Working f-time with kids -tips

FBaby

Exact same situation, working full-time with a 9yo and 12yo with partner (who isn't the dad) sometimes around, sometimes not. I also travel for 45 minutes morning and evening.

The thing is I have always worked full-time, so it isn't new for us. The routine is we wake up at 6:30 and OH, son and I leave at 7:10, drop son to breakfast club, am in the office for 8:00. DD gets up at 7:30, leave home texting me at 8:10. She comes home at 3:20, I leave at 4pm (except when late meeting), pick son up, home by 5pm. Thursday take son to football for 6pm, and Friday, OH drops son so I can leave at 7am, be in the office at 7:30, so I can leave at 3:30, pick DD from home, son from afterschool club and take them to their tennis lesson at 4:30!!! I also do a zumba class 3 times a week.

I am lucky that DS and DD are very autonomous, so DD manages her hygiene and homework on her own. DS needs reminding, but also does on his own. Meals are not elaborate most of the time, but they have also started cooking every once in a while which helps a lot. DS showers at 8pm, bed at 8:30, DD in her room by 9pm. I'm usually in bed by 9:30, read until 10pm. I tidy every evening, but most of cleaning, food shopping, washing, ironing, finances etc... is done week-ends. OH is very good though and does contributes a lot to house-keeping, does all the gardening.

I do suffer from chronic tiredness but I've learn to live with it. I do get frustrated that I have to allocate quite some time during the week-ends for some rest, so in between that and chores, I don' thave a lot of time left for socialising, but I do make it up during the holidays. The kids don't complain, they are used to their busy lives and are aware that my working full-time means they enjoy many things, especially holidays they wouldn't otherwise.

GobbledyGook

I used to use my either my Friday night or Saturday mornings to get everything ready for the following week as much as possible.

Batch cook meals for during the week and do all the laundry. I third or fourth the suggestion of having enough uniform for the kids to last the week. Mine have 3 skirts, 5 shirts and 3 cardigans each.

During the week before bed I make all the lunches, make sure the school bags are packed and by the door next to the shoes/coats/gym bag/swim kit that is needed for the next day and take one of the batch cooked meals out of the freezer so that the next day it's just a case of heating it through in the oven. While dinner is heating and the spuds etc are cooking I would do the day to day jobs round the house.

Having the children organised helps as well. Mine set and clear the table and load and unload the dishwasher. They also split their washing in the laundry baskets so that it's just a case of chucking a load of whites or coloureds into the machine.

Flee_2

Another thing is to plan your meals for the week ahead, and stick to that. I did this and everything worked efficiently, have slipped slightly recently but in September I will have to restart this.
School uniform is very important and make sure that you have enough shirts, socks, underwear for the week. Don't worry too much about ties, skirts/trousers and jumpers as these don't need changing every day. I have 2 of each of these changed half week or whenever they get dirty.

Gottodothis

I always cook on Sundays, so whilst doing the roast I cook dinners for the rest of the week.

I have several lots of school uniform so i don't have to wash or iron. I do however put a load in the washer each morning and come home at lunchtime to hang it, or i put it in at night and hang in the morning. (if i need too)

I only iron what i have too, I delegate jobs to the kids, recycling, bin emptying, loading and unloading the dish washer, cleanind and laying the table.

I clean the loo every night before i go to bed.

My children 15, 9 and 20 months. I also have a 20 year old home from uni and each weekend i have an 18 year ols and a six year old on respite.

I am working part-time at the moment but i did the above when working ful;l time too.

I also have several animals which have to be cleaned/ dealt with daily

Being organised is the key.....

Molly41

I found it a lot more difficult as my kids got older and went part-time when my eldest son started his GCSE's. My DD had a terrible time at school with bullying and then my youngest suffered a debilitating hip injury which involved numerous physio and hydro therapy. I actually had 6 months off with him as he was home schooled and then part-time at school. There are no child care facilities for older kids and I found it very hard - it was much easier when they were little.

I do think some women find it easier than others - organisation or the job. I dont think one size fits all and you have to do what works for your family at the time and be prepared to be flexible to meet your families needs x

Spendless

Thank you for the replies. Looks like the overwhelming response is to make sure I am on top of the laundry and that meals are organised.

The hours are 9-5 with 1/2 hr lunch and can't be changed as they meet business needs.

I decided to think about where strengths lie, my dd's Primary school is round the corner from where we live and I can drop her off without using breakfast club this time. Also, my adult neice is doing work experience in her school for the 1st week back before going back to Uni, so will talk to her about if she is able to take DD back to our house at the end of the school day.

DS currently doesn't do any out of school activities and the 2 that DD does, 1 is on my street, the other a swimming club she does on a Sat am, that does feel as though 1/4 of the w/end has gone by time I'm back so I've asked DH to alternate weeks taking her whilst I'm working.

I also forgot to say I have an elderly grandmother who is reliant on me taking her grocery shopping, she has dementia and mobility issues so I need to plan around this too.

onlyroz

We do a menu plan for the week ahead on a Saturday morning - I then go out and buy the necessary stuff.

I get in from work at around 6:15 PM. I then get dinner on and make the following day's packed lunches while dinner is cooking. Then, once dinner is cleared up it's around 7:30 PM - which gives me an hour with the kids before they go to bed. So the evening is mine from around 8:30 PM.

I do the laundry at the weekend (normally 3-4 loads) and don't bother with ironing. Hoovering is done at the weekend. Bathroom and kitchen get a thorough clean every few weeks, with intermittent wipe-downs of surfaces as needed in between.

I'm seriously considering getting in a cleaner, leaving them to deal with the kitchen/bathroom and the hoovering/mopping.

averagemummy

I know this may not seem moneysaving, however I do my shopping online and have it delivered.

• It saves me trying to run around the supermarket with two kids who want to put extra stuff in the trolley
• It saves me trying to fit the shopping into lunch times etc
• I can plan exactly what meals I will be making and only get what I need for those; which I have found means I save money despite having to pay the delivery charge
• I have the shopping delivered once the kids are in bed

clearingout

I find the slow cooker a godsend as I can have a meal ready for when I walk through the door. You can also make large amounts and freeze the rest and as long as you remember to pull it out the freezer before you walk out the door (lost count of the number of times I have meant to do that, assumed all day that I had indeed done that, only to discover on arrival home that I hadn't in fact done that!), your meal is all but ready for you.

I am not a particularly tidy person and I can live with a layer of dust but I would say if you're a show home kind of person, lower your standards as a means of getting by. Sooner or later you seem to catch up with it all.

Definately agree with the uniform thing - I have 5 sets for each child and I spread the cost of that by buying during the year so it's all ready in August and all I have to buy then is shoes, replace worn out bags, pumps etc. Towards the end of this academic year, I had thrown out a couple of pairs of trousers and a jumper for one of my boys (nightmare with knees and elbows!) and found myself in a terrible pickle one morning when he's slopped toothpaste down him and I didn't have spares to immediately change him into!

GobbledyGook

averagemummy wrote: »

I know this may not seem moneysaving, however I do my shopping online and have it delivered.

• It saves me trying to run around the supermarket with two kids who want to put extra stuff in the trolley
• It saves me trying to fit the shopping into lunch times etc
• I can plan exactly what meals I will be making and only get what I need for those; which I have found means I save money despite having to pay the delivery charge
• I have the shopping delivered once the kids are in bed

I get my shopping delivered as well and I find it saves me quite a bit of money because I don't impulse buy. I get an early Saturday morning delivery so that everything arrives nicely in time for me to start batch cooking.