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Working Moms
MrsKatie07
member
How do you get everything done?!
MrsKatie07
member
in Working Moms
I am now on my fourth week back to work, and I am bringing DD with me until she starts daycare in September. It is really nice, but also very hard. I am doing two full-time jobs at once. I am wondering if anyone has tips on getting everything done. DH is great and makes dinner almost every night, helps put her to bed, and helps anywhere else he can. This is what our schedule looks like:
4:30 DD wakes up, I BF her, then usually pump
5:15 Shower, get ready for work, make breakfast to go, feed and give dogs Kongs, pack DD up
6:35 Leave for work
7:00 - 3:30 Work
3:45-4 Get home, let dogs out, unpack lunch cooler and DD
4:15 Sit down, relax, watch TV, usually fall asleep for a quick nap
5:00 DH gets home and holds the baby, I clean whatever I can
5:45 Start dinner or BF if DD is hungry and DH does dinner
6:30 Eat dinner
7:00 Clean up dinner, do dishes, play with dogs
8:00 Bathe DD
8:30 PJs, swaddle, and BF DD, put her to bed
9:00 Make lunch for next day, repack diaper bag, tidy house
10:00 Work out? Yeah, this usually doesn't get done!
10:30-11 Bedtime....then back up at 4:30am to do it all over again!
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Re: How do you get everything done?!
Phew! That sounds like our schedule. DH helps out sooo much. He usually cooks dinner. Then he cleans up after dinner (and cleans all her bottles/my pump parts from the day) while I bathe DD. I like to plan our meals ahead of time. It saves us the whole "What do you want for dinner" conversation EVERY NIGHT.
Definitely get as much done the night before as you can (prepare bottles, pack the diaper bag, set the coffee maker, etc.) I also like to lay out DD's clothes on Sunday for the entire week. I put them in Ziplock bags so I can just grab and go. ?
I do all our housework on the weekends. I love starting the week off with all the laundry put away, the dishwasher empty, a clean house! I try to keep things neat during the week (I'll take 5 minutes to pick up DD's room or run the Swiffer.) It's a very busy week, but nice b/c it usually flies by!?
/page.aspx?username=BabyBurns" href="http://littlebabyburns.blogspot.com/">My Blog
It sounds like you have a decent schedule already going, really.
The only tips that I can come up with are:
1) Prioritize/learn to let things go. Some weeks, the floors don't get vacummed.......oh the hell well. I have a short list of things that NEED to get done (clean cat litter box, load and unload dishwasher, take trash out), and I only worry about getting those done. When the floors get vacuumed, the sheets on our bed get changed, and the front yard gets weeded......that's a bonus. Working out? I try to walk during my lunch break at work.......I don't have time in the evenings, and I'm not going to kill myself trying to make time.
2) Do a little something every night. That way, you don't have a mountain of chores to do on the weekend. Every night after DS goes to bed, I try to do at least one quick chore - through a load of laundry in, clean up the kitchen, clean the bathroom sink, etc. None of those things take very long to do, and doing them one per night is less daunting than trying to do everything on Saturday afternoon.
We have a busy schedule as well, what I do to make things go easier during the week is on Sunday I pick out that week's outfits for both DS and myself and on our fridge is that week's dinner menu with recipe. The only chore I do daily is laundry and the dishwasher. Thursday night is my cleaning night, I stay up till 12 cleaning the whole house, this way my weekends are free of housework.
It's hard when they're little--there definitely does not seem like enough time. It does get a little easier the longer you do it. In my house, some days cleaning falls by the wayside. We also tag-team baths (she probably doesn't need one every day at this point anyhow). If DH does the bath, I clean up or get stuff ready for the next day.
Another thing that might help is to bring more supplies to work/daycare so you don't have to pack the diaper bag every night. Same with lunches. I bring stuff for lunch and snacks for the whole week on Mondays.
We do really quick and easy dinners, use the crockpot a lot, and I always make enough for two nights so the second night's dinner is relatively fast and cleanup is minimal.
Showering and laying out my clothes the night before has helped me tremendously especially if there are any surprises in the morning (diaper blowout(s), feeding issues, etc.) that might derail my schedule.
And I use my crockpot a lot for meals - here is the one I do most:
4 to 6 chicken breasts, packet of good seasons powdered dressing mix, little water, low for 8 hours. I usually do this on Monday and we will have chicken, a veggie, and rice or potatoes. Then the next night we might have a big salad with some of the chicken on it. Then the next night we might have pasta and jar sauce with chicken in it. OR you could have a taco night.
By cooking the chicken ahead off time - I have my meals partially cooked and therefore save a ton of time.
DD's face in your siggy looked just like mine after i read your list!!!
i'm at home now and can't get everything done...i'm not looking forward to going back aug 13th and trying to keep up at home!!! sounds like you have a great schedule, i hope to get there some day.
I've been back to work for 6 weeks now (seems longer though). And we've already figured out that routines are the saving grace in our household, no question about it. We do the same thing, every single day, Mon-Fri.
In the mornings (6 am-ish), I give DD her bottle while DH showers/dresses first. Then he takes her while I get dressed/makeup/hair. Then I gather up my stuff & DD's stuff and take her back from DH. While I'm getting her squared away in her carrier, DH is dealing w/ the dogs. DD & I are in the car by 7:30, she's at child care by 8, I'm at work by 8:30.
Back at home, a neighborhood kid arrives at our house around 2:15 every afternoon & walks the dogs for 20-30 minutes. We pay him $50/wk & its one less thing we havta worry about during the day.
In the evenings, I'm out of work by 5:30 & I arrive home w/ DD around 6:15. I start a load of laundry as soon as I walk in the door. When DH gets home from work, he transfers it over to the dryer & takes over DD & plays w/ her while I cook dinner. While dinners cooking I'm generally picking up here, I feed the dogs and by this point, DH has DD in her pj's (bath along w/ this every other night), and he's giving her a bottle. After her bottle, I rock her to sleep. By 8:30 she's sound asleep & dinners ready. After dinner, DH picks up the kitchen while I workout. I shower & get DD's stuff ready for tomorrow (and give some thought to what I'm going to wear to work) while DH prepares her bottles. We let the dogs out one last time & pick up a bit on our way up to bed.
I pay bills twice a month during my lunchbreaks at work. We have our groceries delivered. And I share a google calendar w/ DH & our child care provider (a relative) so that there's no confusion re: weekly commitments (doctor's appts, hair appts, vacation days, etc).
We've become pretty religious about picking up around the house whenever we have a spare second during the work week. Our workdays are so hectic that we're pretty adamant about weekends being for family fun time. So on Saturdays/Sunday I usually cook much bigger/more elaborate meals & we do something fun as a family. Cooking bigger meals on the weekends also affords me w/ plenty of options for leftovers during the week (roasted chicken dinner on Sunday also made for chicken burritos on Monday and chicken soup on Tuesday).
I have a very simple answer. I DON'T!!!