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 did this with 3 kids for 10'yrs-husband worked away from home during the week and no family around to help.....worked 9-5 so kids in child care after school
You will become very organised!... I'd get packed lunches ready night before and put wash on overnight so I could sort it out before going to work
On line shopping is your friend!
House didn't get too messy as no one was around!

Teachers at our primary school arrive 8:30am-ish. There is no-one on site before 7:45am. Breakfast club opens 8am.

I have never heard of a school or breakfast club being opened before 8am, very surprised to hear that.

At our village school the teachers start arriving from about 7am. The cleaners let them in if they aren't senior enough to have their own keys.

I only have 1 dd but am on my own. I get up half an hour earlier than dd, get me ready, get her ready and then quick breakfast for both of us before I drop her off and get to work.

I get myself organised at the weekends and buy/prepare food at weekends, and quick tidy ups every evening.

The most important thing is to keep on top of your own sanity/stress levels. You can’t burn out if everything is sitting on your shoulders and so work out what short cuts will work.

The tricky thing is finding time to exercise in amidst the chaos of the week but that is what weekends are for.

My dh works away during the wk. I did work ft but dropped to pt after dc 3. It's just about being organised, pretty much what everyone else has written.

My kids were always in bed early so 7.30pm as were early risers. My working ft routine was:

So tea is something it slow cooker, baked potatoe - pre-cooked in oven so we sat down straight away ate. Then dishes in dishwasher - everyone does their own and table wipe. Then older dc (9) started hw while i'm sticking younger one in pjs and brushing teeth and pop younger one into bed. Rarely bath during the wk. Then help finish hw and older one gets ready for bed.

Then I layout uniforms, bags and shoes. Make lunches, prep tea for next night. Breakfast was at breakfast club/daycare so they just had banana when they got up, teeth brushed, clothes on and go.

Honestly I hated it and was incredibly lucky to financially be able to drop to pt so I don't feel i'm on hamster wheel so much but I have friends who thrive in ft work.

Definitely click and collect shop whilst having lunch at work. My dh also piles in with cleaning and washington on a weekend - we blitz the house on a saturday morning

What I said was hardly weird greenleaf I come from a family of many teachers and have teacher friends too; none of them go in that early —so there—