advice I was given to hopefully give the mom who is spending more time in her car than at home some inspiration. I also think this is an amazing way to use little moments to connect with our kids and check in with them in a more personal way with fewer distractions!
I love this. I was just thinking,what would be a fun way to have dinner Tuesday nights when my five year old has gymnastics. She is a very slow eater, and even when she eats something in the car, she gets home and says “what’s for dinner?” Lol 😆 I don’t have any down time to wait while someone else is in an activity. But I am thinking something along these lines.
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