Moms: Who has time for.....??

Question

Anything!!!! With a 7 year old and a 4 month old, it seems like my days NEVER end. When the kids are asleep, I can usually sneak in a few minutes on the computer or reading (one of my favorite hobbies). Granted, when you have children you KNOW that life will change...however, we all deserve a break!! My question is what are some of your most SWEAR-BY time savers/short cuts in managing your everyday familial resposibilites (laundry, child rearing cooking, etc.) By the way, unhealthy/unsanitary tips are NOT what I'm looking for(i.e., cook all food in the microwave, bath baby once a week, take a shower every other day, etc....yuk!!). Here are a couple of mine (if this cuts off, I will continue it under additional details; be patient).

*I iron a week's worth of school uniforms for my son, as well as my week's wardrobe on Sunday nights. I try to cook two meals at once. I pack bags, lunches, and snacks at night. I do laundry early on Saturday mornings. What are your tips???

P.S. Hubby works long hours....and I am definitley the "organized" one.

****************How could I forget to mention this: I work full time (3rd grade teacher).

Answer 1

I have two boys. The oldest will be 4 next month and the little one will be 2 in nov. My husband works in 12hr shifts which rotates, meaning he'll work two days, have off two days, work three nights, have off two days, work two days, have off 3. you get the idea. i get up, make the bed, change the kids clothes get them fed, while they're eating breakfast i make up their beds. my oldest cleans his room up from any toys they strung out during the night. i do one load of laundry a day b/c that's generally what we have. i dust twice a week, deep clean the bathroom twice a week (straighten and wipe down counters and toilet the rest of the time), vaccuum every day, cook lunch, get the little one down for a nap, work with my oldest on spelling and math during his brothers nap time. then it's outside play time for both or educational video games for the oldest and one on one time with the little one if it's raining or too hot. husband gets home (if he's working day shift) fix dinner. kids are in the room tucked in at 8pm sharp. them i clean the kitchen do dishes and fold laundry. and tidy up the living room once more.


my 4 yr old loves having some responsibily b/c he says he's a "big boy" so he picks his toys up in his room and cleans up in there and also he helps with the living room if toys are in there or if some shoes were left there. he also helps put away his own laundry and his brother's. granted he has his typical 4yr old being a boy days to where he doesn't do anything and that's ok and i do everything and that's fine. i use bribery. he gets a star on his chart if he helps out during the day once he gets 10 days worth of stars he gets a small surprise.



the trick is to be organized and don't sweat the small stuff. don't let it overwhelm you. and sometimes it's okay to go a day without doing everything or anything and say hey you know what it's not going to kill me if i don't do this today. and set that as YOUR day OFF! which i feel is very important to every mother's sanity. i have one day off a week. on that day i don't do anything but maybe straighten up the living room. my husband on one or two of his days off realizes how much work it takes and energy it takes and he does it all so i won't have to. trying to keep a hosue clean and tidy all day every day and cooking along with ironing his uniforms (he's a detention officer at our county jail) and all the extra stuff that goes along with being a mom and working (i worked for a while but now a stay at home mom). it's tough. ask your husband to do it one day a week so you can relax. it's not too much to ask.

by now your 7 year old daughter herself should have some responsibilities. putting away dishes, helping with the laundry a little even if it means you seperating laundry and her loading the washer or dryer or just maybe putting them away. cleaning her own room and doing some things like vaccuuming or something.

My mom would make me fold towels and my sister fold clothes, clean our room, my sister would vaccuum and i would dust, and we always had to pick up behind ourselves. but always allowed us the time to be kids and have fun.

