Working mums, How do you do it?

mpet

It's all about routine (boring I know). Ive always worked & had 2 kids (now grown).

Here are a few of my tips

I hate ironing so have always put aside 1 evening to do the weeks ironing - it never took more than an hour or so - do it whilst watching favourite TV programme and don't get too hung up about it being perfect:p

Meals - don't cook anything during the week that takes longer than half an hour - save more elaborate meals for the weekend

During the week, only hoover when you can't stand the sight of biscuit crumbs or dog/cat hairs (or you know someone is visiting)

Do proper cleaning at the weekend. I used to do upstairs on a Saturday and downstairs on a Sunday - netither took more than an hour. Not Kim & Aggies standards but we never caught any nasty diseases:p:rotfl:)

Shopping - have bulky shopping delivered (order online). That way you will only have to pick up bits during the week (I hated the big shop - still do).

If you can afford it and have the space get a dishwasher & tumble dryer.

Basically do anything that saves time

Shandella

I am a single mum with two boys and I work four days a week. I have one good tidy through fortnightly (when boys are with their father), I am like a woman possessed, I change the beds, clean the windows, dust, hoover, mop, go and get the car hoovered and cleaned, sort out toys, sweep outside etc. By the end of the weekend I am knackered. However, I feel a hundred times better that its all done. I then keep on top of things. I hoover every night (i live in a bungalow, so this is easy), I run a damp cloth over the surfaces that people can see, I bleech the toilets every night, I load the dishwasher each night and make sure everywhere is tidy, so at least i don't have to face the mess in the morning when I am rushing around trying to get us all organised and out the door.

Oh and I never iron .... things go in the td and when they come out I hang them up straight away. I haven't ironed for about 3 years and nobody has every said anything ..... believe me if my clothese looked all creased and crumpled my mum would have said by now!!!!

sandiep

Forgot the best one. Big storage boxes for toys. In each of the rooms the children play in. Sweep the whole lot up into one box each night and put away. Every few months get all the boxes out and get the toys back in the right room. Works brilliantly for barbies and bratz!! Toy tidying up takes around about 10 seconds!!!

coco1980

Shandella wrote: »

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Oh and I never iron .... things go in the td and when they come out I hang them up straight away. I haven't ironed for about 3 years and nobody has every said anything ..... believe me if my clothese looked all creased and crumpled my mum would have said by now!!!!

I iron when it is going to be worn, I really can't spend ages doing a huge pile, it would only be pulled out of drawer/wardrobe considered for a moment and then crumpled back in again.

onlyroz

Ironing? What's that?

Ex-Spendaholic

Oh I am so glad to see this thread. I had seen the SAHM one and wondered if there was one for the workers.

I have 3 kids - 10, 6, 2 and work 3 days per week. I am fairly organised.

My routine goes along these lines:

Get up, shower and wash hair

Downstairs make tea, put out the kids breakfast and make lunches if required

Empty dishwasher

Leave kids to their breakfast (at this stage OH is downstairs having taken the 2nd shower and made the bed)

Dry and straighten hair (I have the type of hair that has to be done daily unfortunately) and get dressed

Open bedroom blinds and dress youngest child

OH takes the 2 eldest to school and I take the youngest to mums

Off to work - while in work I try to sort out any admin when I get a chance such as online banking, phone calls, printing off letters to save having to do them in my own time. :rotfl:

If I need to post stuff or go to the bank I do it at lunchtime.

After work I pick up any bits and pieces (such as milk/bread) we need and then collect the kids. Kids eat at my mums so that takes the pressure off with them.

On 3 nights of the week (coincidentally also the days I work) my kids have different activities to go to so this can be quite chaotic meaning that OH and I can be driving in different directions and rarely do we see dinner before 9pm. However there is time in between to do "stuff".

Evening routine:

Homeworks, reading etc checked and signed and any notes dealt with (youngest is playing while this goes on)

Spend time with youngest

Put youngest to bed and the older 2 tidy away the toys while I do that.

