The Witching Hour

I define that as the time between when the kids come home from school and 6pm. It is a bear.

If I were to tell you one time that I can feel the stress of having 4 kids, it would be the afternoon. I am not sure why it is like this, and I would be interested to hear comments from those who homeschool if they have this issue as well. All caca hits the fan and it is ballistic at my house. I believe that there is no difference when my kids are off from school, as we have the same issue during holidays and such.

I start dinner around 5:30-6:00, and this is the peak meltdown time. The baby is crying (she wedges herself between me and the stove and pushes me away from it) kids are picking on one another, the house is trashed, milk gets spilled (actually, everything gets spilled), the cat starts meowing at a ridiculously high pitch, the phone rings off the hook. It is chaos.

I have tried everything. Snacks, quiet time where they all go read a book….nothing works. Turning off the phone is an option I am considering tonight.

Is it just us? Or do others with large families (or small for that matter) have a rough time during the Witching Hour? What do you do that helps?