Working parents..? bedtimes, dinner, making of packed lunches and still have free time?

maman

svain wrote: »

Not sure you should be comparing as you get more holiday/baker days/teacher training days/days off .. than politicians and you finish at 3.30pm :rotfl:

I'm assuming the rotfl means you're joking. You'd better be! :mad:

Marvel1

No kids, but cook weekend and freeze it?

warby68

Based on experience, if you only have to leave the house at 8am and have your children settled by 7.30pm, you're actually doing pretty well for this stage in your life. Not saying it isn't a slog but that's fairly civilized.

A meal for 2, bottles and packed lunches don't need to take 1-1.5hrs though. Some quick weekday options and one of you doing this while the other does bedtime could get you settled a bit earlier.

For those who think you go to bed early at 10pm, welcome to the working/childcare years. 10pm was a late night for me

earthgirl

I am a fulltime teacher but work till 5pm a few nights. I try to work super hard when at work and be as efficient as I can! I do packed lunches whilst I cook a meal. I cook the same meal for everyone. Once a week I cook double and freeze, and once a week we have leftovers from last week. I use the slow cooker or I have simple rubs/marinades that I put on chicken and fish and also buy baby potatos to have with these - chuck in a pan, handfull of salad. Simple food plus the packed lunches takes 30 mins. Have all the packed lunch things ready in one area so it is literally throwing it in the box!

Use your lunch times and break times to get errands done/ sort post/ whatever you can! Excercise, grocery shopping etc. Somewhere on my youtube channel I have my menu plan and my planner for the day with my timings if you were interested in seeing that.

I sometimes take a potato and microwave plus some philly and a handful of salad if I can't be bother to make a packed lunch.

You are doing well - but yes it's kind of like this for a few years!

jackomdj

Bexm wrote: »

Hi

I am looking for suggestions of what other people do as trying to work out how to have some free time in the evenings which I currently rarely have as seem to have too much to do.

Currently work part time but on days I work hours are 9-5, due to child care drop off and pick up, this means leaving the house at 8 and returning at 6ish.
Kids eat at child care so current evening routine is:

Kids home (age 1 and 6)
Quick cuppa or straight to bath depending if its bath night.
Get kids ready for bed, stories etc
Hubby gets home just before bed time
Start getting Kids In bed at 7 and left in bed by 7.30ish (hopefully! )

Then..
Me and hubby get out of work clothes and changed
Sort night time bottles
Make dinner
Make 3 packed lunches for following day
Usually sitting down to eat 8:30 - 9
Bed at 10ish

How do other working parents coordinate everything and still have some free time as we seem to have got out selves in an endless loop?

Some changes I would make to your routine are:
Start dinner pre bed time, then it can be ready for your 7:30 end of bed time. I would often do meals which got reheated or repurposed the next day (eg chicken fajita one day, you have an enchilada filling the next. Spaghetti Bol one day, shepards pie the next)
Unless there is a medical need replace overnight bottles with water. If waking up in the middle of the night is 'boring' then what is the point!
I was the same with work and fitting things into the evening, except my partner worked away during the week (sometimes away for a few weeks at a time) so it was a bit like being a single parent, with no relatives near us.

As others have said your life sounds normal. As they grow that normal changes, mine are 12 and 14 now, some nights we have '15 minute meals' ie we have to be out of the house 15 mins after I get home. Then clubs can go on until 9:00, so sometimes 9:30 by the time I get to sit down. Plus running them to friends houses etc (or collecting from school trips at 1:45!). But this is all part of their growing up... It won't be long till it is collecting them from the nightclub!

Fire_Fox

Why would you expect to have daily me-time when you have a completely dependent infant? Why is me-time more important than family time/ quality time with your little ones?

In all seriousness: downsize your life, hire a nanny, or count your blessings.

Kynthia

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Why would you expect to have daily me-time when you have a completely dependent infant? Why is me-time more important than family time/ quality time with your little ones?

In all seriousness: downsize your life, hire a nanny, or count your blessings.

So you just wanted to judge the OP instead of empathise or give any tips?

OP I found having a second child reduced the free time in the evenings more because of separate childcare/school collections and drop-offs, longer bedtime routine, etc. I think in the evenings the choice becomes me-time or sleep, and I choose the former while my husband choose a the latter.

Try to do bath night on days you don't work, have some meals bulk made you can just reheat and on a particularly busy night maybe make it pizza or takeaway night, have bags ready at the beginning of the Week and try to use lunchtime and commute time for admin and little jobs that need doing.

svain

maman wrote: »

I'm assuming the rotfl means you're joking. You'd better be! :mad:

Partly ... not totally though. Dont get me wrong, i wouldnt want to be a teacher in today's world, however teacher paid holiday entitlement is still incredibly generous in comparison with an average worker. This holiday time also allows quality time with their own kids/family and general down time. A lot of people dont have that luxury.

svain

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Why would you expect to have daily me-time when you have a completely dependent infant? Why is me-time more important than family time/ quality time with your little ones?

In all seriousness: downsize your life, hire a nanny, or count your blessings.

Because "me time" IS as important as family time/quality time with the little ones.

Bexm

Thanks for all the replies and ideas.
Seems like its pretty normal and I just need to sort out my batch cooking and packed lunches in advance.
I am getting there and working out some freezer packs for slow cooking..!