Answer 2

Definitely have your 7 y/o help with chores. I have a 5, 3, &1 y/o and am 9 weeks pregnant but I am a stay at home mom. I cook 2-3 meals at once. When I get home from the grocery store I always wash all of the produce so it saves time later. And when the kids want an apple they can just grab one and not have to worry about washing it off. My 5 y/o sorts the laundry into different baskets. Everyone has their own basket. After the kids are asleep, I can just hang everything in the appropriate room or put in the drawers. The kids have to have all of their toys put away before Dad gets home from work. They can still play but the big mess has to be picked up. These are just a few of the things we do. I also homeschool so they help with other things like cooking, gardening, etc. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

I'm a working mother of a 28-month old and a 3-month old so I really know what you're going through. My husband too works past the typical 9 to 5 job so that leaves me at home with the kids and not a lot of spare time. I do a majority of my laundry on Saturday morning while my eldest son is either asleep or watching cartoons and the baby is sleeping. I iron the kids clothes before I go to bed and I usually wear clothes that do not need ironing. As for the cooking, my husband will cook something that can be made into leftovers for a couple of days, so I don't have to worry about making dinner...just heat and serve. Also, the boys are in bed by 8:00 or 8:30. So, little things like that allow me to get on the computer at night for an hour or so and I get a little "me" time. Whenever I really need to get away, I'll leave the kids with my husband either after he gets off from work or on his off days. I love my children dearly but have to have some time to myself, even if it's a trip to Walmart to look around. I enjoy it!!!

I know there weren't a lot of helpful tips in here but I hope something helps you out.

Good luck with your tips!

Answer 4

I have a 4 year old, 2 year old twins, and a 7 month old. I think that I save the most time on laundry. To do this I do at least one load every day. I put it in first thing in the morning, switch to the dryer when I can, then I fold it or hang it immediately after the dryer beeps. Since each step takes only a few minutes by itself, I can fit it in while I'm doing other things, like making dinner or a bath. I also buy only wrinkle free for both my daughter's school uniforms and my husband's shirts. This way I avoid the ironing.

Answer 5

Packing lunches, etc. at night is perfect. I don't think you need to iron your son's school uniforms--throw them in the dryer for ten minutes. They won't shrink and they'll be fine. MAJOR time saver for you. Your son is also old enough to do some chores around the house. My 6 year old niece and 4 year old nephew empty the dishwasher. They stack the kid cups, the plates, etc. and they are kept in a lazy susan and a low cabinet so that they can reach them to put them away safely. The kids also put away the silverware.

One cooking time saver is to prepare double when you make a casserole--throw one in the freezer and use it in a couple of weeks. You can make and freeze lasagna, spaghetti sauce, homemade pizzas, homemade chicken nuggets, etc. You can freeze them in smaller portions if you'd like, as well. One thing that really helps is making sure the baby's on a set schedule and so is your son. You will be much calmer and so will he if he comes home from school and does the same thing--bedtime at 8 with one book or one chapter, or whatever. I'd also make sure the baby's on a regular feeding and sleeping schedule. If the baby's upset about not being held or is fussy, throw him/her in the stroller and bring it into the house so you can wheel baby from room to room--it saves your arms and you're getting exercise, too!

As far as laundry goes, I used to do it once a week, too, but it just got to be too much. I do it every two or three days so I only have to do a load here and there. Then again, I don't buy things that will need to be separated to save me time. I wash in cold water, too, so that helps prevent colors from running. If it's the first time I'm washing something, obviously I don't throw a red shirt in with a pile of white shirts, I'll wash it on its own.

One after school activity that I find necessary is "personal private time." When I get the kids home from school, they do homework. Then they go to their rooms for 20 minutes-30 minutes while I make dinner and go through the rest of backpacks. I also take this time to make lunches. That way, when the kids are in bed, I can relax (well, maybe do some laundry!).

Answer 6

Babysitter!! I've had a 12 year old girl come in recently to play with my three year old while I get the house clean or pay bills or something. A younger girl is cheaper than an older, more responsible one, and I'm hoping to train her in caring for my daughter so she'll be a great babysitter in a couple of years.

Can you afford a house cleaner a couple times a month? Can you trade carpooling with someone else once a week or more? Can the baby hang out in the gym nursery and give you a chance to work out or take a yoga class? Even if you can cut the time it takes you to manage "familial responsibilities", you said yourself that you need a break. Try really hard to find a way to work that into your schedule. Not a faster way to get things done, but an honest to goodness break from your (wonderful and fully loved) kids.

