Running a busy house

[HelpOrganising]

I’m about to increase my hours at work and want some tips to make our home run more smoothly.

4yr old is starting school in a couple of weeks, 3yr old at nursery 3 school hours days/term time only.

I will be working 3.5days with 1hr commute - 1/2 train 1/2 car, husband mix of school hours and earlies 5 days through week and weekend.
He’ll be doing the majority of drop offs and pickups. He also does most evening meals.
I make packed lunches and cook the fun stuff/weekends.

Bills are all on DD, we have a rough meal plan.
What else can we add to make life easier? Supermarket deliveries? Proper mealplanning? Anything else to make boring life stuff automatic and easy?

Hire a cleaner to do the weekly big clean, do a wash load a day - I generally do a wash overnight so I can hang it in the morning - if you don't have a tumble drier also worth investing otherwise I would never get through it all when tome constrained. Have a monthly meal plan, you can then do scheduled food shops for the basic ingredients then just add throughout the week. Organised shared calendar with DH so you know who needs to be where when.

Check email regularly for letters from school and deal with them straight away
Check school bags every night for any notes, invites etc and deal with straightaway
Pack school bag the night before, and check which days require PE kit etc

Have a specific place, in the hallway if possible, for DC to leave their stuff when they come in from school and train them up to leave everything there before they come any further into the house. That way you always know where everything is and you're not running round in the morning looking for a shoe/a glove/book bag etc.

We have hook for coat, shoes under hook and then they each have a box where they put everything else (sun hat, water bottle, gloves, hat, scarf, bookbag, PE kit, lunchbox etc. etc.). Obviously we do take them out to read the books/clean the lunchbox etc. but when not in use they're in the box so always easy to find.

Do not underestimate the amount of admin for school and associated tasks e.g. bring in cardboard boxes for this project, world book day and other events, etc. Agree who is dealing with it that day/week with your DH so it doesn’t get missed or duplicated!

The single best thing you can do is go to bed early. It sounds really boring but it makes everything else bearable and easier to do.

The other thing is turn your 'chores' into quality time, instead of trying to rush through the chores to then have quality time.

So rebadging some batch cooking as something fun to do with the kids, they get your time, your attention and the job gets done.

Basically, the more you try to rush to cram extra things in the worse it feels (IMO), doing things more mindfully and together can really help.

Load washing machine the night before. Switch on before breakfast etc.. Ready to hang out before you leave..
Get home all dry!!

Have your Dcs school / nursery bags packed and ready by the door / in the car the night before, uniform / clothes ready, shoes located and by the door. Have a whiteboard or chalkboard somewhere with magnetic pegs for slips / leaflets / reminders - stuff like dress up days at school are an utter pain in the arse, especially if school is not good at giving notice so go through their published calendar with a fine tooth comb, look for world book day, children in need etc. I always had a couple of cheap plain t shirts that I could doctor with felt pens and scissors at the last minute.

Have a few things in like frozen croissants . pain au chocolate or brioche that can be eaten in the car on days it all goes wrong, have mini cheddars, malt loaf etc on hand for similar end of day issues.

Make sure your own work clothes are ready, car has fuel etc.

Im a SP so don't have to coordinate with anyone but make sure you and your DH are communicating and know what is going on and who is doing what. Split INSET days and sick days between you where possible - one shouldn't be the default.

I’d definitely do proper meal planning. Supermarket deliveries can make life easier though I personally prefer shopping myself.

Buy extras of things like uniform, socks, underwear etc that dc will need so you’re not under pressure to get laundry done.

Get the dc into good habits such as putting coats, bags, shoes in their designated spot, putting their dirty clothes in the laundry hamper before bed, lunch boxes/water bottles straight into the kitchen when they get home. Even very young dc can manage this with encouragement and it helps avoid those wails of where’s my… on busy mornings.

Always have change...kids like to tell you at 8.30am they need a pound to take to school.

Take photos of all school correspondence and deal with immediately

Calendar on the fridge. I have similar age kids, work 4 days, EVERYTHING goes on calendar and I check it B4 bed to make sure I'm prepared for the next day. Today e.g. I'm working, car had NCT, daughter has first school visit, son has GP . Wothput a calendar I'd be screwed.

Use your time on the train to deal with admin. Reply to e-mails, fill in consent forms, order things online, write birthday cards, Xmas cards etc.