Immediately following work? There is pick up babby from daycare, bring her home, play with her for a while, bath, feed, put her to bed, cook dinner, tidy apartment, eat dinner while watching tv at about 9pm, trying not to fall asleep, shower, dreamfeed baby, pump, check interwebs, go to bed by 10.30 (which really means 11 because I can never make it by 10.30).

So I guess winding down is playing with the baby. It's definitely the best part of the day.

Usually scotch and soda for me, although sometimes (especially in the summer) I go for G&T or V&T. Or other times, straight for the beer.

When I'm on travel I sometimes drop by the hotel bar if there's one, but if not I just skip the drink altogether...something about drinking alone in a hotel room is just too depressing.

And either way I end up on Metafilter.

Kiss (the boy), cuddle (the dog), cocktail (usually vodka and cran), cook (dinner), usually in that order.

I sing in the car. It's good practice for when I visit with my homie and we rap while driving.

Then I go home and proceed to sit in my room and read MeCha, AskMe, LJ, and watch whatever movies I've got on hand.

One of these days, I'll get into the drinking habit, but the parents are very anti-alcohol for the youngins.

Usually home a little before midnight, and almost always I just undress and climb straight into bed. I frequently promise myself, in the middle of a stressful night, that I'll have a few drinks after I go home, but I never seem to get around to it (still haven't touched the champagne that was meant for New Years, and there's few bottles of lord knows what gathering dust in a moving box in the corner of my bedroom). I call the cat, who curls up with and usually on me, and read books for about two to four hours. A romance novel a night (necessarily bought in bulk for fifty cents or a dollar each at Goodwill), or something more thought-provoking every few nights. Depending upon my state of mind, I may write up to a few pages of my own. Then I turn on Rachmaninoff's Vespers. It is worth staying awake for track 4 if there are stars visible through the window above my bed, but if there aren't, I'm asleep before then.

Tonight I mopped up 2 inches of water on my kitchen floor, the result of a hose underneath the sink that had burst during the day. Then I replaced the hose. Then I tried to fix the gf's computer after she had a tantrum when she couldn't fix it herself. Then we argued a little.

Now, wine.

Sorry. Micro answer to macro question.

Hit the gym, meditate, eat a healthy dinner, and pick up an instrument.

I'm currently trying to come up with alternatives to 'gin and tonic' or 'glass of wine' as after-work winding-down strategies - noodling on the piano is good, or playing with the cat, or putting the radio on and unloading the dishwasher (which sometimes segues into cleaning the kitchen).

My work is never done.

I walk home. Takes me 30 minutes and by the time I'm home I've completely forgotten about work.

Not sure if this an actual way for other people to wind down or if I have a really bad memory.

Normally: lager. Today, because it was so bloody hot, a large moscow mule with lots of ice.

Then a hoegaarden. Then lager.

Drive home attempting to avoid any crazies who really should not be allowed on the roads. Reacquaint myself with my offspring and hug her a lot, hopefully we speak some sentences to each other and share something funny to laugh about, or one of us does something funny for the other to laugh at. Food. Glass of champagne/sparkling wine or 2...ok maybe 3. mefi/askeme/mecha/facebook. IRC. Shooting zombies.

I love my baby, champagne, IRC and zombies. Maybe in that order.

My commute is ample time to wind down, for the most part. When I get home, I change into comfy clothes, and pick up the computer.

As I work from home, I've sometimes resorted to creating my own walking commute so I can wind down that way - by walking to a university library 4 miles away with my laptop. That works pretty well too.

It's been the Hindenburg at work lately with every Friday incurring more layoffs, so lately it's been two or three hours at the gym to get my mind right.

LT SMASH!

Driving home usually helps me to unwind a lot. I'm trying to get in a workout right after work while 'Dude cooks dinner, but that's not always possible.

Winding down? Doesn't happen until my daughter is asleep, if at all. I miss the days of actually enjoying my evenings with her, before she became a demanding preschooler; she is great most of the time, but bedtime is by far the worst time for us, and since my husband works nights, I'm usually by myself dealing with it. I really miss beer and wine... :)
My "me-time" is in the morning, when I can just relax and not have to attend to anybody but myself. I truly hope for the others with babies that the good times continue!

let dog out, build a fire, let dog in, make dinner for me & dog while discussing world affairs with dog, who doesn't care about world affairs, but who gives me his rapt attention because I.Might.Drop.Food. book or teevee and intarwebs. Then to bed with either a beer or bourbon and a book.

When I did work (in a distant past I barely recall) "unwinding" basically means "taking off my pants".

In fact, though, taking off my *bra* is really a big sign of intentional relaxation in my life. Once I take off my bra, it would be difficult to get me back out of my house, even if, like, there was a fire.

In the winter I usually arrive home all sweaty (due to travelling by foot with a hundred layers, wool coat, hat and scarf) so when I get home I change *everything*. When I'm warm and dry I feel so much better.

Walk in the door and find out what the kids have been doing to piss off my spouse. Hide in bathroom and read, then start looking for chocolate.

Tuesdays are usually my martini/gibson days, as my son's piano teacher's hubby usually makes me one if I go to the lesson with him. Bad weather this week, so the lesson was canceled.

The other thing I do is ride my bike. Home. From work. There is such a different separation when I ride as opposed to driving home.

This.

Sometimes I exercise, some times I grocery shop, and yes, the signal to myself that I am home to stay is taking off my bra and my earrings. Often there is booze and smokes, but really, it's about de-bra-ing. And then the signal that I am soon to go to bed is a shower, or sometimes a bath. I must go run a bath.

taking off my *bra* is really a big sign of intentional relaxation

What a strange coincidence! loiseau taking off her bra is my sign of relaxation too.

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.... Meatbomb!!!!!!!