Any mom's of 2 (or more) work full time?

Jen&Len

I'm currently part time (4 days a week) and a full time position opened up in an area that I've been interested in since I started.  It would be an extra day per week, but would would allow for us to have more days together as a family.  Currently, DH and I sort of work opposing schedules and sometimes can go weeks without having a day off together.  I was just wondering if I could manage an extra day AND an extra baby (in July).  The hours are steady 8-4:30 each day...usually not any longer than that.  And the job itself would be a lot less physically demanding than what I'm doing now (usually 8 hours on my feet except for my lunch break).

Cath&Brian

I do! ?I had a similar situation; I could work part time, but that meant working on the weekends and missing "family time". ?So I decided I'd rather work M-F to give us the weekends to spend together as a family. ?We have a nanny here during the week and so far it's working great. ?I have an opportunity to drop Fridays and I may do that - I miss my boys so much during the day!!

Denesdia

This is my plan, since I am the breadwinner while my husband is in graduate school and has an internship 16 hours per week.  We have a babysitter at our house, now, and we are hoping that she will stick with us for #2.  The weekends belong the family, which is nice.  I make myself feel better by thinking about how much these sacrifices will pay off some day. 

happytobemrs.m

I work full time now and will continue to work full time after DD#2 is born in May. We devote the weekends to family time and so far it is working out just fine.

kate081206

I do and will continue after baby 2

JARbaby

I do and I also go to school full time. AND I have plenty of family time, cook dinner almost every night and have a clean house! If you want specifics, let me know!

Mnq

JARbaby:

I do and I also go to school full time. AND I have plenty of family time, cook dinner almost every night and have a clean house! If you want specifics, let me know!

Um, JARbaby - I WANT SPECIFICS!!! Please tell me how you manage your time. I'm struggling with just one. I think I need to start from scratch with your help so that I won't be too overwhelmed when the baby comes 

Mr.&MrsS

I do, and it is very doable. But I also have a very flexible boss. I work from home two days a week because I have an hour and a half commute each way, so that just helps to cut down on the demands two days a week (the boys are still in day care those days). It is harder with two because now you are juggling two kids who get sick, two kids with doctors appointments (sick appointments and routine appointments). And I am also getting very little sleep. But I know it is only temporary that it is this hectic and every month gets a little easier than the last. You can do it!

JARbaby

Mnq:

JARbaby:

I do and I also go to school full time. AND I have plenty of family time, cook dinner almost every night and have a clean house! If you want specifics, let me know!

Um, JARbaby - I WANT SPECIFICS!!! Please tell me how you manage your time. I'm struggling with just one. I think I need to start from scratch with your help so that I won't be too overwhelmed when the baby comes 

I plan my meals 2 weeks in advance and have a full size deep freezer in the garage. In the Summer we have a CSA and get our veggies weekly in bulk. I steam and freeze stuff as I can. I get grocery delivery every 2 weeks and hit the store on my way home after daycare pick-up 2x per week. 

I work M-F 8-4. I get up at 5, workout, get myself ready, pickup and spot clean. We get the girls up at 6:30, I start breakfast while DH gets them dressed. I leave at 6:55. I pick up the girls at 4:30 and we get home 5-5:30, Dinner takes 20-30 or less if I do crock. But usually I bake meat with different marinades or fish or pasta of some sort, toss a veggie in the steamer and potato or rice in the microwave. We eat at 6, go up for bath (Dh starts dishes) at 6:30, bath, massage, story, teeth, baby in bed at 7. I toss in laundry (do 1 load a day and fold and put away another-it will never get ahead of you), lay out all outfits for next day (C picks out her so there is not a fight). I gather everything that needs to go out the door and put it by the front door. Take 20m to clean a room of the house. Finish with the kitchen. C goes to bed at 8. I go study. Lights out at 11. I go to class every other Saturday and like to leave my Saturdays free of housework. I study for the 3 hours the kids nap in the afternoon. Sat night DH do something even if it is watch a movie. Sunday we go to church every other week (the weekends I don't have school) and we play with the kids until nap, then I go study and get ready for the week. I also follow the Flylady.com plan of housekeeping so the house is always in order. She really got my life under control. Let me know if you have any questions.

The biggest part is to remain flexible and go with the flow. Have a general plan and go with it when that plan changes. Oh and I just learned the art of take-out on Fridays. I am learning to cook more so there are leftovers (though I HATE them, lol)

PhilsWife07

JARbaby:

Mnq:

JARbaby:

I do and I also go to school full time. AND I have plenty of family time, cook dinner almost every night and have a clean house! If you want specifics, let me know!

Um, JARbaby - I WANT SPECIFICS!!! Please tell me how you manage your time. I'm struggling with just one. I think I need to start from scratch with your help so that I won't be too overwhelmed when the baby comes 

I plan my meals 2 weeks in advance and have a full size deep freezer in the garage. In the Summer we have a CSA and get our veggies weekly in bulk. I steam and freeze stuff as I can. I get grocery delivery every 2 weeks and hit the store on my way home after daycare pick-up 2x per week. 

