Managing Time and Parenting

You plan a daily routine schedule. You break it into am and pm time. Then you break it down into daily chores. Include in this the time for a nap(s) and lunch. After lunch you can prep for dinner, have the nap or go out for a bit.

While your older child is home, you can put a load of laundry in the wash and a load of dishes in the machine to do.

What you need is time management. I know it sounds hard but it is not. You have to make it work for you. I had many things to do and they did not get done until I made up a schedule and stuck to it. After a few weeks I was able to tweak it better. This was done back in the day when there were no disposable diapers and I did them three times a week and made bread two times a week. I made up a menu for the month (as we were paid once a month) and it included a bonus week where I could change up a few meals from the main menu. I purchased what was needed from a list and if it was not on the list it did not get bought.

My son got the school bus around 7:45 am and came home about 3;00 pm. I sometimes had to shovel snow so that I could go out and buy groceries or attend a women's function. Baby stayed in crib until 8:30 am. so shovel snow I would do. Baby gave up morning nap but would take one after lunch (we both did) and then we would continue on our merry way. Dinner was prepped and we would sometimes go out in the snow on the sled for air. When it was warmer we would all go down to the park and dad would pick us up on his way home from work. Oh the snow was like what Boston is getting now except more of it.

You might have to change baby's nap a bit to go to the gym but it could be done.

Good luck to you.

the other S.

I worked full time and had 4 children so I am the queen of time saving things. For cooking dinner? Plan out your meals and do all your cooking for the week on 1 day. That way the day of the meal you just have to do the side dishes which usually take around a half hour to prepare. Or cook triple the amount of food needed, divide into family meal portions, and freeze them. That way you just put the meal in the fridge first thing in the morning, reheat just before dinner, and serve.

For cleaning? I selected a room a day. It would take 15-20 minutes to do a room so something was done without waiting until the weekend and having to do everything.

How many hours a day are you cleaning and cooking? Is your house huge or something?
I had three kids in six years and we lived in a 3 bed 2 bath place that was about 1800 sq ft. We managed to get out and about every day, and I fit in housework and food prep throughout the day. Was it always perfect? No but my home was clean and the meals were home cooked.
I think you need to look at how you are spending all that time. If you have a baby that needs to be held a lot then get a sling so you can still get stuff done.
I also did my grocery shopping and gym time in the evenings and on the weekend, when the hubby was home to watch the kids.

Go to the gym during morning nap time and let baby sleep in the child care and prep dinner during afternoon nap time. Put a load of laundry in before you leave for the gym, put it in the dryer when you get home and fold it at nap time. Load the dishwasher and run it before you go to sleep at night. Only do one extra chore per day, but pick up as you go. Save bigger jobs for the weekend when you husband is home, either have him watch the baby, or delegate the cleaning to him. You can also hire a mothers helper to entertain the baby while you do housework, or hire a maid to come occasionally.

can you go to the gym as soon as the older child gets on the bus? that way you could work out and be home by the morning nap. shower while the baby's sleeping, feed him lunch, and then let him play near you while you either clean one room or start dinner. alternately you can meet a friend for lunch, or right after lunch, and let the housework go. you don't have to clean 7 days per week.
during afternoon nap you put your feet up, or if you've been out with other moms, start dinner then.
don't be too anal about your house. big cleaning projects can wait until your dh is home to help, and if you can, hire an occasional service.
working out is really, really smart. i'm glad you've got that in the mix.

well. if your baby is a newborn or under 9 months of age then 2 naps is okay. Once they hit 10 months they really can go down to 1 longer nap.

Most kids in child care are working on doing only one nap at 10 months and learning to be on a cot because they move up to the toddler room on their birthday and have to do one nap and it has to be on a cot instead of in a baby bed. So going to one nap can be a goal when your baby is that old.

If your child is older then you need to start working on that now so you can get out of the house.

If your baby is under 10 months then why can't you clean while they're sleeping? If you are spending 4 hours per day cleaning then something sounds off/wrong.

I don't understand how a house could get that dirty and if you have other people living there why in the heck aren't they assigned chores to help out? This is their house too and they lose respect for people who act like they are their servants instead of an individual.

You shouldn't have to spend that many hours cleaning, not in any life style. If your husband is demanding or telling you that your house should be completely clean to this extent every day then he's wrong.

If your child is older and walking, work on the nap thing, and keep their stuff in one room. Their bedroom is a good place for toys. I got tired of running after my grand kids and picking up toys so I finally made a rule. ANY toy that comes out of the bedroom has to go in time out. They learned if they brought toys into the main house they lost them for half an hour. They started stopping at their doorway and went back to their room.

This all said....

Your child can sleep in the infant child care area at the gym. If they don't sleep there then they'll fall asleep in the vehicle on the way home. If your child is older and they won't let them sleep in the baby area then they'll still fall asleep on the way home.

Go do your stuff. Don't spend all day fretting about cleaning the house and cooking. Cook smaller less complicated meals.

If you were working outside the home you'd go pick up kiddo from child care, go home and start dinner, toss a load of clothes in the washer, finish dinner, eat with family, make sure hubby or bigger kids loaded the dishwasher and wiped everything down, then toss the load of clothes in the dryer, and go spend some time with your family.

Why can't you have that too without working an outside job? It's not hard but you have to decide what your life is going to be like.

My first had a nasty habit of being up all night and sleeping all day which was killing me so a friend gave me the book Upon Being Babywise or something like that? It really helped me with my schedule all day including gym.

Basically, I kept the baby to a natural sleep, eat, wake, sleep, eat, wake pattern. This way I always knew when she would be sleeping or happy or hungry, and she learned to fall asleep without eating (except during growth spurts when she needed more feedings), so I could go out and do stuff accordingly. She would sleep, then she'd wake and I'd feed her, and then I had x amount of happy awake baby time before she needed to be able to nap in stroller or car or home.

I could tell gym daycare person "feed her when she wakes up" if she was asleep in car seat when I got there...or "she just ate so if she gets cranky she's getting tired so come get me if she doesn't settle..." And I could time my workout to last about as long as I knew she would be OK. At home I did chores while she was asleep or happy with help of playpen.

Maybe try that?

Also, I never spent much time on chores. I got the baby out every day. babies don't care about messes. :) And the necessities like bathroom and kitchen didn't take all that long. Laundry and clutter can pile up a while, no biggy. I didn't start feeling overwhelmed by housework til I had three who were too young to help. Then things got ugly. But now they're old enough to help. Phew. You have to be comfortable not having a perfect house.

I find I am more efficient in getting things done if I only have a limited time in which to do them. Also, the house doesn't get as messy if we aren't home.

We both work. We batch cook. We use a roomba and scooba to keep our floors clean. Our kid sets and clears the table. He puts his toys and clothes away. We have him wipe baseboards, dust, do windows etc when we are cleaning. He also helps with laundry. We make use of amazon for bulk shopping, oldnavy online for clothes shopping, and hit the grocery store only once a week, we online bill pay.

On weekends, we take turns taking DS out of the house. The more we are away from home, the less messy it gets.

As for the gym, I make use of my stationary bike after DS is asleep, and have those 10 minute workout videos which are great. I can work up a good sweat and raise my heart rate in 10 minutes and have a spike of energy for the rest of the day.

Best,
F. B.