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D.C. Area Babies
s/o routines - what do you do to save time?
It takes us about an hour, hour and fifteen minutes to get out of the house in the morning and that's pretty much just me getting ready and nursing DS (DH takes care of dressing him and getting lunch out of the fridge and into his bag, etc.)
I thought of showering at night, but I have curly hair so I kind of have to wash it in the morning or I have serious bed-head. If I pull it back every day I feel kind of frumpy - is there some kind of cute/easy hairdo I'm missing?
I'm worried once DS is a little older we're going to have to feed him more than just milk in the morning and that could take a lot longer too.
At night, I feel like it's a mad rush to fit in dinner together and get DS to bed by 6:30/7 (he just won't stay up later).
So, what tips/tricks do you have that save time in your routines, especially in the mornings and in the evenings?
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Re: s/o routines - what do you do to save time?
Seriously, the only thing that keeps my life sane is that DH works a very flexible schedule and is usually home in the mornings, so he can take care of feeding, changing and getting to daycare.
The other day DH had jury duty and had to be in Rockville by 8:30, and I didn't get to work until 10 am because I had to do it all myself. I don't know how single parents handle it.
ETA: Crockpot! We have been using this more and more and it is a life saver. We also try to plan our meals on Sunday for the week, and make meals where we have leftovers for a second night.
I eat breakfast (using that term loosely) in the car - a poptart, buttered toast, donut, cereal bar, banana... not very healthy options, but portable and quick to grab.
I do try to pack lunch the night before so I just need to grab it.
i have curly hair too, but i often wear it straight in the winter (too cold to go outside with wet hair and no time to dry it). i put it up in a ponytail on top of my head and i'm good to go when i wake up...no more bedhead!
we need an hour to leave the house in the morning. we don't feed the kids breakfast, they eat at DC. if we had to feed them too, we'd probably need 90 minutes. DH makes his own while i'm nursing A. i have a shake for breakfast, which i preassemble...just add ice and milk and blend. the cup comes out of the blender and i can take it with me. breakfast takes 60 seconds.
i nurse A before we get out of the bed (DH gets her and brings her to me), and i'm usually half asleep.
i don't do makeup anymore. at most, if i have a meeting, i'll put on mascara and lipstick. but often i do that in the car.
we pack lunch the night before.
one thing that i've been doing to have a little extra time wtih my kids during the week is cooking on the weekend.
we do the shopping on saturday afternoon or evening. i cook and prep a bunch of things on sunday. this has significantly reduced my day-to-day cooking time.
we also set the kids' clothes out for the week on sunday (and ours out the night before). i've been meaning to get one of these: https://www.google.com/products/catalog?rlz=1C1AFAB_enUS452US452&ix=heb&q=closet+hanging+shelves&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=3895013222877508064&sa=X&ei=fbUiT5vqJ6TC0AH3iJm5CA&ved=0CIkBEPICMAE, to hang in the kids closet so T can easily get his M, T, W, etc outfit.
I have curly hair as well and sometimes when I'm running late, I just wet my hair down in the sick or use the shower head to do it. Use the curly hair to your advantage and let it be messy.
Kids love cereal. At least mine does. He'll it dry out of the bowl. Our morning routine is a little different though because I have to be out of the house at 4:30 so actually just takes his milk and goes back to bed by 6 at DC and sleeps unitl 9-9:30 and then gets up for his real breakfast.
Unfortunately I have no suggestions for nighttime either just because whenever DS wanted to go to bed, we put him to bed. It sure beats having a cranky baby. He goes to bed anywhere from 7-8 every night. Just depends on his naps. Maybe it'll be different when he transitions to 1 nap?
I wake up at 5:30 and get myself showered and ready before the kids/DH wake up around 6:15 or 6:30. I have to shower every morning because I have short hair and I give the term Bed Head all new meaning.
They all wake up aroun 6:30 and we're out of the door by 7:15 or 7:20.
It can be done! I'm trying to think if I have any "tips" - I'm not sure I have anything brilliant to share.
One thing I do is lay out all the kids' clothes (down to underwear, socks, hair bands, etc.) the night before. That way there is no argument in the morning from the walking/talking preschoolers. The baby of course could not care less what he wears.
Another thing I do is set the coffee maker to go off in the morning. DH and I eat breakfast at work, so that cuts that out. We take travel cups of coffee with us to work.
One thing I don't do is make the baby's bottles and put his lunch together the night before, we end up doing it in the mornings. It's not that big a time saver for us to do it at night, and I'd say by the time we feed, bathe and put down the kids, clean up the kitchen from dinner, etc. we are much too tired to do much more than set the coffee and lay out the kids' clothes.
My office is fairly casual so dressing myself in the morning is not that hard - I mostly have the types of clothes you don't have to iron or put much thought into. Someday I need to get a little more fashion into my wardrobe, but for now, I'm going with "functional." DH gets his dress shirts dry cleaned, so no ironing there, though he does tend to have to iron his pants in the morning.
