To be freaking out!

[hannah1992]

I have been offered a job full time starting a week on Monday. I have two dds aged 6 (7 next month) and 1 (2 in dec). I worked full time from my 1st daughter been just over 1 until I was 8 months pregnant with dd2. So while I've had 2 children I've been a sahm. So I've been able to cook at my leisure clean at my leisure etc.

Hours will be 9 - 5:30 so my kids will be in childcare from 8-6 (older one at school but before and after school and will be dropped off and picked up from school).

My mum has said I am completely over thinking this (which I probably am) but my dh works away mon-fri. So I'm going it alone all week. How do you fit everything in? I won't be walking in the house until about 6:15-6:30. What do you do about dinner? My dd has packed much for school so I can make that the night before and dd2 will eat at nursery. I have to be very organised don't I? I'm shit at being organised! When do you clean? Do you eat with the kids or feed them quickly get them to bed and then eat?

It wasn't so bad with dd1 because she wasn't in childcare my mum came to my house to watch her until she went to nursery so I didn't have all this to think about.

I know People do this all the time and single parents do what I want to know is how? How do you be so organised? I really want to go back to work I'm just worried everything else will mess up if I do 😩

I will follow this thread with interest. I’m sorry that I do not have any experience to offer. I just had my first child and haven’t had to yet juggle motherhood and work and the domestic sphere.

Have you ever used Cook? The frozen meal shop? Since having our son, we have eaten lots of delicious meals bought from there. Idk if that could help at all. Completely different situation though.

Much love. I know you can do it all.

You can do it. I have a similar set up bit 4 days a week.

're meals. Batch cook and freeze. Currys / casseroles / stews. Then bung in microwave when you get in. I eat after I get my two to bed.

Would you consider a hiring a cleaner?

Always put a load of washing on overnight then hang up in morning.

I get up 30 mins earlier than my 2 to get myself ready which makes getting out of the house easier.

I only work part time but to stay organised with 3 kids

I have an organised. I’m diary and there’s is a Column for everyone, everything gets put in there so I don’t forget anything

We have a dedicated uniform wardrobe, anything School or activity related goes in there- uniform, beavers/cubs stuff, sports stuff, gymnastics stuff etc so it easy to find.

Slow cooker or easy meals to cook, eg if cookin g a bolagnaise cook extra and freeze it so on busy days you just need to reheat and cook some spaghetti,

Any cleaning other than things like dishes, washing and a quick hoover if you can afford a cleaner or DH does it on the weekend or has the kids so you can do it.

Thank you! I will have a look at them. I think after a couple of weeks and getting into routine I will be ok. (Hopefully). Mixture of nerves of going back into work after 2 years of being at home and anxiety of will the house fall apart, will the kids not get fed right, will I be too knackered to think straight 🤣

Congratulations on the job! I'm in the same situation. Being organised is key.

Before we leave in the morning I take food out of the freezer or put pasta in a pot covered with water - it cooks really quickly if you do that, so dinner's a 10 minute job. Packet rice is also ideal for making quick fried rice, paella etc. I also make soups/chili/bolognese at the weekend as they're quick to heat.

After dinner I do a quick tidy up while ds plays, or has a bath. Once he's asleep I do everything I need to for the morning - pack bags, lay clothes out etc. I give myself 45 minutes/an hour to get all of that done and give myself an hour to relax before bed.

In the morning I get ready while ds eats breakfast, then I get him ready and we're out by 8am.

It's exhausting, I can't lie. But if you stay on top of things then it's not too bad. You definitely get a sense of accomplishment!

Batch cook and freeze meals at the weekend. Plan easy dinners, like pasta or eggs. Try and get into the habit of doing a quick half hour tidy round after the kids go to bed. Hoover and stuff at weekend.

Cross posted. I thought about a cleaner. I just worry about trusting someone in my house alone that I don't know. Sounds awful I know but there's only 1 company of people that does it in my area and the rest are people who work by themselves and I don't know any of them personally

If you sort a menu.
Use your slow cooker, and add all the items you need into the pot, it makes mins in the morning, if you prep it the night before, then chuck it all in the next morning and you come home to a cooked meal.
It's not just stews you can make, you can cook a chicken or roast in it as well.

