the dreaded 5:30 wall!!

So, I mentioned that I'm teaching A to sign right? We decided to start with more... so 3 times a day this is how it goes:

M- Do you want more (sign)? More? (sign)
A- *screams bloody murder*
M- NO, do you want more? (sign)B, would you please stop distracting him?
B- but mommy, he's waving at me!
M-I know, but I'm trying to teach him how to do this
B- oh, A DO YOU WANT MORE??!?! then waves again
A- Kind of, emphasis on kind of, claps his hands together...a little
M- ok, thats a start here you go.

3x a day. several times in a meal actually.

On a good note, he's sort of getting it! We have started working on up too... but this is going to be a slow process.

Anyways, back to the title of this post. Ever since I started staying at home full time, I have noticed that we hit a huge wall at 5:30 every night. Everyone can be in a great mood, and things will have gone super smoothly all day long. J leaves for work at 3, and by the time 5:30 gets here we hit a wall. Not only hit a wall, but hit it and then fall off the cliff behind it... so to speak.

The boys stop listening and start fighting, my head will inevitably start hurting, I'm trying to cook dinner and see to them at the same time, the house gets trashed.... and we go into survival mode until bedtime. By the time they get in bed I'm too exhausted to do much of anything else. It's miserable... and I'm not sure how to fix it! So far, this is the very most frustrating thing about staying at home. The 5:30 wall. Hopefully, I will come up with a magical fix soon. Very soon!