Would anyone with small children describe their home routine as organised? If so what's the trick?

[Somethingwicked]

I've got some things under control with my three preschoolers, but there are certain parts of the day that are pandemonium. Not that I want a military regime, but I take great pride in my innovative domestic timesavers, and would like to collect more...

Things I do that work really well to save time and stress...

Hairbrushes in almost every room in a little flowerpot along with clips/bobbles and baby nail scissors for spontaneous pouncing.

Upstairs and downstairs toothbrush and paste sets for all three for bedtime and just before leaving the house in the morning.

Child-size coat rack at front door with shoe bags and a hook for each one's hat, coat and gloves.

All of them sleeping in one room (everyone has songs/stories at the same time with time for one individual one each), and all their wardrobes in the spare room, so that I can sort out their clothes for the next day and put away laundry after bedtime (that's the idea anyway- rarely bears fruit though..)

I'm working on them having very minimalist wardrobes where everything matches to save time.

BUT things which are carnage and I want some inspiration...

Getting 5 meals of varying consistency and heat onto the table at the same time- impossible I find, DH and I always seem to eat cold and or overcooked food.

Making meals full stop with them all pottering (howling) around me

Getting them all dressed in the morning (only one can dress self and very very slowly).

The laundry- constant full-blown disaster no matter how hard I try to stem the tidal wave.

And probably lots more things that I can't think of at the moment...

I should mention that none are actually at preschool yet, so I have no time during the day when it is just me at home. 2 of 3 nap in the afternoon but that means a full blown playdough session with remaining 1 and just enough time to clear up lunch!

Re Meals. DS helps out - he can work the microwave by himself now (2yo) and will stir things on the hob very reliably

RE Laundry. I have a separate basket for each person and so don't have to 'sort'. I do a load each evening, it goes on the line in the morning and then in/away in the evening and then repeat. I only have one DC but we do use washable nappies which makes a difference

Any help?

OMG you sound like superwoman I'm expecting dc3 in Jan and will have 3 under 3! VVV scared about how I'm going to manage to feed/dress/wash us all, and dread the state the house will be in My house is currently a complete STATE so I am in awe of you Please add any extra tips!!!

Hi there.

Well done on staying even vaguely sane with three tines.

I'm evangelical about my slow cooker. I find cooking dinner just before serving utter hell. Kids diving for hot oven trays, people watching you cook with hungry eyes hustling, getting distracted and the whole frigging mess burning..... Slow cooker means I cook when I have time, hot dinner on tap, the minute I step through the door if it,s a busy day. Mine has a keep warm facility, so I don,t even need to get up off the sofa to provide dh with a hot dinner on his return. It utterly changed my life.

Dressing - I have my own approach, which is one of calCulated risk. I dress them the moment they wake up. Generally they are too dopey to put up much of a fight. Yeah, most mornings I,ll end up changing a tshirt here and there, but I find that they don,t resist as bitterly as the pyjamas-clothes frontier.

I hang clothes in outfits, so that I can give them one binary choice. .. I try to avoid choosing each item - it takes forever.

Laundry - at least a load a day. Tumbly upstairs, so I can literally throw the clothes to the right wardrobe. Also means I can sort laundry while supervising bath time..... My own nemesis. They won,t get IN. They won,t get OUT. And They put SO much Water on the Floor that the CEILING WILL CAVE IN.... ( deep breath). And the noise.... Is unbelievable,

Do the most simple meals possible that will be eaten.

Jacket potatoes with cold toppings if necessary. (best if the potatoes themselves are hot

Pasta, stir in sauce (or stir in green pesto and philadelphia). cook peas/brocolli in with the pasta for the last 3 minutes.

Make cheese sauce in bigger quantities than you need.

If you have a dp and more "help" at the weekends then do 2 hot meals at weekends.
(quick hot meals I mean). Then in the week don't panic if on some days you don't do a "proper" hot dinner.

On good "drying days" do as much laundry as possible.

Routine, routine, routine was my saviour but would suggest drop the playdough session when 2 are napping and cook with the one that is awake. Even if he/she isn't old enough to wash a carrot or stir he can sit on the kitchen side while you work and you can chat and give him bits to hold. Then when the others wake up dinner is done and just has to be reheated later.

I found getting mine to dress themselves as soon as possible worked for me. Ok sometimes the outfits would be a bit unusual and DS2 did wear a spiderman suit every day for 6 months but there were no arguments.

• put shoes on at the same time as getting dressed, get them practising getting dressed asap

• only a couple of toys out at a time then they have to tidy the old one away

• plan meals in advance, cook double portions and freeze]#

#

• have a list of 10 minute meals on fridge for those bad days (microwave jackets, beans on toast, spag and pesto )

• give them a 'starter' while trying to cook (Bowl of chopped salad stuff) to pick at.

