My evening routine

I had to 😊 I couldn’t have a blog post about my morning routine but not my evening routine, so here goes!

My evenings tend to be a bit more fluid, depending on what time hubby gets home after work, if the kids have activities, and if we have other events as a family.

But there are a couple of things that we try to do nightly as a family without fail:

1. We come together to pray the Examen. We started this practice a while ago, taking inspiration from the Sleeping with bread book. The kids don’t think of this as prayer because we don’t start with ‘Dear God’, but we come together as a family and share our most grateful and least grateful moments of the day. It has been an enlightening practice - we have learned a lot about our children and their days since we started doing this. The kids also love sharing and hearing about our day, so it’s a big win all around!

   Tip for parents: It’s a really good way to know if kids are having trouble at school or with friends without having to pry!

2. We read at least one chapter/story from the Action Bible. Because it’s written like a comic strip with dialogs, we all take turns to read out the parts like a play 😍 We all usually have a bit of a squabble about who gets to be God (everyone always wants to be God!) and the narrator (a distant second place).

   Tip for parents: it’s not quite the actual bible because they’re stories missing actual chapters/verses, but it’s a fun way to get through the bible together while keeping kids engaged!

Once the kids are in bed, my husband and I have our showers and spend some time together. We’re usually in bed quite early (by 8.30 pm). He watches a bit of TV while I read/write/journal/watch TV - whatever tickles my fancy that day. I’m an early riser, so I’m usually asleep quite early as well (by 9.30/10 pm). Sometimes the Lectio365 app makes an appearance, but Pete Greig’s voice must have some sort of hypnotic quality because I often end up asleep before it ends!

There you have it, my night routine! It’s not as set as my morning routine, but I figured I could give myself some grace at the end of the day 😊 As long as we do the two most important things - the Examen and reading the Action Bible - I’m happy!