Parent Time

It’s 4:30 in the afternoon. In my home office, I’m frantically trying to finish up everything on my to-do list, and my four kids are apparently trying to stuff every snack they can find into their mouths. Between school and dinner, there’s usually not quite enough time for them to go to the park or visit with friends, but just a little too much time to spend unwinding from school, if you know what I mean. On some days, if you throw in a soccer practice, or a friend over doing a school project, and a homework assignment that requires an immediate trip to the store for bristol board (pink only!), you’ve got a recipe for going crazy. There’s something about this time of day that sets many families on edge — it’s no wonder we call it the arsenic hour.

Whether you’re rushing home from the office or trying to squeeze in a load of laundry, there never seems to be enough time to do everything. After a busy day, it’s understandable that you’d love your home to be a veritable oasis of tranquility, offering respite from the chaos. The reality is the kids haven’t seen you for hours and want to share every detail of their day with you all at once. Plus, rigid eating times at school and activity-packed days mean they’re going to be ravenous the moment they get in. Not to mention, you’ve probably enrolled little Timmy and Jessica in soccer and ballet, without really thinking about what that means for your family evenings.

You may not be able to change this inevitable daily drudgery, but you can change your reactions to it. So where do you start to tame frenzied evenings? With a bit of planning, better organization and a fresh outlook.

Originally published in Today's Parent, February 2007