• start to leave the house 10 minutes earlier than you think you need to.(totally improved my world)

-if all going mental get them out the house even in the rain. 10 min run around can calm them all down.

• if they watch tv save it for the cooking time.

(ours are 14, 4, 3, and 4 months).

get a maid

Loads of good ideas. Love the sock box zapostrophe

Sylvanian- I can do casseroles in my slow cooker and also whole chicken but that is it. Do you actually use it every day and doesn't it get a bit repetitive if you do? Can you recommend a good cookbook?

2 week rolling menu also sounds really good zapostrophe- am I allowed to ask what is on it? Also, which supermarket do you use as I have been using tesco all year but would love to find one that allows you to save different shopping lists so you could just enter it and buy in seconds... am I asking for too much there?

Flyingintheclouds- I am always doing emergency evacuations, usually in the morning. I am regularly to be seen by curtain twitchers chasing my toddler round the front of our terrace of houses (her holding toothbrush me holding hairbrush) whilst my twins throw their toothbrushes out of the buggy and try to eat conkers (don't ask). I often leave the house and then post the aformentioned items back through the letterbox! It is amazing how leaving the house can instantly dissolve three incipient tantrums- why can these things not be explained to the under threes?

mamasunshine when things are going well I occasionally feel like superwoman but if I were to, for example, open the washing machine which is stuffed to bursting with wet flannels, clothes with large lumps of dirt that need to be removed and vanished and 'clean' (but now needs to be rewashed laundry) I feel slightly less than competent! Or, if I were to venture into my 'filing cabinet' and start opening mail some of which is antique.... My best tip though for 3 under 3 is to accept all of offers of help and to prioritise being happy and spending time with children above tidiness and perfect balanced diets etc! But you probably know all this- I had twins so went from the easy singleton life to a large family overnight.

Tesco let's you see your past orders, which can almost work like having more than one shopping list.

I find the slow cooker very flexible when I,m in the house. Twelve hour cooking does limit you a bit, but if you can be flexible with the cooking time, you can cook pretty much anything.

I,ve found cook books poor. I tend to adapt regular recipes by trial and error. Use less liquid and 15 mins conventional is about an hour in the slowcooker on high.

Some staples for us:
bolognaise;
lentil dhal- which sounds dull, but my kids loved the mushiness;
plain rice and variations like risotto and pilaffs;
whole chicken;
tana ram say has a Moroccan lamb recipe which come out gorgeous. Ermmm.... I make chilli beans and serve with 'trimmings' like thick youghurt, tomato salad, mashed avocado, grated cheese. Left over chilli beans spread on a tray of tortilla crisps and baked with a sprinkling of cheese is a great Friday night grown up treat.... When I stir fry, I start half an hour ahead of feeding time, and decant if into the slow cooker to keep warm. Not authentic, but easier to serve...... All manner of soups, obviously. Minestrone is my fave - but don,t cook pasta in the allow cooker. Add some cold leftover pasta at the end..... Pomodoro sauce is my failsafe backup. Tins of chopped Toms, a halved onion, some garlic bay and a crafty squeeze if ketchup. Turn oun and forget. If I.m feeling keener, I,ll use more veg, and purée before serving...... Cracking chicken stock. Feed to the kids plain, then put some fancy Thai flavourings in it ( chilli, fish sauce, soy sauce, coriander, coconut milk etc) to infuse while dh is getting home. Glass noodles thrown in as he walks through the door. Tasty, hot, grown up, wholesome. ..... It makes good hot chocolate too. And in winter I use it to make porridge.

Did I mention I was evangelical?

Sigh. Fat fingers touch screen typing predictive text.
.. Sorry for many typos

Hi Sylvanian, is there any point in getting a slow cooker if you are veggie (my DH is, so we mainly eat veggie food once the kids are in bed). I'm a terrible cook - my poor kids (who are not veggie) eat pasta, sausages and fish fingers on rotation.

I had heard that slow cookers also removed most of the vitamins from food - do you know anything about that? Thanks!

i would, i think i am a pretty organised Mum and am quite proud...:O)

I have one girl aged nearly 2 and am currently pregnant ( another 7 wks to go ) DH works away Mon-Fri, we have no family members here, ( so no help from either side of the family) I have to be organised, i just dont have a choice.

My girl and I get up at around 8;30am, have our breakfast together at 9am, she feeds herself while i am preparing my breakfast, then get dressed, we would go out in the morning, sometimes to M & T group or food shopping, then depdends on the weather, sometimes we would go out in the afternoon, we usually have lunch at home, a sandwich or something light really.

