The after school meltdown is no joke. If you have been lucky enough to experience one of these meltdowns, you know what I am talking about. School can be a lot on a young child, especially when they are in Kindergarten. The school day is packed full of learning, activities, and a lot of people. By the end of the day, sometimes your child can feel overstimulated, exhausted, and just burnt out. I am sure we can all relate to that feeling. When your child finds them stuck in the middle of all these emotions, this is where the after school meltdown comes in.

Navigating this meltdown after school wasn’t easy. I couldn’t quite figure out a way to prevent it. Jase was coming home completely exhausted and really, he just needed to veg. During the first month or so of school, that’s exactly what I let him do. He came home, chatted for a few minutes about his day, then became a complete couch potato for the next half hour and watched one of his favorite PBS shows (it’s Odd Squad…in case you’re wondering). This worked really well for him and gave him the time he needed to unwind…until it didn’t.

There were a few problems causing after school meltdowns:

1. He didn’t want to be bothered by his siblings. Even the slightest sideways glance his way sent him spiraling into frustration.
2. Homework happened. When homework entered the picture, he did not transition well from TV to homework.

So we had to reevaluate once again…

Finally, I came up with the after school routine to end all meltdowns, and I am going to share it with you! Just because I’m that nice.

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The routine to end all after school meltdowns:

The secret to success was giving him time to veg and not be interrupted. There were a few things I wanted Jase to do the moment he walked in the door. Some days he still gives me a hard time about these, but most of the time if I make him excited about list and help him he’s fine. But after that – he needed a break! So that’s exactly what I give him. He has 25 minutes of uninterrupted quiet play time in his room. Even if he asks for his sister to play, or his sister begs to join him, I do not allow it because it inevitably ends up in them arguing withing five minutes or less. He needs to have his space to unwind and just be a kid for bit!

We set a time during his quiet play to help him transition to homework easily, and that works very well for him. After he has this time, we jump into homework. This has made all the difference in the way our afternoon routine goes and has really helped limit those after school meltdowns. I do have a slight change I have added to his since creating this. His school has RAZ Kids app for reading, and he has needed to spend more time focusing on reading. Once he finishes his homework, he jumps onto RAZ Kids for 10 minutes of reading, and then he is free to do whatever he wants! Whether he decides to use his screen time or go and play, it’s up to him! He’s earned it!

This routine really has been the answer to end all after school meltdowns, and without it I would probably still be going crazy. Evenings are a bit crazy around here, much like mornings, but that’s what happens when school enters the picture!

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How do you manage those after school meltdowns?