I don't know - I guess the thing that gets 4 out of 5 of us ready in 45 minutes is just keeping a pace, no lollygagging, etc. We give the girls smiley faces on their responsibility chart if they eat their breakfast, get dressed (we still have to help the 3 yr. old get dressed) and get their teeth brushed quickly. I can't say there is a whole lot of bonding or quality time in the mornings in our household!
I think an hour in the morning is pretty typical. We can get ready in 45 minutes if we're rushing, but in order for that to happen, at least one of us has to be up and ready before M wakes up. One of us sits with him while he eats breakfast (usually milk and a banana or waffle) while the other person gets ready. Then we switch off. If we're rushing or if M wakes up late and he doesn't have time to eat much, we'll pack up the rest of his food and take it with us to school.
I've found that I don't have to wash my hair in the morning in order to style it, but I do have to get it wet. So if you want to try showering at night, maybe you can just wet your hair in the sink in the morning? I have straight hair though, so this may not work for you.
Evenings are definitely a rush, and I don't think there's any way to fix that. One of us is constantly doing something while the other person is on kid duty.
FWIW I thought things got significantly easier and more streamlined when M was off of bottles and eating real food. Making/washing all of those bottles is really time-consuming. Now the only thing I have to do is grab a cup for milk and a container of yogurt (school/daycare provides the rest of his food).
I pack DDs bag for daycare, pick out my clothes, pack anything I need for work/working out and pack my lunch the night before. I usually wash my hair the night before or I have to wake up 30 minutes earlier. I guess my hair looking nice does not win over extra sleep.
This does not make me the poster child of parenting but I don't fight with DD over her choices of ridiculous outfits or if she wants to wear pajamas to DC. I always have two set of clothes in her bag. Otherwise, we would never get out of the house.
We keep breakfast simple- cereal or yogurt or fruit and she pretty much feeds herself (but I am in the same room with her). I put on make-up and do my hair in the living room while she eats.
I don't have curly hair but I shower at night a lot. I do a lot of ponytails, but when I do I try to add earrings and nice accessories so I don't feel frumpy. I also do a lot of barrettes and a kind of side french braid thingy.
Will your DCP feel DS breakfast? Not nursing in the morning took out a huge chunk of our time. Now we (DH mostly) can just hand C a sippy of milk while he gets him dressed and they are out the door. I lay out all of his clothes the night before as well as pack his bag for daycare.
I don't think an hour and 15 minutes is very long though. It takes me a solid 45 minutes to get out the door after waking up and C and DH are usually still asleep.
Thanks ladies - nursing in the morning takes about 15 mins, so I thought that wasn't too bad but worried that "breakfast" would take longer. DCP gives breakfast but I wasn't sure if I will need to give anything more than milk before we get to DCP (after we transition from nursing).
I also try to pack up lunches, etc. the night before. I could be better about picking out my clothes though. Luckily DS has no opinion yet
Also planning dinners and making/prepping ahead of time is really smart so the end of the day doesn't feel so hectic. I just end up feeling so exhausted by the time DS goes to bed that it's the last thing I want to do.
I do absolutely everything I can the night before. Ever since I can remember, I had my clothes for the next day out the night before. DH does this too. All the kids' stuff is laid out the night before. I shower at night. DH does the kids' dishes (we try not to put much of their stuff, like straw cups and lunch containers, thru the dishwasher) at night. The breakfast/lunch/water/snack/milk just needs to be put into the lunch bag for DD in the morning. It's arranged in the fridge the night before. DS' milk cups are filled the night before (I even put pro-biotic in 1 the night before). We don't give the kids b'fast at home. DD gets a cup of warm milk (DH does this) in the morning. She eats b'fast at DCP. DS eats b'fast at my Mom's. When I nursed it did take longer. Honestly, we just need to get the kids up, dressed, brushed (hair, teeth) and off we go. We also each take on one kid (most days).
ETA: I eat b'fast when I get to work and I don't drink coffee (at all).
This is a work in progress, but here are some of the things we do to help speed up the process:
1) bathe or shower the kids the night before.
2) have the baby sleep in a sleep and play type outfit. That way, we only need to wipe his face, change his diaper, brush his hair, and nurse.
3) prepare all clothes (including shoes/socks/etc) the night before. This saves a TON of time in the morning.
4) wash all bottles/cups/containers the night before
5) pack breakfast and lunch the night before. DS#1 usually eats at daycare, or in the car if it is something portable (like a cereal bar and milk).
6) we keep convenience food for emergency situations. DS#1 usually has a yogurt, two types of fruit, goldfish/other crackers, and then his b'fast and lunch at school. We keep the individual size beefaroni type meals, fruit cups, etc, so we aren't scrambling for stuff at the last minute, and can assemble his food without extra trips to the store.
7) at night, DH plays with the kids while I prepare food. He generally has DS#1 and I have DS#2 for the nighttime routine. There are plenty of nights where I feel like we don't even talk, but we're ok - we know it is short term.
ETA: I have cut my makeup routine WAY down. I wear foundation and blush, and that is it. I keep my eyebrows threaded - it is a great trick to for keeping your look tidy.