I am a keen cook and i cook everyday, I think the key is to have a routine, my girl knows the routine, she has a bath at 7:30pm then goes to bed at 8:15pm, no fuss, no tear, she sleeps in her own bedroom at the age of 2 months and has been a very good sleeper, she eats well, she feeds herself so that save me the time.

I have been letting her help me tidying up the room and shes been doing it...i think the key is to make sure your child sleeps and eats right cos if she sleeps well, you can have a good night sleep and you will then be able to think and function properly. A routine is important, I do most houseworks after shes gone to bed, ironing, cleaning etc. I am doing a distance learning course as well so I spend another 2 hours studying each night....I think being organised has helped me to achieve what I want to achieve.

actually, my DH is veggie too!

i get little foil trays from tesco, and will often.have a veggie version laid aside when we have meat. E.g. Last night the family had bolognaise from slow cooker ; he had vegenaise which I put in the oven in it's little foil tray for thirty minutes.

Chilli beans , lentils, soup - it,s all good.

Vitamins, I don,t think so, but it helps to use a bit of common sense. So cooking bocolli for 12 hours will be no more appetising than boiling it for 90 minutes. So I'll put bright green things in towards the end. That,s what I meant when I said it was more flexible if you could babysit it.

To clarify, the vegenaise was made as left over tomato sauce from last week, poured over quorn mince in the foil tray, and frozen. Quorn doesn't need frying off, obviously.

great tips on here.

Baytree11, I think you have it right about routine; I have always been keen on this since having dd 2.5 years sgo. I/dh are pretty disorganised normally but have discovered how slowly becoming more organised helps so much with dc's. Not doing quite so well since ds arrived (he is just 1) initially, but they both go to nursery 2 days a week now, which they enjoy and has enabled me to go back to work (dh does p/t childcare but is log-term sick so not up to f/t SAHD.

We have always tried to keep routine with mealtimes, washing and bed; as a result they both sleep 12 hrs at night and a nap in the day. I relly think that not getting overtired or hungry help them to settle into a routine.

On nursery days (when I work), I make sure I put out clothes, underwear, shoes for dcs and for me. I will often bath and always wash hair night before. dc's nursery bags in car night before and my handbag on front door with keys and phone ready to go. They have breakfast at nursery, so I deliver a cup of warm milk in bed to them once I am dressed. Then speed-dress them and do teeth and dc's hair bobbles/slides(this can take the longest...)

Slow cooker, rice cooker give you instant dinner. I fill the rice cooker in morning or afternoon if back early, ping it on as soon as get in and it keeps perfectly cooked rice hot for hours. Nearly always cook large amounts and freeze meals in foil containers or plastic tubs for the dc's.

We hardly ever eat out, and never have take-aways or buy ready meals. However we eat really well on less money than the above would cost.

1-2 loads washing a day. We have recently had a tumble dryer which really has revolutionised our laundry - as well as quicker to dry, most things don't need ironing if taken out straight away.

The cleaning is the one thing that suffers but I am decluttering madly which helps. One day the house will be as organised as my 3 freezers!

I have underesimated, though, how much dd likes helping me clean and sort laundry. She's pretty good at polishing and loves her feather duster!

I'm interested in the little ones snacking by themselves as DS2 (18m) is a food thrower, luckily a timber floor but a complete mess! Weetabix enbedded in my posh funiture......

hungry dog helps here.... but I cant leave my boy so the place is ruined!

Plastic table cloth - brilliant.

Only bath them twice a week, sorry no way can I do it more its impossible. Who started this thing of bathing every night - whats the point? My 5 yr old now showers so that helps.

Only cloths wash once a week by continually loading. Monday then a short wash Fri if nec. All smalls or anything that doesnt need ironing put away before the pile explodes. All else fails - sub it out!!!! its cheap.

Our meals are seperate, hubby doesnt get in till late. Great book - Gina Ford Meals, batch cook, freeze and cook. If you cook a lasgne/bol make sure you keep enough back for the children next day. I'd say my boys were brought up on reheated meals only way as you end up cooking all day! Sunday lunch should stretch to feeding next day too.

I think yr doing very well, biggest problem was feeling overwhelmed then down and depressed. Nursery saved me (expensive) but the few days saved my sanity - not always an option with 3 children - cheaper option get a weekly cleaner/home help.

Ive sent similar help messages before and read loads of threads. There are no answers here unless you have an amazing family backup unit to help (not us). I think you have to accept that its impossible to get that continual organised flow of perfection. No one told me how hard this would be!