I work M-F 8-4. I get up at 5, workout, get myself ready, pickup and spot clean. We get the girls up at 6:30, I start breakfast while DH gets them dressed. I leave at 6:55. I pick up the girls at 4:30 and we get home 5-5:30, Dinner takes 20-30 or less if I do crock. But usually I bake meat with different marinades or fish or pasta of some sort, toss a veggie in the steamer and potato or rice in the microwave. We eat at 6, go up for bath (Dh starts dishes) at 6:30, bath, massage, story, teeth, baby in bed at 7. I toss in laundry (do 1 load a day and fold and put away another-it will never get ahead of you), lay out all outfits for next day (C picks out her so there is not a fight). I gather everything that needs to go out the door and put it by the front door. Take 20m to clean a room of the house. Finish with the kitchen. C goes to bed at 8. I go study. Lights out at 11. I go to class every other Saturday and like to leave my Saturdays free of housework. I study for the 3 hours the kids nap in the afternoon. Sat night DH do something even if it is watch a movie. Sunday we go to church every other week (the weekends I don't have school) and we play with the kids until nap, then I go study and get ready for the week. I also follow the Flylady.com plan of housekeeping so the house is always in order. She really got my life under control. Let me know if you have any questions.

The biggest part is to remain flexible and go with the flow. Have a general plan and go with it when that plan changes. Oh and I just learned the art of take-out on Fridays. I am learning to cook more so there are leftovers (though I HATE them, lol)

 

You are my new idol.

JARbaby

PhilsWife07:

 

You are my new idol.

You guys are silly. It does not com naturally and has been a process indeed. It is constantly fine tuned and adjusted to meet the constant changing needs of children and family issues. I find keeping with the general plan people are happier because we all know what is expected. I find when I am off (I work in a school) that our lives are very out of order. The schedule allows me to be laid back. I am intense when things are out of control so it is necessary. This process did not happen over night, it is and always will be a process in progress. Sometimes I am just plain tired or lazy and I allow myself to be so. But I know I have to work ahead the day before or work twice as hard the next day to catch up. 

Just be reasonable. Try different methods. Find what works for you. 

My calendar and dry erase board (for weekly menus) and flylady are really the keys to my order. It is funny, but I have been at it like this for 18m and when I have down time...I simply do not know what to do with myself. That is my goal for 2010 is to learn the art of doing nothing and restoring myself. Getting back my prebaby body, mind and soul. 

momtogavin

It's totally do-able. I had my first baby during my last year of medical school and my second during residency, when I was working 60-80 hours a week for the first 16 months of her life. Believe it or not, I made dinner 5-6 times a week, put my kids to bed every night I was home, had enough quality time with my husband to get pregnant with a third, kept sane AND have kids who are really attached to both of their parents. The only thing that suffered was our bank account (two resident salaries do not a fortune make) and my housekeeping. The housekeeping was definitely the compromise I had to make. I think that's why, as soon as I finished and got a real job, I hired a housekeeper to come 2-4 times a month. Now, I'm working part-time and have a clean house.  Living the dream!

jillybean222

JARbaby:

Mnq:

JARbaby:

I do and I also go to school full time. AND I have plenty of family time, cook dinner almost every night and have a clean house! If you want specifics, let me know!

Um, JARbaby - I WANT SPECIFICS!!! Please tell me how you manage your time. I'm struggling with just one. I think I need to start from scratch with your help so that I won't be too overwhelmed when the baby comes 

I plan my meals 2 weeks in advance and have a full size deep freezer in the garage. In the Summer we have a CSA and get our veggies weekly in bulk. I steam and freeze stuff as I can. I get grocery delivery every 2 weeks and hit the store on my way home after daycare pick-up 2x per week. 

I work M-F 8-4. I get up at 5, workout, get myself ready, pickup and spot clean. We get the girls up at 6:30, I start breakfast while DH gets them dressed. I leave at 6:55. I pick up the girls at 4:30 and we get home 5-5:30, Dinner takes 20-30 or less if I do crock. But usually I bake meat with different marinades or fish or pasta of some sort, toss a veggie in the steamer and potato or rice in the microwave. We eat at 6, go up for bath (Dh starts dishes) at 6:30, bath, massage, story, teeth, baby in bed at 7. I toss in laundry (do 1 load a day and fold and put away another-it will never get ahead of you), lay out all outfits for next day (C picks out her so there is not a fight). I gather everything that needs to go out the door and put it by the front door. Take 20m to clean a room of the house. Finish with the kitchen. C goes to bed at 8. I go study. Lights out at 11. I go to class every other Saturday and like to leave my Saturdays free of housework. I study for the 3 hours the kids nap in the afternoon. Sat night DH do something even if it is watch a movie. Sunday we go to church every other week (the weekends I don't have school) and we play with the kids until nap, then I go study and get ready for the week. I also follow the Flylady.com plan of housekeeping so the house is always in order. She really got my life under control. Let me know if you have any questions.

The biggest part is to remain flexible and go with the flow. Have a general plan and go with it when that plan changes. Oh and I just learned the art of take-out on Fridays. I am learning to cook more so there are leftovers (though I HATE them, lol)

I do all of this...except go to school, work full time, and go to church!  Oh, I guess that is not that impressive, huh!  You go JAR!!!