If you’ve got primary aged kids and work everyday how do you do it???

[OhDear2200]

I’ve just increased my work from 2 days a week to working everyday (only 2 full days rest just school hours).

I’m dying here! Housework, hobbies, homework, walking dog, attempting to keep fit.

Please give me your tips!

Will I just get used to it? Or do I just accept the house will be a shit tip? Or I don’t get any sleep?

Please don’t suggest buying in cleaner as the whole point of me working more is to bring more income in!

Wash all your washing at home and take it to the laundrette to dry. 45 min £3.50 will dry 4 loads in their big drier. I fold and sort it into separate bags one for each person as it comes out of the machine. It usually doesn't need ironing. Meal planning and slow cooker help. We have a mad 5 min tidy where each of us has a bag to put all their things in that are scattered about and get them in the bag then we do a 5 min put away. First to finish wins - usually chocolate incentive. Have cleaning wipes in each bathroom /toilet and give a quick wipe over as often as you use it stops it getting dirty.

I moved from the private sector to a not-for-profit and I now work school hours only. I took a pay cut but we don't have to pay for any childcare (We have no family nearby to help out) and I like doing school pick up. Charities, civil service, local govt etc have to offer flexible/part time/job share hours to attract good staff, as they can't compete on salary.

The laundrette idea to dry your clothes is genius. If you leave the kids at home you get a quiet hour to yourself too!

Single mum to 2 DC and work full time.

Agree with having to let standards drop. Also the having enough uniform just to do one big wash a week on a Friday. I try to do some batch cooking ( although my eldest doesn’t like sauces so more tricky!). Oddly letting standards drop on food is the bit I’ve found hardest.

I am totally knackered though and it frequently feels unsustainable. I’m trying to see it as being particular bad for the next few years and then maybe it will get better!

I no longer work full time but when I did I cycled to work and for the school run so as to get a bit of exercise in a time efficient way. I also found running very time efficient.

When I went to the gym I got up early and went before work.

Foodwise I used twice weekly online delivery and also did batch cooking and meal planning.

Something has to give though and I hardly ever saw friends and extended family which ultimately made me miserable. For us two full time WOH parents wasn't sustainable for more than a few years.

There are lots of really helpful ideas on here. I've been working 2 long days and 2 school days for 2 years now. It was really hard at first, but it does get easier as you find a routine that works for you.

We recently cut down on the kids hobbies and this made a huge difference to all of us. And I cook healthy but simple meals during the week. Try to cook up a couple of casseroles at the weekend to heat through later in the week. But if it's brand on toast and jacket potatoes for a few nights, that'll do.

And as my mum says 'all fed, now in bed, no one dead' = winning at WOHParenting

@ilovecrumpets my DD went through a sauce aversion, we would buy the big trays of chicken breasts from the butcher, batch into meal s so 3 chicken breasts in a freezer bag with honey and mustard, 3 in another bag with pesto, 3 with lime juice and coriander etc then stick in the freezer.

In the morning out of the freezer and into the fridge then just whack in the oven for.half an hour when you get home from work .

Serve with microwave rice, salad and wraps, steam pack of frozen veg or stir fry noodles and veg.

@Lwmommy that’s a great idea thank you!

It’s amazing how many batch book meals are sauce based. But he loves marinated stuff with rice or veggies

I do the laundrette trick. Bloody marvellous!

I have two primary ages kids in two different schools and I'm widowed and work full time. I just do the essentials, never iron, have a cleaner and just don't sweat the small stuff.

It's actually not that hard once you get some perspective that a forgotten pound for the bloody PTA or chips for dinner occasionally really doesn't matter. Kids are really busy in the week so a TV morning on Saturdays while I do chores.

OP no offence but your load isn't that high, your husband can step up and you need to lower your standards. Life is short and to be enjoyed.

We have a cleaner (sorry!) though she only comes once a fortnight, but it makes a huge difference to the up keep level required in between
We do HelloFresh for 3 meals a week
I exercise while doing other things (cross trainer in the garage, only time i get to watch netflix is on there)
Short commute for me
DH works from home

You can't work full time and have a perfect house without a cleaner.

We eat too many convinance foods. I took up running as I can combine it with the dog walk. And. On posts like how often do you change your sheets people would be shocked;)

You can't have it all. It's a myth.

Full time working single parent of 2 (dad no contact).

You just get on with it, quite simply because you have to.

Cleaner. I can't afford every week, but it's the best money I spend to keep on top.