1. Slow cooker seconded and thirded here...I am vege and do soups, vegetable curries and casseroles, dahls, chickpeas, pasta sauces, vege bakes in it.
2. I have one at school so there is a shelf unit with cubes at door (4 by 4) first column of 4 has 1. uniform folded, 2. winter/summer accessories as appropriate...hats, gloves, sunglasses (NZ so children need glasses during summer months ideally), scarves
3. Books etc to return to school/library and 4. shoes. Next column is mine, next column is dh's and last column is dd's...it works beautifully. There is also a cabinet in entrance to put bags inside and can also house brollies etc. 4 hooks above hold a coat each.
4. I make lunch night before or at least prep it for everyone...so packed lunch for dh and ds and makings of lunch for me and dd. Also put clothing out night before, ds now 6 puts own out on weekend and loves trawling through his drawers deciding what to wear next day
5. Ds has own laundry hamper, I collect, wash and fold and put in his room, he tips it into nearest drawer and then refills it with dirty washing (plan on doing same with dd who hopefully will inherit my tendency to like to seperate my clothing into different drawers)
6. A dog is essential as a hoover
7. I do hot meal at lunch during weekends and holidays and then bath them during day followed by a lazy afternoon and non messy light dinner (they love to play in the bath during the day and it really frees up an evening)
8. I clean on a seen spaces agenda so toilets, bathrooms, kitchen are kept fairly presentable as those are the spaces most likely for a visitor to use...ds's room comes with a warning statement for anyone entering over the age of 6 and our room and study are strict no go zones that may well shock some people if they were to glimpse inside at times.

I have no family backup either and dh is away alot so often doing it on my own but some of the above does help as does having ds at school now

bacon -the little ones snacking by themselves thing - nothing that will make a mess if thrown! DS has a big bowl of fruit and veg which he eats while watching his 30 mins of TV while I cook his tea. Chopped apple, carrot and grape (to offset the complete lack of fruit and veg in his school dinner - Jamie hasn't made it this far, it seems )

(brilliant thread, marking my place - WOHM, DC3 due in 3 weeks!)

Thanks so much all for the brilliant tips. I have spent a few evenings mulling over a meal plan and have gone for a compromise between variety and routine and done a 4 week 'rolling' meal plan. I am very proud of it- and it includes one night a week children/adults eat separately, 5 fruit and veg a day, and a slow cooker roast at the weekend. I am planning on figuring out how often I need to order bin bags/washing powder etc and then writing four shopping lists that can just go on autopilot with extras added on.

As for the laundry, I have cleared the backlog, and am going to try and do a wash every weeknight as suggested on here. I have been stain scrubbing whilst sitting with DCs at bathtime and the amount of laundry has really gone down, so that was a great tip.

I have to say, this is the first time I have made a really strategic plan for food and laundry that is actually realistically matched to my energy levels and my cooking skills- so fingers crossed.

It is so funny that women who have been at home are seen as having been 'out of the workplace'. To me, getting the household management under control has been the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.

Good luck to all those expecting soon.

Just off to try some porridge in the slow cooker....Thanks again.

Amazing work SW. I'm intrigued to see your meal plan. That's something I aspire to, but am thwarted by intolerances. We seem to eat the same things every week...

somethignwicked- have been going through hell lately myself ( 2 kids and DH's changing and long working hours) and I can only agree with you 200% that this is the hardest job - no break at all. I cringe when people tell me that "I don't work'.

I just wanted to say that I also second the slow cooker! I have 3 dc and have to be mega organised as dh works away 1/2 the month.

I always make lunch boxes for the following day when the baby sleeps at lunch time, also prepare all veg and whatever we are having for tea during that time.

I always empty the dishwasher before I go to bed and get cups out for milk/tea in the morning so we are ready to go.

All clothes, theirs and mine ready the night before, hairbrush and anything we need all together.

Someone on another thread mentioned a slow cooker recipe that i have now done twice. 1 chunk of gammon, 2 sliced onions and 1/2 bottle of coke. Amazing, fry off the gammon and onions, warm the coke and chuck it all in the slow cooker. I put it in yesterday at 9am on low, and served it with tagliatelle and veg to my brood and a little friend from school at 5pm. Really yummy, they all wanted more and the baby had left overs for lunch today. Try it, it is great!

Somethingwicked you sound like you are doing a fab job xx

I think that, with toddlers around your feet, if you try to do the housework in one go that you will quite possibly have a nervous breakdown. Particularly anything involving water is to be avoided.

I started doing one task a day when the baby sleeps, e.g. do bathroom on Saturday, clean windows on Monday, hoover and dust bedrooms on Wednesday, etc, taking about 45 mins or so, so at least I can say that the house gets (sort of)cleaned once a week.

With laundry, I really like those Dylon colour catcher things because I can just chuck all the children's clothes in at once and not worry. And also wash and tumbledry all the underwear at once as fewer socks go missing that way!