Working mums what's the secret

Siebrie

We clean the house from top to bottom every Saturday morning, all 4 of us do a bit, and it only takes about 1 hour. (dds are 9 and 12 now, we started when oldest was 7. Youngest 'helped' at that time.)

I have the toys stored in boxes in a room divider, if the toys overflow, some have to go. I also have not all their toys downstairs, they can only have 1 type of toy-with-many-parts (barbies, playmobil, littlepetshop) downstairs at a time, the other types are in the attic; they get swapped as dds wish to do so. Craft stuff is always available, in drawers, and needs to be returned to the drawers after finishing.

We only eat in the kitchen or outside, even snacks. The exception is popcorn during Friday film night.

Paperwork gets dealt with as it comes in, immediately. Filing, however, gets done once a month. I would love to do it straight away, but husband keeps putting his weights in front of my files, and dds often use the perforator for crafting, and then forget to return it to its proper place!

We have a blackboard in the kitchen where I put the items I run out of, or where I take the 1-before-last; husband and dds also add to this list.

DDs pack their school bags the evening before, and lay out the clothes they want to wear (no school uniform here).

I check socks and tights for holes before I put them in the drawers. Nothing as frustrating as finding a hole in a pair as you put it on! Once a month I work on my mending pile while watching telly; it's my me-time, and dds get sent to bed at 8.30 instead of 9, and are forbidden to come back down. I'm not a nice mother if they interrupt the little time I set aside for myself.

Bella_Budget

Sometimes I can't think what to put on the weekly food planning so I keep a list of family meals we all like and pick 3 veggie, 2 chicken, 1 fish and 1 meat meals for the week, easier than having to think! I  suffer from food boredom, I  can't eat the same food every week so this helps me.
Recommend the organised mum method, have the daily list on the kitchen door with Dh, mine and dd's names beside tasks so everyone is responsible and it makes it really quick. Finally accept nothing is perfect but generally good enough is perfectly ok.

SallyHungermann

Getting the little ones to help, where they can, helps with loneliness as well. 

nic2075

I wash the school uniforms as soon as they are home on a Friday night. I get them hung up to dry and given back to the kids on a Saturday morning. I really don’t iron anything. Only the odd shirt if it needs it. I meal plan and try to stick to it. I’ve tried batch cooking but I hated spending most of a Sunday doing it.  I now have a list of our favourite meals and rotate them every few weeks.  Makes it easier to shop for when it’s on a list that I keep for each of those weeks. 

Cleaning I’ve modified flylady to work for me. I’ve found that doing that system I’m able to keep on top of the house work and not let it build up and spend all Saturday cleaning. The kids help out too. 

When I’m cooking I always make slightly too much for my work lunch the next of for the freezer. 

ladyholly

Whatever you do or dont do I will pass on the bit of wisdom my mum passed on to me. Simply "Theres always time to watch a rainbow."

In other words the time with your children is precious dont waste it. If the house is messy so be it. Keep the kitchen and bathrooms clean the rest can be caught up with when convenient.

Scuttler78

I’m a single parent who works full-time. My children are six and nine. We also have animals. Luckily, I work from home so I manage to get a wash on and dried every day. When I was going out to work, I always put a wash on in the morning before I went to work and pegged one out on the line if it was dry.  I don’t iron anything. I line/radiator dry and then tumble for ten minutes and fold whilst warm, no creases! I also have a cleaner who comes for two hours a week. I would happily forsake any other luxury before letting my cleaner go! I don’t have to do food except at weekends as the kids eat at the childminders. I am happy having a ready meal or something out the freezer. At weekends I plan what meals we are having. I hate cooking but can do it two days a week. I have a chalk board in the kitchen to set out the dreaded meal plan for the week. Deciding what to cook is the worst bit for me so the chalk board is good for focus. I have a massive family planner on the wall of the kitchen. I write absolutely everything on it. I do food shopping and run any errands at weekday lunchtimes as the kids are a nightmare to take to the shops. Those are my top
tips! 

ClaireVanetzky

Hi. I have heard that oil diffusers can be harmful to health because they can release toxic substances when used. Do you think it might be better to use a spray dry diffuser than these? from a health point of view