Getting it together

hello123

Tue, Jan 20 2015, 11:42 pm

Ok ladies. I need advice. Im a working mom. I work out of the house 5 days a week. I feel like I need help organizing my life. I feel like my shopping/dinner planning needs help ASAP. I need help managing my time. I feel like when my kids go to sleep I want to so many things like clean up and organize things for the next day but I'm so tired and I just don't have the energy so I end just sitting on the couch. Not every night obviously. But I feel like I need help prioritizing what needs to be done and what can really wait. Please tell me what should be my top priorities while having young children and working outside the house during the week.
Any tips about general functioning when being a working mom would be helpful. Thank you in advance

rachel6543

Wed, Jan 21 2015, 12:39 am

I work fulltime, 5 days a week, out of the house. What works for me:

Extra freezer!!! Whenever I bake, make extras and freeze.

Easy fast dinners during the week. Love breakfast for dinner!!! Find what works for you if its crock pot, rice cooker... Etc.

I often make the same food for Shabbos lunch and dinner. Less to bake and cook.

Make lunch once a month!! I make a bunch of sandwichs for my husband and son at one time and freeze. (Nut butter both sides of bread, jelly in middle). I also bake healthy mini muffins and freeze for work/school lunchs.

When I shop, I buy a lot at one time and stock up, so less visits to the store.

Amazon prime! I order online whenever possible (and of course must make financial sense).

When needed use a fluff and fold service to do laundry. Can get $$, but worth it when don't have the time.

Have hired help to clean house. I have a cleaning lady 2 hrs/wk - floors, kitchen, bathroom, dusting. Helps so much!! Wish I could have more help, but not in the budget.

Use dishwasher, if have one, as much as possible. Use disposable dishes when needed.

Have spouse help out too with kids, homework, shopping, cooking...etc too. My husband helps with shopping, giving son bath, homework, laundry.... Etc.

Pick out and lay out clothes the night before for you and kids.

Use sundays for shopping, cooking, menu planning, laundry, Etc.

When I make dinner I often purposely make extras so can take for lunch to work the next day.

Get house organized. Once you have a place for everything, it's so much easier. if you don't use it, just get rid of it. Also, get rid of clutter ASAP!! Toss junk mail right away. Throw away broken toys. Donate old clothes. I feel bad, but most of my sons artwork and school papers get recycled. I have no room to store stuff. A few pics get saved and put on the wall, but most go straight into the recycling. I find I have to stay on top of that all the time. Helps with my sanity. To get organized, just start with one small area each day or week. In a few weeks you can sort through a lot like that.

rachel6543

Wed, Jan 21 2015, 12:51 am

Oh another idea, keep a drawer of heathy snacks and food at work. For days when you don't have time or energy to make lunch, it's helpful to have. I keep protien bars & shakes, instant oatmeal, nuts, canned and dried fruit in my desk drawer. Really helps for those hectic days.

Also, it's okay to ask for help. Don't abuse, but when needed it's okay to ask friends or family members if they can help with errAnds, kids....

Other things I do to save time... I dont give my kid a bath daily. Usually evey other day, unless he's really dirty.

As kids get older, give them chores and have them help out too. My son is 6 yrs old and has age appporiate chores.

lfab

Wed, Jan 21 2015, 1:12 pm

I work outside my home 5 days a week and have 4 young kids at home. Here's what helps me.

Shopping
- Simplify shopping. I used to shop at several different grocery stores based on sales, which was cheaper for meat, veggies, etc. Now I shop at one grocery store and only go once a week. I spend a little more money on groceries but the time it saves me it worth it. (if you're willing and the stores in your area deliver you can even order over the phone/online and save yourself a trip to the store)
-Keep a small stockpile of all the basics so you can cut out midweek runs for items you need that you ran out of. Purchase items before you need them. As soon as I open the last bottle of ketchup or the last package of toilet paper... it goes on the shopping list.
-I try as much as possible to shop online. It's a lot quicker (and easier) to order clothes for myself and my kids online then to take them all to the store to browse and shop. This way I try on at home and can just make a much quicker run to the store to do returns.
Mealprep
-I keep weeknight meals simple (no 3 course meals) and prepare as much of dinner as possible the night before.
-When chicken goes on sale I purchase a lot. Then I clean and freeze it in ziplock bags in quantities enough for 1 meal. When I don't have the energy to make dinner I just take some out and stick it in the crockpot and it only takes 5 minutes to prepare dinner.
-Make doubles, triples, or even quadruples of meals and freeze. This doesn't work for every dish but is perfect for meatballs, sloppy joes, lasagne-I freeze uncooked. Then the next week you can just take out and defrost.
-I always make enough extras for shabbos to have for dinner 1 night- 1 less meal you need to cook during the week.
-I send home lunch to school for my kids so I try to make enough extra for dinner so I can send it the next day for lunch. I also prepare their lunch at the same time I serve dinner so it's one less thing to do later in the evening. When I serve them I just pull out an extra container and place the food in right then. I cut up a fruit for them after dinner and just cut an extra right then and stick it in their lunch bag.
Cleaning/laundry/organizing
Wish I had more tips in this area but organizing is not my forte. My biggest piece of advice in this area is to learn to be happy with less. For some people this is harder than others and it took me a while to make peace with this. My home does not currently reflect my ideal standards of cleanliness and neatness but I've learned to be ok with that. Obviously if cleaning help is in your budget then get as much as you can. If I had any extra money this is what I would spend it on! Also I try to leave the house mostly clean each night so things don't build up. I find that if we take 15 minutes each night to put things away it's manageable.
My only other advice is to try to have a schedule that you follow every week so you know what you're doing each day ahead of time. For example: Sunday - laundry/errands
Monday - fold/put away clean clothes
Tuesday - free night/deal with unexpected things that arise
Wednesday - grocery shopping
Thursday- cook for shabbos
Saturday Night - go through papers that have piled up/pay bills
This is what works for me but feel free to tweak to meet your needs.
Good luck!