I do it by working a shorter day so that I get home with DS at about 3.30. Then I am really proactive doing stuff in the house for a couple of hours. I used to prefer it when I worked 4 days, less running around, but I've got used to it.

Yeah dude I'm the same. Dunno what to tell you, tbh

I should mention that my house is a mess.

You can't do everything. I batch cook, so we eat very well. Cleaning takes a back seat.

full time lone parent here. Cleaner (twice a week for me) is my best spent money by far. I went without for a few months, but I was continually cleaning. Now I don't do much. I really couldn't do without him.

Exercise in the morning before the kids get up, or in the evening (I have older children who can babysit). I always get up very early and get loads done. Including some work emails so that I 'm not running behind when I get in. Sometimes I cook dinner in the morning ready for the evening, otherwise I just do it when I get in.

Menu plan, shop online. My children don't wear uniform which helps and they always look slightly random as they dress themselves. I don't do many after school activities.

I do the same hours as you. Don't have any animals. My kids do a lot of hobbies. DH has taken charge of meal planning. It all gets done. The mornings are manic. My kids are 7 and 11 so 11 year old can do a lot for themselves. Housework only really gets done at weekends. Fitness is not something I have much time for. Does your husband work long hours?

Get a couple of jobs that aren't your problem. DH irons. I don't even think about ironing. I do washing as I'm home more (he's away sometimes, and has a longer commute anyway) but I put the ironing in an IKEA bag at the bottom of his wardrobe and forget about it. He hoovers, mopping the kitchen floor is my job. Most of our division of labour has historic roots from when I was home more.
I do sandwich tea one night a week (when I have to get the kids home from the minders and out to an activity in 30 mins!) Another night is either soup or eggs. Mine eat veg sticks with a sandwich or eggs, so nutritionally sound.
Breakfast club so you can go to the gym before work one day? Or take up you tube videos for exercise!
Get the kids to read out loud / do homework while you are in the kitchen so you can be on hand to help (or listen to reading) without being too involved. That only works once they hit a certain level in reading, not it they are still learning to blend.

I work FT. I’m a single parent. Work is flexible so I can work from home occasionally. No dog. Low standards. No hobbies. No time for hobbies.

My problem is I have loads of friends who don’t work and have perfect houses!
Yeah, but if you work FT you’ll have no time to go to their houses so that’s a bonus!

I got a cleaner when DD started school and we stopped paying 1200 a month on childcare.

I'm still knackered though.

Lower your standards right down. Then a bit more. Tad more, that's it, right down there

During the week, I'm on survival mode.

Only wash what it needed during the week (school/work uniform, PE kit etc). I sort all bedding and general laundry on the weekend.
Packed lunches the night before.
Breakfast table laid out the night before.
Shoes, bags etc all ready by the door.
Meal plan for the whole week.
I start tidying the house on Thursday nights. Finish off on Friday night. Everyone must help! Quick sort out and things out in their places. Shoes, coats, bags. Hoover. By Friday evening, house is acceptability tidy ish
Wine and take away on Friday night!
More wine on Saturday.
No pets and no excersise here. Just don't have time or energy for either.

Major survival mode, but I do sometimes worry if I stopped, I'd have a mental breakdown. Kinda "just keep going" type thing

If you’ve got all day at home you’d find yourself demented Marie kondo’g yourself crazy, worrying yourself about problems that haven’t happened yet or spending too much time creating an obsessive cleaning regime - or at least I would!

Friday night take away and wine is a good idea, as is everyone helping. It’s food for kids to have their parents forget bits of kit sometimes - my dd knows I’m not totally reliable on that or remembering school exception events

Lights down in winter, outside in summer, clean clothes basket per person and no ironing - can't see dust, clean clothes available to each person just food the fit in.
Single full time working parent for 14 years

I work 4 days, DH full time. 2 DC, 7 and 3. We have a cleaner, food shopping is done online. No dogs, 2 cats. DH does all the cooking, we share doing laundry. Stopped doing ironing a while ago, minimal tidying - it works. Exercise is our only hobby, DH goes to the gym early in the morning, I go in the evening. DC do swimming early on Saturdays, but all other sports/activities of DS (year 3) are after-school clubs, so he goes straight from school and then on to after-school club, so no chauffeuring around. DD is in nursery, no activities (although I might start something with her on my non-work day).
It works pretty well at the moment, but I'm dreading the time when DS and DD are older and want to do stuff, sigh...