To think there is never time to relax on weekdays ?

I often feel the same in the week, just no time to relax when you factor in dance runs, dog walks etc.
I have a dog too and hoover most days, I totally get that! Other than that I have a quick wipe round surfaces with a damp dishcloth when I'm washing up, following round with a tea towel. I never polish.
We have a heated clothes airer, I unload one lot and fold it as soon as the next load is ready, most can be folded. Very little needs ironing but if it does its done straight away so it just never backs up.
I usually do a big bolognese or curry at the weekend and prepare the week's veg & store it (so carrots peeled and chopped etc) for easy dinners.
I don't have a housework day, I literally just seem to clean as I go, cleaning the shower when I'm in it etc.
I work school hours too but am usually done, washed up, next day prepped and relaxing by 8pm. I just do little bits very often so I don't spend the precious weekends having to catch up on housework.

Get a cleaner who also irons, get a robot hoover to pick up the dog’s hair. Replace your washing machine with a washer/dryer. Don’t leave the house in the morning before tidying up breakfast bits. Batch-make lunches and dinners or make them the night before.

Forgot about that bit!

I was bit dubious about the rice aspect and use quinoa instead!

Yanbu op. I'm a lone parent and feel like I'm on the go from the minute I wake up. I occasionally sit down and watch TV at night but I'm exhausted.

It makes sense to keep on top of house work. Dog walks, gym and eating well are all good self care.

I don't iron everything but like you, don't want to go out in creased clothes and iron as needed.

I'm peri menopausal and DD has additional needs. Then there's all the home admin, gardening, clubs, shopping. We are in a routine and because of that the house is manageable. I had to go to a work meeting last week in the evening and an extra early start the following day; by the time I was home the house already felt it had begun the descent into chaos.

I got up at 6 and have a morning routine which includes wellness coaching, cold showers and a whole array of supplements.

It's hard but the consequences is I'm in great health, DD thriving at school, the house feels like a nice place to be and we have a happy home.

It's relentless but it's worth it, the laundry never piles up and food shop is cheap because I cook everything from fresh.

I don't do packed lunches though. School dinners here......and I get DD to help with a couple of jobs.

If I get one or two nights where I watch an episode of something or a documentary I'm winning.

That looks good but I always understood there to be dire warnings against keeping cooked rice? I suppose it could be done with another grain instead.

Everyone priorities different things and tbh, like most PPs I think you’re making an awful lot of work for yourself.

I work in a support role in a school so am out 8.45-5.15 Mon to Friday, DD at uni but elderly mum who needs visiting a couple of times a week, checking in by phone daily and occasional errands run. I also do a second job at my school so have one 8.45am - 10pm day a week and a couple of weekend shifts per month.

I do the bare minimum in the week tbh, and fit it all in around doing nicer things at the weekend.

I just live with the fluffy cat repercussions, washing goes straight on hangers and dries on the curtain rails so no need to iron (unless I’m starching fabric for quilting 😁), food shopping is delivered.

I also make this for my lunches on a Sunday and it does the whole week, I just add some protein each day (this week DD is home so I’ll roast a whole chicken and put half in the freezer for the latter half of the week).

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGe5D4bD4/

I get home and have to then vacuum , tidy breakfast bits , do a general daily clean , make lunches for the next day , iron for the next day ( children have drawers instead of wardrobes so I can’t do it all in one go on the weekend ) , do dinner , baths , showers , then it’s bedtime !

You could choose to do less. That is what other people do IMO - they prioritise relaxation. No one has to hoover, clean or iron every day.

Im aware I’ve knocked back every suggestion - but believe me I have thought of all . I wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t necessary for my life ( eg I know I don’t have to clean that much and could do it at weekends but I don’t want to . I like having a clean and tidy house ) . I wasn’t asking for advice on how to change things I was just having a rant and wondering if other people’s evenings were the same x

No, my evenings are not the same, they are very relaxing! But we each choose how we want to livet, and you want to iron more than you want to relax, which is a perfectly legitimate choice.

