K.P.
J., don't underestimate yourself. Just a little bit of personal advice before I get to the daily stuff. The first thing you need is confidence that you can handle it. Don't whine to your husband about how scared you are. Just show him that you are woman enough to handle it, and he will be very proud that you are his wife and the mother of his child. Ok, so far, I have been doing this for 6 years, and I found that for me it is all about knowing that I will do my best to get the laundry done, the kitchen clean, toys picked up, beds made, toilets cleaned, etc, but I know that whatever I don't get done because I have bigger priorities (playing with my kids) will be there for me to do tomorrow. I always start in the kitchen. Get it cleaned up after breakfast and my oldest one is out the door to school. Then I start a load of laundry. Then make my bed, and go on to the kids room. My little one at home helps with her bed and I usually make my son's bed during the week, and both kids do their own beds on the weekends. Then it's just a matter of looking around at what needs picked up and put away. Toilets can be done anytime during the day. I am not one to keep a strict schedule of my "chores." Some people need that and you will get responses like that that may be more helpful. Plan dinner when you have a minute to think. Make sure you take out frozen meats early enough, and you should have no problem. You can also do the crock pot thing, and there is not much stress involved in that. Later in the day, you can put your baby on the floor to play, listen to the radio and fold the load of laundry that you started in the morning. That's usually when I get my Dr. Laura time in. The main thing I like to tell people that are stressing about getting everything done is this...It is impossible for you to be Wonder Woman. You can't possibly do EVERYTHING and still give your little one the attention he needs all day. It is far more important that there is LOVE in the house than the house being spotless. When your husband gets home from work and sees you playing in the floor giggling with his baby, he isn't going to care about the dish in the sink. Just do what you can, and don't be hard on yourself for not getting it all done in one day.