organised mums - your tips please

[squirmyworm]

I'm going back to work soon and will need to be really organised if I am to remain sane and continue to enjoy my time with ds.

any tips on how to cut down on the time I seem to spend doing those necessary but dull household/life tasks? I'm sure there are some corkers out there - help me out please!

here are a few things i do

:I iron on a night

:I clean the bathroon when dd is in the bath

:I hoover,(sometimes), just before dd goes to bed and is sitting on settee having drink and supper

:I change beds with dd

: i put a mat down in kitchen with paints/playdough when i'm gonna be cooking a long time

Can't think of anymore at the moment

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Only ever do the jobs that would be dangerous or offensive if they didn't get done.

Delegate like there's no tomorrow. My dp has his jobs, and of course the cleaner ...

Do jobs in one big go rather than bit by bit (especially washing up - we do it c. 3 times a week!)

Okay, this is probably a love or it or hate it thing, but I find FlyLady website REALLY useful for getting household chores organised! She's sort of a Gina Ford of the cleaning world, very american but I've found it much easier to keep the house maintained since I found it.

Doesn't work, G

Order your main shopping on the internet.

Cook in big batches and freeze in 1 -2 portions. eg, buy a ton of mince and make a big pan each of chilli, bolognese sauce and whatever else - base for shepherds pie, mince curry or whatever. Then freeze in portions. It's easy to microwave your family home cooked dinners when you are tired.

Tumble dry stuff to save ironing it.

Ooops sorry! Try this:

Flylady

Get your ds to help you. Sunday mornings dh has a lie in, and I do all the bills/financial stuff (and Mumsnet) whilst dd sits with me at the desk and draws pictures, or we play on the teletubbies site on the PC together.
DD also loves "helping" with washing up - having a 1 1/2 bowl sink helps, and on the rare occasions I have to do ironing (cos having a cleaner really is the top tip) dd will sit and watch me whilst we both sing nursery rhymes.

If the main solution is "Get a Cleaner", this is rather seeming like a thead for "wealthy" not "organised" mums.

My top tip is - lower your standards

Also if you haven't already, get a dishwasher.

I found flylady really irritating, but there are some good ideas on the site - just wouldn't recommend subscribing to the emails.

Do most people have cleaners these days? Seem to be a majority.

My only tip is really obvious - to lay out dd's clothes the night before. And just clean in "bits" at a time - like Angeliz says, sink when dd in bath etc.

I haven't got a dishwasher or tumble dryer or microwave. Would they make my life a lot easier?

I don't know whther other people find this, but when I am in work and therefore DD is not at home, my house actually stays cleaner longer and so I find that I don't need to clean / tidy as muchas when we are there.

Ditto cleaning bathroom when DD is in bath. Also plucking eyebrows etc!!

Obviously, put washing on before bed, and make takng out of the machine the one thing you do before you leave in the morning.

Have a shower before bed? I go to be with my hair wet and then just straighten it when I get up in the morning.

Dinny - yes!!!!!

I don't agree with needing a cleaner. My mum has a huge house and had 5 children, and worked nearly full time. The house (to me) was always fine. Its only in the last year she has a cleaner.

I was always sceptical about dishwashers, until I got one. It is brilliant, it saves a LOT of time and effort. It is my number ONE labour saving gadget without a doubt!

I rarely hang anything out to dry on the line. I do my washing in the evening after work and then dry it overnight in the dryer. It just means I can get everything dry more quickly, especially in the winter. I can't stand having stuff hanging over radiators.

The microwave is pretty handy, although I rarely cook meals in it. But it's excellent for reheating and defrosting (I'm rarely organised enough to remember to get stuff out of the freezer in time for it to thaw naturally).

plan your dinners for the week and write a meal list, stick it to the cooker and follow it. you dont have to think about food in a panic because something else has happened in the day, plus your shopping becomes more succinct, and u waste less! ie gone off salad etc in the fridge ....

My mum had a cleaner last 35 years of her life... not sure if I know anyone else who does. Nobody with children under 18, that's for sure!

Find it very hard to know if I (or anyone?) qualifies at "organised", but my tip would be "Do as much as you can to get out of the house the next morning the night before". Meaning, I lay out the kid's clothes and coats, I make their lunches if they're going to childminders, I load up the pushchair with snacks, the next day's lunch, spare nappies or clothes, waterpoofs, shoes, anything I need for my errands, whatever I'll want while we're out. And things like housework can wait compared with the deadlines for getting to work or nursery.

MIL puts cereal bowls, spoons, tea cups and cereal boxes out on the breakfast table the night before, too, I noticed!

Do have a microwave, don't have and wouldn't want to have a tumbledryer (we do cloth nappies, too).

Zebra -why wouldn't you want a tumble dryer?

I used to lay out my clothes for the next day, too, btw. Nowadays I don't care what I wear so it doesn't take any time in the mornings to get dressed, anyway.
Try to get the kids dressed before breakfast, saves arguments and time later and ensures more cooperation if they know they have to get dressed before they can eat.

Environmental Reasons, Mum2Ela: they're horribly energy consumptive.

Hurrah - another thing for me to feel guilty about

That's why I don't have tumbledryer - or dishwasher. Seem really extravagant - environmentally and financially - in my mind.
Also don't have money to buy/run em!

Zebra, ALL the women I met in NCT class have a cleaner. I am the exception, definitely.