Ideas to survive a very busy month

[absolutelyknackeredcow]

March is going to be hideous. Both me and my DH are going to be working very long hours (longer than normal) for completely unavoidable work reasons, lots of travel, my MIL is also having major surgery so we will need to be around more for her and FIL ( this has also removed our back up childcare ), we have school trips that I'm also going on, world book day (have sorted outfits though), bloody random inset days...
Our children normally play up if they don't have a good chunk of family time and I'm really worried about actually surviving the month. We have already been beset by colds and illness so further bouts could be on cards.
What else can I do to get ahead and survive with mental health in tact and prepare children .. be gentle please..

Batch cook some freezer meals so you're all getting decent nutrition without spending a long time cooking.

I'd be tempted to batch prepare some good/treaty breakfasts as well like breakfast muffins or smoothies or breakfast wraps, whatever you like.

In general though a month is doable, I've lived in this kind of situation for 3 months before and it only got really bad towards the end.

Plan an amazing treat for the end of the month (or whenever things get slower). This'll give you all something to look forward to.
Can you organise moonpig to sort out any cards you need to send? Or drop the kids of at a card shop to chose cards for everyone/occasion you give them a list for? Depends on their ages, obvs.
Can you afford a cleaner/ outsource ironing?
Look for Gousto and/or hello fresh offers. They were offering 59% off recently.
Read stories to the kids over FaceTime.
Send postcards to the kids.
Park all jobs that are non essential.
Have a takeaway once a week when you're all home.
Use the park as much as possible to get plenty of fresh air and exercise into the kids
Try to keep as much routine as possible - bedtimes, after school clubs etc.

Will cost but very worth it for just one month..

Takes clothes or get collected by a laundry service each week to get washed dried and ironed definitely...all school uniforms done.

M&S do 3 meals for £7 ... pasta, rissotto, shepherds pies etc fill freezer...take away at weekends. Or shop online get delivered

Cleaner on a Fri so whole house is spotless for you at the weekend

Get kids to have school lunches every day instead of packed lunches or if not an option do lunches night before

Explain to friends...ask if once a week kids can go for tea or a sleep over one weekend

I work in adult education, my July is like this, out of the house 16 hours straight every day including the weekends! DH was a SAHD previous years so I let it all fall to him but this year I need a plan. I d definitely second having a fab weekend away or even a week at the end of it, we always go on our summer holidays as soon as July is done! Massively lower your cleaning standards as well, do the very minimum needed. Try to sort everything out on a Sunday for the following week. Don't feel guilty about takeaways and ready meals. Then deep breathe and crack on through it, it won't last forever!

Thanks for messages so far. Some good ideas.
Tough to lower cleaning standards as house is currently on market..,

Gousto is does a range of 10-min meals which are very simple but tasty and healthy and can be cooked for the week ahead to save time during week nights. They can be a bit pricey but they are doing a 60% off your first box offer and then 30% off all other boxes in your first month if you sign up in Feb (just remember to cancel once you don't need it anymore). Might be worth a try? The code is SARA18037672

This is me every Christmas because that's my busiest working period. I do the following.

Make sure grocery delivery is booked at least a couple weeks ahead and book several in a row. They can be amended as you go along. This is not the time to run out of coffee!

Only ironing for essentials and some times not even that.

If its not on the calendar now it doesn't happen.

All gifts and cards dealt with early, including up coming birthdays.

Definitely agree with having things to look forward to after the stress period is over. I try and book off a couple days in a row.

Micro treats - even something really small like nice shower gel keeps you going.

Sit and think quietly for a moment - I like to have contingency plans and backup to shit situations that are likely to occur (DC randomly sick, MOT due, what extra normally happens at this time that I'm not going to get to?)

Following as I'm facing the same.

We have a cleaner once a week who also does our ironing, a godsend.

We cook two meals a week, both on weekend days and then eat leftovers all week, so, spaghetti bolognaise on one day, then baked potato bolognaise, then pasta bolognaise etc, likewise for chili con carne or a roast that's turned into bubble and squeak. Eggs for breakfast and bagged salad for lunch. Nursery food on Friday night, eg fishfingers chips and beans other beige food. Don't feel bad about it.

No screens (parents) after 9pm to get a good night's sleep to cope with the above!