I’m exactly the same I work in a school home about 3.45. My eldest gets home about 3.15 and the other 2 about 3.30 my eldest does the morning dishes when they get in then my middle does the hoovering including the couch and dining room chairs when they get in. We have 2 dogs I couldn’t imagine not hoovering everyday. When I get in I start making tea. Then once we have ate me or DH do dishes wipe around tidy things away and hoover again. My 2 youngest only have drawers too so I iron every night/morning when I get up. Mornings are manic getting ready packed lunches and making sure everyone has got everything they need for the day this results in the house looking like a bomb has gone off. Depending on what day it is we have to squeeze in after school activities with the children, shopping or dog walking . The children are old enough to bath themselves but while the youngest is in I potter round upstairs put away washing etc. The weekend like this weekend has been a full house clean from top to bottom catching up on laundry, changing beds, cleaning the fridge etc. that took yesterday up, today we have one of DC matches that will take us to about 1pm this afternoon and then try and squeeze in an afternoon out with the other 2 somewhere ready for it all to start again tomorrow. I rarely sit down before 8pm of a night sometimes later. It’s frustrating but I feel like if I don’t do it today it will only be double tomorrow and then it becomes overwhelming. I’ve just accepted it as my life now and tell myself it won’t always be this way when the kids aren’t here and there isn’t as many people to clean round after. Will it be a bit less overwhelming if you do a to do list and give yourself a set amount of time for each task ? Hope your ok op ☺️

OP, I used to be the exact same as you. Life was so busy and full and felt like a massive slog. Like you I sat and thought of lots of solutions - my kids do a lot of clubs outside of school so I thought of reducing that, we buy meat from the butcher so I thought of changing that to the supermarket so all the shopping was in one place, we have a retriever so I hoover a couple of times a day so I thought of reducing that and living with the hair a bit. Eventually I realised my life was the way it was because of my own choices. If I didn't want to change those things then my life wouldn't change. So in the end I accepted that for now, this is how it is. It won't always be so hectic, but right now it is and that's because I want my house to be clean, my clothes to be ironed, my children to pursue their hobbies and to make ethical choices about how I eat. I could change it but on balance, I don't want to. Maybe it's the same for you?

I know that people love them but dogs seem to create a huge amount of work…

I don’t know how old your dog is, but if you want to simplify your life, seriously consider not getting a new dog once your current one is no longer around.

Apart from that:

Consider sending some of your items to a dry cleaner. They will probably do a 5 shirts washed and ironed for £12 kind of service.

Get a stick vacuum cleaner - your children might be happy to use it?

Consider making and freezing sandwiches - there are Mumsnet threads with good ideas about how to save time on packed lunches.

Some kind of clothing rail seems essential! You can buy them cheaply from Argos and they are fine.

Can you hang clothes in the bathroom while everyone showers? The steam will make the creases drop out. Slightly damp after but nothing that won’t dry overnight ready for the morning.

I'm a teacher, and not supply. I stay at work until 5:30, get home at 6pm and sometimes bring work home too, though I mostly try to leave that for the weekend. Either dh or I cook, but we have time after that. We usually watch whatever series we currently have on the go.

You sound like you do way more housework than we do. We have a cleaner once a week and basically do very little ourselves. Laundry and a bit of housework happen at the weekends. We have a dog and a cat. Dog has a dogwalker on weekdays since I went back to work ft. We usually make our lunches while making dinner, or after if it's leftovers. We get up at 6:40 and leave for work at 7:30, not manic at all. But we only have one (capable and reliable) teen dc at home.

So you asked does anyone else feel like there’s no time? No…because people make concessions for things they can let go of to free up time..you don’t want to and that’s on you but why have you come to have a moan about things that can be changed but you don’t want to change? Make a change somewhere or stop moaning..very simple

also is there a reason why you are a supply teacher instead of employed teacher? Sounds like having to get up to early is part of the problem and being employed where you had the same hours daily and knew where you were going to be each day would also help - plus also not having to look for additional work in summer holidays?
edited as I also forgot to say could you dry clothes hanging up as the creases would just fall out (I also don’t have dryer)

Well, nothing changes if nothing changes.

