Stress-free mealtimes.

Are the hours between 4-8pm a little crazy in your household? Are you pulling your hair out trying to get your child or children to eat? Then bath? Then to sleep?

Wonder why they seem so tired yet have suddenly a burst of energy? You may have heard of ‘witching hour’ or ‘arsenic hour’ with a baby but you too can also have these “crazy hours” leading up to sleep with any age child.

It’s all normal and just another joyful part of parenting!

So why do our children have that burst of energy prior to bed time? Is it simple a way for them to gain attention, wanting to reconnect with you?

Let’s think about what happens leading up to dinner time.

You may have picked up your child from school, kindergarten or been out for the day. Maybe you have been at work. You end up rushing around trying to organise dinner, and you need to get organised for the following day.

What do you think your child is thinking or is wanting?

Maybe they have had a tough day or something exciting happened and they can’t wait to share.

Then comes dinner, you want them to eat but yet they are in and out of their seats. And before you know it you are getting frustrated!

This time of the day is tricky for everyone. You are tired as a parent and can’t wait to have some downtime in the evening, your child is excited about their day and can’t wait to share it with you.

Parenthood becomes a juggling act, you are expected to connect with your child on demand, cook or prepare food for them, get them to bed all while you too are tired and exhausted from the day.

Here are some tips on how you can create a stress-free evening:

• Provide healthy snacks for example: cucumber, carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes for the kids to munch on while you are busy cooking dinner.
• Cook meals in bulk and freeze, so there is no need to cook every night, but instead spend the time reconnecting with your child.
• Prepare the meal the night before. I have been known to cut up all the vegetables and prepare the food once the children have gone to sleep, so I don’t need to prepare too much prior to dinner.
• Involve your child in the cooking process. We have two kiddiKutter knifes, which allows our two to help cut the food up safely, and this allows for ongoing conversations about the day while we all prepare dinner together.
• The 1/2 an hour prior to cooking dinner, spend some time with your child/ren, read stories, play a game or complete a puzzle with them.
• During dinner time introduce “What was your favourite thing you did today?”, giving each family member an opportunity to talk about what they did and what they enjoyed the most.
• And bring back some fun into the routine – funny walks to the bathroom, lots of tickles and lots of stories before bedtime.

Need more help or stuck on some ideas, let’s chat and find out more on how the Early Parenting Village can help make your evenings enjoyable for everyone.