Answer 7

That sounds crazy! I though having 7-week-old triplets was bad! Luckily, my triplets are really well behaved! I couldn't believe it! I am a stay at home mom and my husband works from 5 AM to 5 PM. My triplets are usually asleep by 9:00 and then I have times for my hobbies. They usually get up around 2 and 4 in the morning. After that, they sleep until 7 or 8. My time-saving tips are have your child help with things. We did this with my sister. She helped cooked, she helped with teh dishes, and she had littel odd jobs like feeding the dog. She loved helping and getting involved, and I think it teaches them a good "work ethic." Also, take two friday or saturday nights off! Get a babysitter! Relax!

Answer 8

Wow.. you really got it together to be doing all that! I have a 7 year old, 2 year old and 2 month old and I couldn't tell you the last time I touched an iron!

I fold my clothes right out of the dryer as soon as it is done and Downy makes a great product called "wrinkle reducer" it does actually work. I use it for my daughters school clothes because even though I fold them she pulls everything out of her drawers and then shoves it back in again!

Also my two older girls do have age appropiate chores. Of course my two year old can't do much but she does help by handing me clean dishes out of the dishwasher or putting the wet clothes in the dryer. My oldest has to make her bed, clean her room, sweep, put dishes in the dish washer etc..

Keep up the good Work!

Answer 9

Well I have four children ages 5, 3, 17 months and 3 months. A strict schedule is the only thing that helps me! I am very strict when it comes to nap time with the older three and bedtime is at 8 pm sharp. That gives me at least two hours to unwind before my day ends. I only grocery shop once every two weeks so I am not spending unecassary time at the store. I do two loads of laundry a day at least. Usually one in the morning before the oldest ones are up and one or two in the evening when they are down for the night. I plan a menu for a whole two weeks so I know in advance what I am cooking.

Answer 10

LOL!!!!!

I have a 15 month old and up unitl very recently I have also been watching my now 10 month old niece full time during the week. Organization is hard but essential!

Here's the tricks I've learned:

1. Have the kids help with picking up. We play "The Pickup Game" in my house. My son is still pretty young, but he loves the game! I just clap my hands and say "Lets play the pickup game!" and start picking up toys. Every time my son puts a toy away I praise him like crazy. He even gets so into it that I've seen him start to put toys away without being asked, for which he gets praised even more for. :) Of couse, the only trick is to make sure that the bag of blocks, for example, doesn't get dumped out again after just being picked up .

2. Have a routine. I don't think we could function in our house without a routine.

3. Have everything ready to go the night before. This includes packing up food/drinks, stocking the diaper bag, etc.

4. Do laundry every day. Every morning I throw the previous day's dirty laundry in the wash and make folding it a game. My son loves investigating the piles of clean clothes and I let him "help" me put them away by letting him carry a couple items when he follows me to the appropriate closets. The downside to this is that sometimes he loses the clothes he carries. I've found my shirts in some pretty wierd places!

5. Know when to give in. Life isn't perfect and a household with kids rarely is either. Kids need to be messy sometimes, and sometimes I'm just too tired to do the dishes at night (but they get done first thing in the morning! I hate letting nasty dirty dishes sit in the sink). I spent a lot of time trying to be the perfect mom/aunt and realized that I was spending all my time cleaning up and barely any with the kids.

So I guess my big theme is to try to include my son in the everyday household chores. This isn't in preperation to make him a slave or anything, but I do want to instill the value of neatness in him. LOL, maybe someday his wife will thank me for this! :) In all seriousness, I just try to include my son in things in general and that of course includes running the household. Also, I try not to sweat the small stuff too much!

Take care!

Answer 11

She is probably having a bad day, if she is like this all of the time maybe you could try helping her out some around the house you know do a load of cloths and fold them,sweep the floor,vacume or dust just take 10 min out of the day to do something helpful she will be thankful i know im a mom and a wife my kids are young so that dont bother me that they dont help out cause they cant but my hubby is lazy i'd love it if he would just go do the dishes and sweep the floor and do a good job at it you know not half a*s! good luck with your mom