Put a wash on

OH and I have dinner (and 2 eldest tend to graze too)

A maximum of 15 minutes is devoted to "maintaining" the house eg vaccuuming, cleaning worktops, bleaching toilet, etc. Thats all it takes on a daily basis to keep on top of things. House always looks clean and tidy.

When kids are going to bed they set out their uniforms for the next day (this is a new thing - I used to do it but decided there was no reason they couldn't do it). They also tell me then if they are lacking an item like a jumper or something so that I can deal with it in the evening rather than hear about it in the morning. This works well as the 6 year old told me this morning that she would need to tell me on Wednesday night that there would be no tights for Thursday morning as she only had 3 pairs in her drawer this morning. :rotfl:

Dishwasher is started before bed and washing put into tumble dryer.

I leave out my own clothes for the next day


Weekly Tasks


On a Monday (I'm off work), I fill the car with petrol, buy gas and electric topups, buy food for the week all by about 10.30/11.00 am which leaves me the rest of the day to play with my youngest.

On a Thursday evening (I'm now off for the weekend), I do a big mad clean which includes vaccuuming and mopping ever room, dusting every room, thorough clean of kitchen and bathrooms and sorting any lingering washing.

On a Friday I buy weekend treat food etc and use the day for going to soft play/shopping etc with my youngest. I then keep the afternoon free for the other kids to bring home friends if they want. I do nothing on Friday night as it has all been done on Thursday.

Saturday is devoted to a day out with the kids and usually tea out.

Sunday - I put all the bedding in the washing machine and then forget about it until someone tries to go to bed and realises that they have no bedding. :rotfl: I need to sort this one out. I also do the ironing on a Sunday morning when the kids are at Sunday School - I do the uniforms for the whole week and "priority" items ie stuff that people actually wear as there are some lurkers in the ironing basket. :eek:


The secret of organisation for me is:

No clutter - if something isn't useful or used then I don't have it

I use Freecycle, Ebay, Gumtree, School Sales, Charity Shops to get rid of stuff. I always have a bag on the go for clothes we have grown out of and a box for bric a brac for school/church sales.

I don't have loads of ornaments sitting around the place. I don't have coffee tables in the middle of rooms. These make the place look cluttered and attracted magazines and other junk.

The kids all have lots of storage boxes.

I sort laundry on the kitchen table. Everyone has a pile of their stuff which doesn't need ironed ie underwear, socks, PJs etc and it is their reponsibility to put it away. I take the ironing. :mad:

Good luck in getting organised people, will be good to hear everyone's tips.

larmy16

Oooh ex-spendahollic I am saving up your post to read tomorrow - it looks so fascinating but I must go to bed now.

I have to say, that my greatest asset in getting me up in the morning is my Teasmade machine. Best invention for me. Also I have one of those daylight alarm clocks, so I wake to tea already made and birds tweeting and apparent sunshine in the room. It does help a little on these dreary winter morns.

jinky67

FLYLADY thread all of you now:D

3under3

I think the trick is definitely to declutter, less potential mess.
I do the bathroom at the weekend as well as give the 2 bedrooms a good clean every other weekend.
Garden gets done at the weekend in the Summer.
Washing gets done daily (one per eve usually) and I use a tumble dryer where necessary.
Important ironing gets done on Sunday, i.e. school uniforms.
Reading with eldest DD gets done when I get home about 7.
OH does the rest - he's a SAHD.

coco1980

At the moment I have 2 big bags of laundry waiting to get done, the problem being that my tumble dryer has broken and we only hve old storage heaters at moment so although I have 2 drying horses full it takes soo long for everything to dry:o
Am off to Ikea tonight to get a few large storage boxes(ds has several in his room but they take up so much space they look very untidy) I am also going to pick up some cookware so i can do more baking/freezer food:D