Working Part Time | Imamother

amother

Mon, Aug 18 2008, 10:33 pm

I am considering working part time next year and would like some suggestions and input from those of you who work part time and have young children.
I may work part time while my older child is in school and my younger child would go to a babysitter.
I know that my days would have to be very organized as far as grocery shopping, dinner, laundry etc..
So how do you manage everything? What tips can you give me??

Thanks!

Ima2

Mon, Aug 18 2008, 10:56 pm

that's a god idea. I plan my weekly dinner plan every wed night and go shopping every thursday (the day I have off). It makes it easier to know in advance what you're making so you can defrost what you need or so you can plan better. I haven't done this yet, but it'd be a good idea to cook dinner the night before so you can spend more time with your kids and still have dinner ready when dh comes home. Sounds so ideal and so not what I want to do at 9pm. Sundays become your day to do errands and thursday day I cook shabbos and on thursday night you clean what you can and get ready as much as you can for shabbos. Otherwise, that's pretty much it I think

Cdlf

Tue, Aug 19 2008, 12:16 pm

I work about 25 hours a week. It was either giving up my help 3x a week and cutting it down to 1, or finding a part time job. My baby was home 3 days with my babysiitter/housekeeper and went to a neighbor on the block 1 day. I loved the fact that I had somebody prepare my salads, veg., clean chicken, etc. for dinner and Shabbos, and do the laundry and ironing. I left after I put my other kids on the school bus and came home before they did. After paying my help I wasn't left with much $ but I'd much rather be doing my job than housekeeping!! This summer my daughter went to day-camp/playgroup and she'll be going to prenursery in Sept. so I'll be cutting my help to 1 1/2x a week and will be left with some more $!!

jba

Tue, Aug 19 2008, 7:09 pm

If you have the option try not to do an 8am or 9am job, I work about 10-2 four days a week. I find it so much more relaxing to have time home with the kids instead of being in a mad rush and yelling at everyone. It aslo gives me time to play with my 2 yr old, and clean up the house a bit - even prepare dinner if I am really organized.

A tip that I don't do but a friend does, is if you can leave the baby at the babysitter for an extra hour 2 times a week or so, so that you can get shopping done.

OldYoung

Tue, Aug 26 2008, 12:36 pm

I work a 40 hour week, part in an office and part at home. Some things that I've found helpful are menu planning, and getting into a good cleaning/shopping routine. (Cleaning if you don't have help.)

Sundays are my laundry day. I do about 5+ loads and in the beginning it was somewhat of a marathon, but I've gotten used to it. All laundry that gets washed gets folded the same day before I go to sleep. If I leave it for another day, it won't get done. Wink

I also clean bathrooms those days. In the mornings I plan a supper menu for that week, make a shopping list, and buy everything. If I'm super organized, I even have time to do something fun on Sundays...

Monday is my kitchen floor day.

Wednesday afternoon is my Shabbos shopping day. I make a menu, shop, and have an easy supper that night.

Thursday night I start cooking for Shabbos and do any light cleaning in living room and dining room areas. (Dusting... yeah, I do that embarrassed

, etc.)

Friday, I finish Shabbos cooking and other cleaning- vacuming, silver polishing (minimal), etc.

I think the most important thing for me is not to let a mess accumulate, because then when I have the time to tackle it, it will just be too overwhelming and I won't be able to do a complete, thorough job. I never let dishes sit overnight. If I don't do them right away, they don't get done. Kitchen floor gets swept every night and spot cleaned, if necessary, so that the big wash is easy. High chair, kitchen table and counters are quickly wiped down every night. I take 5 minutes and straighten out the living room and dining room are. Toys go into the corner, mail put away, etc.

If it's possible, I always try to double and freeze recipes. Some of my favorites are lasagna, meatballs, potato kugel, noodle kugel, knaidelach and chicken marinades.

I think that's pretty much it! Can't think of any other tips... I know all these tips may be silly coming from me, having a pretty small family at this stage, but I work very long hours... and that probably makes up for it!