Does anyone have a PA for personal/home admin ?

[floooooofy]

I work FT and am seriously considering hiring someone. I cannot keep up with the amount of personal/home admin I constantly have. Add in Christmas planning too - which is fast approaching - and I cannot cope.

Would be interested to know if anyone uses a PA for their personal/home admin.

From the list you have provided it looks like a lot of it is actually research to do with your DC. In my personal experience I would not want to delegate that as I wouldn’t feel they could do it as well as me. So I would focus on outsourcing cooking/cleaning/food prep.

I also wouldn’t leave anyone to sort my finances.

Couldn’t see in your post if your partner/father of the children chips in at all but that would also be my go to.

I'm retired and I do home admin for my adult ds who works so many hours. I recently hunted around and got him a good remortgage deal taking almost 8 years off of his mortgage for him paying just £23 per month more than he previously paid and it's a 5 year fix. I sorted his home insurance and and set up a Moonpig with all family birthdays and a reminder from them so he won't forget. I found company to do his will and put all his car details in Meercats comparison to get him a good quote. I researched to find him good options for holiday with his friends which they were all pleased with a deal I found. He's even asked me to find a wedding gift and card for his best friend. In return he helps me with heavy lifting of items and general home repairs, a bit of touch up painting and cutting the lawn occasionally for me. We also feed and cat sit each others cats when one goes on holiday.

That’s really interesting. Do you find that you have issues with companies talking to you? I once tried to make a change to my sisters travel booking for her at the same time as making one to my own (same trip) and they wouldn’t do it, had to speak to her.
Also things like the kids camp forms how do you get the info you need? So medical info, emergency contacts etc- I would assume it would take your client just as long to give you the info as fill the form in themselves!

I am considering one as I got advised i had won on the lottery. I checked and I have won £5 so I am not giving up work or boking a PA. The win is actually £2.50 as all wins are shared with Dh. He is of the same opinion, he won't tell his boss he is going to give up work as it looks like we will be in work for the duration.

@cuwinsyou’d be surprised how many companies are willing to talk to the PA when they say they’re acting on behalf of a client, it’s actually a bit worrying!!

In terms of filling in forms or bookings etc that need information, again you’d be surprised how little I have to do that. I knew at the start what I’d be using the PA for and so sent her information I thought would be useful in an email. Our address, DOBs, who our doctors was, where I get my haircut, car reg etc. I’ve never had to do that again.

I'm a big fan of doing anything you can to make life easier - if you can afford it, why not? It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks

Good luck @floooooofy i hope you find something suitable

for myself, I'd love a daily housekeeper. Like an hour though I suppose cleaning a bit too. I find keeping a small flat tidy really hard and have to help care for my mum. I feel like it's such a pain to be tidy. I can't explain it but my previous flat was much better designed -as well as bigger.

this thread has made me consider a cleaner. I actually don't mind the weekly clean so much. It's the constant daily bits and pieces that bug me.

😂 can you buy a Krispy Kreme each with that? my parents bought doughnuts with a similar win but that was a while ago!

Okay, so you're getting a hard time @floooooofy , but you're teaching one of your children who I think is home educated?, trying to run your home, you work, you've got another child too. It's not completely clear from your post but it's a lot!
There is no mention of a partner so I'm guessing you're doing this on your own.
We work full-time (kids grown up so we're out of the sandwich years) and it's jolly hard to juggle everything and do volunteering stuff, plus look after elderly family members, so I get what it's like to be you. There are times when I could cheerfully close the door and run away from it all!
Here's what we did/do:
Outsource cleaning and washing/ironing as much as you can. We had a housekeeper for a couple of years who came for two whole days and changed beds, took in parcels, walked the dog etc.
Food shop needs to be a set recurring list that gets delivered at the same time each week.
Get a reliable sitter or carer who can spend time with your older child or both of them once a week or fortnight. To go to a club or activity or something.
Then while you've got a bit of quiet, blitz your admin. Whatever you can book online or pay online, do it.
Honestly though, if you can afford it, get a virtual assistant to do your admin for a while. Or a housekeeper who can run your house for you. You sound to be pulled in all sorts of directions and that's hard.

