How Your Sitter Can Help Your Kids Decompress After School

As I’m sure you can remember, school is not always the most fun place or time a kid can have. Not only can it be loud and overstimulating, but it takes a lot of mental and physical energy to maintain focus. After spending most of the day cooped up inside learning, your kids deserve a safe space to decompress after school. If you have an after-school sitter, there are plenty of ways that they can help your kids decompress before you come home and spend the evening together.

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Allow Some Quiet Time

I’m sure that you value your quiet alone time after a crazy, hectic day at work. Even though children tend to have more energy, quiet time is really good for them.

After a long and tiring day at school filled with other loud children, some kids need quiet time to relax and think before jumping into other activities like homework or sports. This doesn’t have to be too long, but encourage your sitter to let your child be just for a few minutes so they don’t have to worry about any expectations or homework. If you have multiple kids, your sitter should encourage them to stay apart just for a little while, regardless of how well they get along. Each kid deserves an opportunity to sit by themselves and decompress.

This is a great opportunity for your sitter to encourage some quiet reading or an opportunity to express their creativity by coloring or drawing. This quiet time helps your kids decompress and can even prevent potential burnout and meltdowns by letting

Snack Time

A small snack is exactly what your kids need after a long day at school. Lunch times can really vary, with some schools hosting lunch as early as 11 AM for certain grades. By the time they get home around 3 PM, they have burned through a lot of energy. Your sitter can help prepare a nice and healthy snack by chopping some nice and healthy veggies, such as carrots, celery, and grape tomatoes. These healthy snacks will give your children a great midday boost to keep them energized and focused for the rest of the day.

Your sitter may consider starting snack time during your children’s quiet time, but they can also use it as an opportunity to talk to them. They can talk about their day and the exciting, or not so exciting, things that happened throughout the day.

Ease into Conversation

Speaking of talking, your sitter should ease into conversation. There is no rush here, so your sitter doesn’t have to bombard them with questions about their day. They need to let your kids lead the conversation and speak when they are ready to, again, prevent meltdowns. Once your children have decompressed and relaxed, no longer feeling under pressure from the school environment, they’ll start to talk about their day or the books they’re reading. Make sure your sitter isn’t “interrogating” your kids the moment they get home from school.

Get Some Fresh Air

Spending time outdoors and breathing in fresh air does wonders for children, especially after being stuck inside school all day and staring out the window. Even though they may have had recess, it’s not always enough. Getting some fresh air provides a great reset to your children’s minds while connecting them with nature and providing space for them to burn some steam as they run around or ride a bike.

Alternatively, you can also consider your sitter to bring snack time or homework outside so that your children can still get that outdoor benefit. Sometimes getting fresh air is all the decompression you need, and it’s as simple as opening up a window. Naturally, this one is weather permitting. For example, in a thunderstorm, it’s always best to keep the children inside so they don’t get sick or hurt.

Stick to Routine

Children thrive on routine and consistency. When they can mentally plan and prepare for the rest of the day by knowing what to expect, your kids will feel more grounded and decompressed. This routine is largely your sitter’s responsibility to define and reinforce, but you do need to be on the same page so that if they have a day off, you don’t accidentally stray from that routine. Have your sitter look at this list on how to help kids decompress, consider what your kids need most, and see what order works best. Quiet and snack times should be at the top of the list before leading into the others so that your children can really recharge.

In order for your sitter to help your kids decompress after school, they need to start with a more laid-back afternoon routine so that everyone can relax and ease into the rest of the day.