I think you sound busy but not overly so and you have help from another half. You are also able to go the gym and walk the dog which are activities that can be used to destress from the daily grind. You aren’t working 12 hour shifts like some people have to and are able to find time for your lifestyle choices…. Being a supply teacher rather than a salaried teacher is also a career choice so must work for you

Why are you hoovering every day if no one is in the house all day? Do you need to do as much washing? Family of 4 here, I only do 4 to 5 loads a week. Ironing? I don't iron anything. School shirts go in tumble dryer and come out straight onto hangers. When you're dead, no one will remember how tidy your house was. But your kids will remember the time you spent with them.

I'm a lone parent in a high pressure job and a self-confessed busy-holic who creates work for herself, so I recognise a lot of this.

But even I think ironing and vacuuming every day is totally unnecessary. Life is too short to iron unless you have an important meeting.

I also think there must be a way around the keto thing: there must be some batch-cooking approach?

I do find when my DH is away I have little/no sit-down time in the evening if I'm busy at work. I'm at the office all day from 8am. 5pm - 7pm I'd be with my DD. After 7pm I might log on to to an hour or so's work and by the time you've eaten and done a few little chores (the next day's packed lunch for DD etc etc) it's bedtime. It can be a real grind.

BUT! when DH is around and/or work is normal, I get a couple of hours in the evening to chill. I don't vacuum, iron or clean*, though! We are all out all day so sitting room stays under control. We take it in turns to do bedtime while the other can stay at work a bit longer if needed.

DD mostly wears unironed clothes (she's 18 months, so cares not... and a lot of things have a little stretch in them anyway). Things that do need ironing are done at the weekend - admittedly not by me. Could you get a little clothes rack for the kiddos so the creasing is less of an issue? Or even a steamer?

We don't make special lunches for DH and me: just take leftovers or buy something.

I do think you are a little unreasonable to think there is no opportunity for free time when you could ease up on the housework a bit. But it's not unreasonable to feel like days are too busy to do everything you'd like AND have relaxation time.

*apart from sorting out the kitchen after cooking obviously.

If the need to hoover every day, what about investing in a robot hoover which can hoover when you are at work/ evening etc?

Hooks for the back of the kids doors. The stuff you are ironing in the week, you can do at the weekend and hang on the back of the door instead of in the draws (my mother in law is so good at hanging her laundry she barely irons...I am still learning this one!)

It sounds like you need to simplify your life.

In the afternoons, I don't clean. Will tidy up breakfast and lunch stuff before starting dinner, but that takes 5 minutes tops. I don't make packed lunches. I don't iron. Don't even own an iron! my kids school uniform lives in the washing basket on top of the dryer, which is where I shove it when it's dry and then fish it out for them to put on.

I also have two horses, so I manage 1.5-2 hours of farm work before dinner as well. And I have a blocked out time every morning between 7:30-8am where I sit with a coffee and do little else because that's what I need to wake up for the day.

The house is messy, but it's not uninhabitable. We give it a good clean for guests.

Fair enough we all need a little moan from time to time - but this is AIBU, the concept is that you ask if you're being unreasonable, people will tell you!

My two penneth (not that you want it!), is that the main reason people don't stick to diets and gym going is this kind of thing - it eats all your free time. Is it working ok for you? My DH is on it, it's a chew, but he's lost 3.5 stone so! Worth it for us - hope it is for you too.

Her life isn't actually that hectic from what she has described. She has just chosen to do a lot of busy work that makes it seems like her life is hectic.

I think some people like the idea of life being busy/hectic whereas others prefer to emphasise downtime. It doesn't necessarily mean that the "busy" ones actually have any more to do than the less busy ones. Work expands to fit the time that you make available for it.

Ditch the daily hoovering & the ironing. Nothing wrong with folded shirts.

I clean the kitchen & check the bathrooms every day. The rest of the house gets done early on Saturday mornings. Food shop gets done on Friday evening (very quiet then).

But then I don't have a dog or a partner, only a ds, so my house stays relatively clean.

Robot hoover

I have three dogs and I don't hoover or polish every day!

I haven't ironed anything for months and no one is going out in creased clothes. I also don't have a drier.

I meal prep at the weekends so don't have to make lunches every night (husband is keto and daughter is veggie and this still works fine).

I go to the gym four times a week and still manage to spend a good amount of weekday time slumped on the sofa like a dead bumblebee.

By all means have a moan, but you're moaning about things that are 100% self inflicted so also don't expect much sympathy!