A slow cooker is your friend!

^^ I used MollyMaid and would trust them alone in my home. The issue with them was the cost. First visit was £230. Ridiculous. Subsequent visits were £80. My house isn’t even big. I understand your concerns about letting a stranger in your home without being there.

I meant to say before.. congratulations on your new job.

Don't panic you will be absolutely fine!

I'm a single parent, notoriously unorganised, working 8.30-5 mon-fri and studying evenings also. And am somehow surviving.
Think simple quick dinners- stir fry, fry ups, jar curries, pasta. Put dinner on as soon as you get back have a quick tidy up whilst it's cooking then eat/chat with DC, bath-time then homework in bed and to sleep.

Repeat all week then Saturday a big lie-in and telly morning

Agree with PP, it's tough but it can be done.

Contract out anything you can. Cleaner, gardener, online shopping. Lower your cleaning standards in between professional cleans.

Get older DC to keep their own room clean and tidy in exchange for treats.Can they have school dinners instead of packed lunch?

Good luck

Yellow, what do you study? Im so in awe of people who work, have kids and study. I’d love to retrain one day.

Like the idea of getting the kids to help with chores and tidying their rooms in exchange for treats.

You'll be fine! You'll get onto a routine fairly quickly and things like cleaning etc aren't as bad as you think because you're home less and so less mess!

where on earth did you find a teaching job that leaves you free until 9am? In my school most staff are in by 6.

o, sorry, just reread, not a teaching job!

I worked right up until I had DC4, after which I was a SAHM for a decade - when I started work again I was out of my mind with exhaustion, so do just expect that and go easy on yourself. It's a hell of a shock to the system - I remember posting on here "how do you find time to pluck your eyebrows?" :o. So zero plans for the weekend for the first month of so - you'll need those days just to catch your breath. But you get used to it remarkably quickly - you'll find your routines, it just becomes the new normal. And yes, the house is cleaner and tidier while you're not in it so much.

Surely teachers aren’t in school by 6am greenleaf

These replies have made me feel so much better. Ido have a slow cooker so I will make use of that. Mornings don't bother me as much as my kids are early risers and always up by 6 at the latest. It's the evenings that routine will have to change.

Right now it goes like this. Pick dd1 up at 3 get home for 3:15. Have a snack, talk about school, see what reading/homework needs to be done. Play for a bit. Start dinner at around 5. While that's cooking dd2 sits at table in high chair and "draws" while do spellings and any homework with dd1. Then around half 5 we have dinner. Around 6 they watch tv for half hour while I tidy/clean up. Half 6 bath/shower. When that's done stories with the most both then half 7 dd2 goes up to bed 8 dd1 goes to bed. So I'll have to work around dinner, bath and bed times and hope they accept it.

Dd2 is more of a concern because she's a really routine child and hates when she doesn't have a bath at the right time (don't ask me how she knows but she seems to). Going out on an evening is a nightmare. Hopefully she will get used to it quickly

Surely teachers aren’t in school by 6am greenleaf

yes of course they are, what a weird comment. not the ones who are waiting until the childminders or breakfast clubs open, but there are very few of those

Im in school by 7:45am. Most teachers come in at least 45 minutes before class in the school i teach in.

It depends with teaching. Our school isnt open at 6am!!!!
Most teachers do prep for the next day after children have gone home and some can actually come in shortly before 9am if they have organised stuff for next day.

depends on the school. the one I am currently in is open 5.30-5.30, my previous school was 7am-7pm

All eat together.
Batch cook and then defrost dinner when you get in? or do dinner prep the night before/when they are in bed but leave it in the fridge for the next day.
or consider doing school dinner so DD1 gets a "dinner" in the day, they probably give a "dinner" in nursery. clean less, just at weekend (except wiping down work surfaces etc)

Get as much as you can ready for the morning, the night before.
They will have less time to make a mess as they will be out of the house in the week, you will be fine.
On-line shopping.

Op- check if the nursery will give them tea. One less thing for you to do of an evening.