How Families can Relax, Connect & Recharge with Easy Evening Routine Tips
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link.
How is it possible for your family to relax, connect and recharge after a busy day, without added stress, and follow a routine? Learn practical ways so that your family can relax, connect, and recharge every evening, reducing chaos and stress in your home.
What is a Routine
What is a routine? A routine is an established schedule that involves completing the same tasks within the same manner on an ongoing basis. Routines serve as a way to structure different parts of a family’s day. According to Healthy Children, “Routines are incredibly essential for overall physical and psychological development.”
Now that the importance for having routines was explained; continue to discover better ways to maximize the evening time so that your family can relax, connect, and recharge!
Early Dinner Time
We typically aim to have dinner before six in the evening most weeknights. In order to consistently eat dinner earlier, meals prepared beforehand is key. There are various ways to accomplish this. For me, I aim to cook dinner three times a week in total. For instance, you could choose set days or cook on alternating days. Earlier dinners allow more time for our family to connect, relax and recharge for the remaining evening. I truly value having the extra time freed up and find it to be quite motivating and I’m sure your family will too.
Tip: Assign a cuisine type to each day (i.e., ” Pizza on Fridays”, “Soup on Thursdays”). This way, you can meal prep ahead of time. Also, try incorporating more crock pot meals. Crock pot meals will reduce the amount of necessary cooking time during a given week.
Now that dinner is now finished,let’s explore some “wind down types of activities ” to help your family begin to actually relax, connect, and of course, RECHARGE!
Wind Down Types of Activities
Getting outdoors
When weather permits, we enjoy being outdoors. We especially enjoy taking walks. Walking is a great way to help your family remain active. It’s also another way to get away and simply reconnect. Following our walks, we all feel quite relaxed and recharged. The good thing about taking outside walks, this activity doesn’t require much planning or effort. Again, the key to winding down is to pinpoint activities that will promote enjoyment, a sense of calmness, and rejuvenation.
Listening to Music
Listening to music can be both therapeutic and relaxing. Soothing music like meditative music and the use of white noise can be helpful when transitioning to bed. Also, even incorporating background music while simultaneously completing chores let’s say, could boost your overall level of productivity.
Night Baths or Showers
For our family, we opt to take showers and baths in the evening time. Fortunately for us, our girls look forward to their evening baths. Bathtime allows for one-to-one time with each identified child. What child doesn’t enjoy the extra attention?! Ultimately, by getting baths and showers done at night; your family will not be bogged down with these related tasks in the morning time.
Tip: Dimming the lights, using candles, putting magnesium flakes in the bath are some added essentials that promote relaxation and feelings of rejuvenation.
Establish Screen Turn in/off Time
Screentime is part of nightly routines, as families view this as a way to recharge, however, it should not consume the entire evening. We find it important to carve out allotted time to intentionally unwind once more before ultimately transitioning to bed.
Creating a set turn in/off time for electronics will tremendously help with ensuring everyone including your children all receive the adequate amount of sleep according to their age. With older children, this is especially helpful as it aids with developing self-control and responsibility.
Set out Clothes Night Before
Setting out clothes the next day saves time in guessing. Although it may feel like extra work the night before, we’re able to leave out the door in a timely manner. If there’s older children in the home, I would suggest having them pick out their designated outfits for the week at the beginning of each week.
Tip: Consider creating a capsule wardrobe. By doing so, you’ll find that selecting clothing will feel less like a chore.
After using the provided suggestions and added tips, your family will certainly begin to find evenings more enjoyable. Ultimately, your family will have more opportunities to relax, connect and recharge together! I hope you found this read valuable and helpful. Also, discover ways to make afterschool snacking healthier and simplified here.