Work schedule

kimmlet

So, what does your work/home schedule look like?  How much time do you actually spend with LO during the week?

We get up and are out of the house by 5:30-6 (at the latest) each day and get home around 5 each evening.  DS goes to bed at 7 so we don't really get to do much with him.  I've basically stopped cooking because it just takes up too much of our time (and I'm quite lazy).

What do your schedules look like and what little tricks have you found that work for your LOs? 

SoMoNY

Generally gone from 7:30 - 7:30.  He goes to bed at 9 if he has preschool/camp next day (starts at 9), if nothing planned for next day he might be up till 10 with us playing with Buzz and Woody.  He still naps during day so late nights don;t bother him.

We have very full weekends where we try to fit in stuff he wants to do like she his friend James, go to the park, t-ball, bouncy house place, etc.  We  do so much over the weekends that he's usually wiped on Monday - we call that his mellow Mondays where he relaxes.

We get 6+ weeks of vacation time so there are a lot of long weekends and family trips.

 

 

BabyHope2013

I am up at 5 to get myself ready, then wake up DS at 6 to get ready and eat breakfast. I leave the house by 6:45-7 a.m. DH leaves the house shortly thereafter to drop DS off at daycare. Then I work till 4:30 and pick up DS at 5:30 which puts us home by 5:45. I let our dog out and then get dinner started while I feed DS dinner. DH comes home, we eat around 630 and then I spend time with DS playing and doing bathtime till about 8:30 when DS falls asleep.

I try to make things easier for myself by using our grill a bunch when it's warmer and coming up with make ahead or quick meals for dinner. Then on weekends we spend alot more family time together and I will usually take DS along with me shopping to the grocery store, target, Sams and such.

It's definately stressful and I feel like I never get to sit down, but I just take it one day at a time.

Mrs.RockyM

I work 8:45 to 4:45.  DH and I are up between 6 and 6:30.  Typically the kids are up at 7 and play on the floor if I'm still getting ready , then DH and DD1 have breakfast together while I feed DD2 (usually at the table).  We're out the door by 7:45, back home by 5:30/5:45, I put dinner in the oven and play with the girls while it's cooking, we eat around 6:30 as a family (we all talk about our days and I read DD2's tidbit about her day), baths at 7, DD1 goes to bed around 7:45/8, DD2 is in bed by 7:15/7:30

 We do everything we can at night after the girls are in bed (cleaning up dinner, packing lunches, prepping tomorrow's dinner, etc.) so that we can spend as much time as possible with them. 

ccam

We are out of the house by 6:30, the latest, and I work from 7 to 3:30.  I pick up DS and am home by 4:15.  DH is home around 5.  (I adjusted my work schedule to go in/get home earlier.)  DS is usually down for the night by 6:30 so I have about 2 hours with him every night.  Since he's in bed so early, we cook and get ready for the next day after his bedtime.

MirandaHobbes

Ours used to be like yours, but it has gotten a little better as DS has gotten older. He's 5 now. We're out the door by 7:30 (we're up together for 30 minutes; DH gets him dressed and I spend 15 minutes eating with him. If he finishes quickly, we will read a book before we leave. I really like this little 15 minute period- it makes me glad that I'm not just shooing him out the door, yet we are able to get out pretty quickly). When we all get home (5-530) some nights are just decompressing and vegging (e.g. I had a dinner party I had to clean up after so I did that for an hour while he played, and I made his dinner). I chat with him while he eats his dinner (no, I'm not yet able to get one meal on the table for all of us at the same time!). Then after dinner he only has about an hour of freetime before bedtime. I try to mix it up some nights- like when we get home I'll just go hop on the bikes and take him to the park or the beach, even if for only 30 minutes or so. It breaks up the monotony of the week and makes it feel a little less like we're just living for the weekend. DS is in bed almost asleep by 730.

litzo27

I'm up before 6 to exercise. Kids usually up by 6:30-7. Either DH or I drive them to daycare around 8:45. And the other person picks them up around 5:45 so home by 6. Dinner at 7 (I usually cook twice a week and DH grills once a week and always enough for leftovers). Bath and books or cartoon if they were fast with dinner. Lights out by 8:45pm. If I have work to do I finish it then. DH almost always works into the night.

honeybee111

I'm up at 5:30, out of the house at 6:30(DH and DD are still sleeping).  They get up at 7, out of the house at 8, DH drops DD off at preschool.  I pick up DD at 4, I play with her until 5.  Then, I cook dinner, DH gets home at 6, and we eat.  DH spends some time with DD until 7.  We do bedtime routine and DD is in bed around 7:30.

I'm really happy with this schedule, but I'm currently on maternity leave, so I realize it's going to change once DS enters the picture. 

orchid2007

I am out the door by 6:30 and start work at 7:00 (I work relatively close to home) 

DH gets up with DD in the morning and takes her to DC because he starts work later than me. He drops her off there around 8:30 am. (She is usually still asleep when I leave in the AM)

4:00 I am off work

4:10 I Pick up DD at DC (its close to the office)

4:45 Get home

5:30-6:00ish Cook and eat dinner 

Playtime or whatever DD wants to do until 7:30

DH is usually home by 7:00ish 

7:30 Bath

8:00 Bedtime for DD  

So I get to see DD for 4 hours in the evening. Yeah some of that is taken up to cook dinner, but I let her "help" me and we sit and eat together and talk about school or whatever so we still have quality time and the dishes and other chores wait until she is in bed. And DH is always home before her bedtime so he can see her too. 

I like our schedule. It works and has balance. It is also a massive improvement from the hours I was working a year ago at my old job. I switched jobs to have better hours for family.  

9fraulein

I'm not back to work yet, but schedule will have to be efficient because me and DH both commute an hour each way to work in opposite directions. We are gone about 10 - 11 hrs a day. One "trick" we have already employed is to eat take out a LOT.  And for the couple times a week we do cook, cook big meals so there are lots of leftovers.