How to Create a Peaceful Evening Routine for Moms to Help You Stay Calm

[Learn how to create an evening routine for moms and find ideas to help you wind down in the evening and reduce stress so you can get your mornings off to a calm and peaceful start.]

Evenings are a stressful time for moms

Standing at the threshold of the door, I said a final goodnight to my daughter. As I shut the door to the bedroom a sigh of relief escaped my lips.

I trudged over to the couch and settled in next to my husband. Barely registering what they are watching on Netflix, I dozed off. A while later I felt my husband gently nudging me as he got ready to head to bed.

I reluctantly got up from the couch and dragged myself to the bedroom. As I laid my head on my pillow a sense of dread overcame me. I felt utterly exhausted and could see no end in sight. And with that thought, I drifted off to sleep only to do it all again the next day.

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Why are evening routines for moms are so important

As a mom, especially with young kids, you probably spend most of your day taking care of your little ones. Wiping faces, answering and endless stream of questions, preparing meals, changing diapers, and the list goes on.

All of this work can often leave us with little to no time to ourselves during the day, which makes it imperative that we intentionally set aside time in the mornings and the evenings to take care of our needs, so we can feel fulfilled and show up fully present for our children during the day.

Integrating self care into our lives helps us to bring balance. It assists us in bring more of us and our needs into our day.

Creating an Intentional Evening routine for moms

In the same way that a morning routine or a morning ritual can help you to start your day with intention, a self care evening routine can help you to get ready for the next day and check-in with yourself so that you can care for any needs that didn’t get met during the day.

Begin your evening with intention.

Notice when the stress of the evening starts to ramp up for you.It may be right when your kids get in the car after a long day at school. Or maybe it is when you start to get the ingredients out to get dinner on the table.Once you pinpoint when the stress really starts to build for you.

Start pausing before that time of day, so you can set an intention and create a little space for you, before jumping into all the to-dos of the evening.

My favorite way to do this is to place my hand on my heart, close my eyes and take 5 slow deep breaths. Then I allow a smile to light my face, and I feel more ready to handle the activities of the evening with more calm and ease.

You can create your own version of this to help you start your evening with intention.

1. Get Ready for the Next Day

Start by looking at your calendar to see what you can prepare ahead of time, so you are not rushing around in the morning trying to get everything ready.

Adding more diapers to your diaper bag, getting lunches ready for school-aged kids, and laying clothes out the night before can be simple ways to make your morning less stressful.

If your children are old enough to help, get them involved.

I recommend starting after you have enjoyed dinner.

Use this time as a family to work together. Clear the plates, wash the dishes, clean the dining table and kitchen counters, before moving on to getting clothes, etc. ready for the next day.

You can play around with the order of tasks. The idea is to create a routine that feels good to your family and helps you end the day on a calm and peaceful note.

All of the end of the day tasks are important because they help you get ready to the next day and help your mornings go smoothly.

2. Clear Your Mind

After the kids are in bed and you have taken care of all of the tasks, notice if your mind feels a little more at ease.If there are any thoughts or to dos left rattling around in your mind. Take a minute to do a little brain dump. Get a piece of paper, a sticky note, or a note on your phone and jot down anything that you need to do for later.

Now comes the most important part of the night.

3. Your Nighttime Self Care Ritual

This is the fun part.Creating your nighttime self care ritual.Make a list of things that help to soothe you.

Do you enjoy taking bubble baths? Does a warm cup of tea make you feel pampered and relaxed?

Find a couple of things that you love to help you end your day in a calm and loving way.

This helps you to feel loved and cherished. It also helps to send signals to your mind and body to prepare for sleep.

Nighttime Self Care Ritual Ideas

Here are some ideas to inspire your evening or nighttime self care routine:

• Go for an evening walk
• Make a cup of caffeine-free tea
• Take a bubble bath
• Meditate
• Journal
• Write down things you are grateful for
• spend some screen-free quality time with your spouse
• read a book
• listen to some calming music

Time For Yourself

If you are finding that you don’t have enough time at the end of the day to devote to your self care. See where you can adjust things in your schedule to make sure you get at least 20-30 minutes just for you at the end of the day.

It is important to have some time to decompress and turn inward so you can listen to the messages of your heart and see what you truly need.

Ideas to Help You Find Time for Self Care as a Mom

Pick one or two things to help you end your day with intention. It is important to spend quality time with your spouse to reconnect after being apart all day. If you choose to do something with your spouse, make sure you also choose at least one thing that is just for you.

Maybe this means starting kids bed time routines earlier or asking your spouse to help with the kids or end of day tasks so that you have more time in the evening for your self care ritual.

This could mean forgoing a night of binge-watching Netflix.

This might not make sense at first, but taking even 20 minutes to tune into your needs, instead of zoning out in front of the television can help to fill your cup so that you can be a calm playful mama.

Get creative so you can find more time for your self care in your schedule.

Think of the oxygen mask analogy. You need to put your oxygen mask on first, or you won’t have the capacity or ability to care for your family.

You are worth it, Mama!

Customizing Your Personal Self Care Evening Routine & Ritual

Incorporating relaxing and soothing essential oils great way to add an extra dose of calm to your evenings.

One of my favorite oils to diffuse in our home at the end of the day is lavender.

Lavender has a beautiful floral scent and a calming effect, which is just what is needed at the end of the day.

Now my evenings look very different.

Creating a self care evening routine has helped me to bring more of me into one of the most stressful and chaotic times of day. 

Now my evenings feel more peaceful and unhurried and I am able to enjoy wrapping up the day with my kids and having energy left at the end of the day to connect with my husband.

I want this for you too, Mama!

Be sure to grab your FREE Self Care Evening Routine for Moms to help you wind down at the end of the day, so you can infuse your evening with calm and end your days in a way that makes you feel loved.

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