I would love to have one. We have two DS with learning disabilities and employ 3 carers for school holiday support. I am a teacher (pT 3 dats a week) and my DH has his own business. There is so much extra admin for EHCPs, extra medical appts, blue badges, DLA etc. So I can see why you’d need one OP!!

I lived abroad and the fu time housewife mum had a pa for herself and organizing all the kids activities and each child had a nanny/domestic helper, plus cleaning staff.

If you're struggling behind why not!!!

I guess a big job is working out what needs to be done and when -once you have this, surely that's 90% of the time and mental effort? From my perspective anyway.

I don't know why pp are saying there isn't a lot to do, the tasks are endless, so much life admin, I didn't get a filling for two months as I could t remember to book the appointment at the same time as when I was child free with access to my work calendar and a credit card to pay the deposit. That times every single job for me and my child, keeping on top of our clothing and cleaning and holiday booking and planning my friends hen do and trying to make myself look well groomed enough as a bridesmaid. My plate is so full. If someone could just do stuff for me like find someone to hand up my pictures for me and work out when I'll be home to let them in and where they should go that would be amazing

Try putting what you need into chat gtp first though to see if they can make you a workable plan

Exactly this. I would LOVE to a wife

Do you get any disability benefit (or haven't done the admin yet?!) I would spend this, or some of your childcare funding, on a Sen nanny that can do some of this for you eg hair cuts and taking to Physio and do the exercises with him etc

Ps do you have a partner and can he do any of this, or one child each?

How is Christmas fast approaching!? 🙄

Some people on this thread are really not getting it. If you have a busy job, long hours, a busy household and you also live an active life, travel, go to events and organise it for yourself and your family it's TOUGH. I say this as a very organised person! Add any difficulties to it, e.g.: somebody's neurodivergent, an illness or another complication and you're stuffed - it's exhausting then. Far better to delegate than to become burnt out. If you're not living a comparably busy life you really can't criticise the OP or anyone else who does.

It obviously is - if you want to go away around that time, buy specific gifts, book kennels for pets, even book certain kids events, this is starting now.

Haven’t hired anyone, but did this as my job for a while freelance for several different peoples

We share a PA with our adult daughter. We all run businesses, and have the usual busy family lives. The PA screens all emails, deals with low level stuff according to criteria we have drawn up, runs diaries, schedules calls and meetings, books holidays and business travel, drafts documents, and loads more I can’t immediately think of (on phone in the train). She is worth every penny of her salary to us as a family.

Lol. Mumsnet. It's another world isn't it.

I agree - outsource other stuff to make more time for DC stuff. More enjoyable to be part of that anyway.

I really don't know how someone else can do most of that though.
How can they book appointments when they don't know who's available when? How can they book holidays/flights etc without knowing exactly what your preferences are for the myriad of choices that come up as you're booking?
How can they pack for any of you when they don't know what you want to wear?
How do they get access to documentation, passwords etc?

Surely most things are going to take far longer to explain to someone, than to do it yourself. And holiday research is what takes the time, not the actual booking.

They are an employee, who in time knows all those things.
Code for the safe for documents
Diary management so they know where everyone is
Preferred seats on flights
They will have booked the holiday or business friosp know the required wardrobe
Bank details for payments
Etc
You explain once, detailed instructions, they clarify the odd detail, job done

I’ve been reflecting a bit on some of the comments on this thread, and it strikes me that some of the scorn is because family admin is traditionally “woman’s work”. Just look at the comments that mention needing a wife, or that they do this stuff for their husband.

Much like there used to be judgement for having / needing a cleaner, I suspect that any judgement for needing admin support as a family may diminish in the next 20 years.

Women have been fed a lie that you can “do it all”. You can’t, you’ll have a breakdown. Or at least I would! I can’t manage a household, two kids, a personal life etc alongside a full time stressful job and that’s with my DH pulling his weight.