Hi
I posted a while ago advice about how I pretty much grabbed food on the way home with the kids every day because I was so overwhelmed with life and fitting things in.
background I was a newly widowed mum of 3 who works full time ( 4 days a week but full time hours)
one child being significantly Sen.
I had just fallen behind in life and I was struggling to maintain cooking / the house / work / the kids. I had recently gone from having 2 children to 3.
update - life insurance came through so I took some time of work to catch up. We had some lovely breaks away , seeing family and friends and we just had some much needed us time. I then made changes to the house. I scaled down our belongings by at least 50 percent. For example
clothes - they all needed size ups so we got rid of everything and I bought them 7 days worth of clothes and 5 days worth of uniforms. 1 coat 1 pair of school shoes, 1 pair of wellies and 1 pair of trainers. 7 T-shirts, 7 jumpers and 7 pairs of leggings / joggers. It was amazing at how many clothes they all had and how washing was such a task, I emptied the cupboard of bedding and towels etc and scaled right back. 2 x towels each so there is now 8 towels in the house and 2 x bedding sets I closed sheets each so now 8 of those to. Everything else went.
the kids went through all their toys and books and scaled right back which in turn means they actually use their stuff now. They all have one kallax unit in their bedrooms and no other toys. Books have a new rotation system. We have an art and games supplies kallax in the spare reception room.
Books are one in one out. We donate a book everytime we buy a new one.
so they are much less now to although still reading the same amount.
I bought an air fryer / slow cooker, one of those robot hoovers and a bigger washing machine ! I also bought a dishwasher.
i now work Monday - Thursday but full time hours condensed. On the Friday when the school aged two are at school I do the full house clean whilst doing the washing baskets from each child’s room.
youngest to oldest and their bedding.
I actually found putting the washing machine on game me a sort of timer to get a room done and cleaned - in my brain this really helped 🤣🤣
each day I would obviously do small re sets so that it never got to bad. Timed this for 45 minutes ( again setting a timer really really helped )
on a Friday early evening we go out for 1 dinner now and then do the weekly food shop together.
we made a food planner including lunches and we are doing fairly well at sticking to eat. Most of the dinners can be pre prepared / batch cooked. On Saturday and Sunday I now prepare dinner on the actual day. We have some time now over the weekend to enjoy each others company because I don’t have anything really to do apart from
the small resets. On Sunday evening when the kids are in bed, I cook for the next 4 nights to just heat up when we get in from work and school mon - Friday. I’m getting now at least 6 hours sleep a night.
anyway thank you all for your brutal honestly, kind words and advice. We are in such a better place now, we are all happier for it and have got used to our new normal. ❤️❤️