working mum needs tips to stay afloat

[felixfelicis1]

I work full time but with flexi hours. In theory I work 8-4 (although that never actually happens of course!) and then work from home after DS (7 months) has gone to bed. I have a pretty lucky situation though in that I am almost always home before six so can do supper, bath and bed. But I am having a bit of a struggle just keeping things ticking over - keeping the house clean, spending time with DH, making supper for us both etc etc. Does anyone have any great tips no matter how small to making life a bit easier? (anything from a really great quick recipe to a really good multitasking technique!). It would be massively appreciated as am only just about managing. I don't know how people with more than one do it! Thanks so so much.

If you both work full time my first thought would be to list all the things that really need doing during the week and then work out a rota in which your DH absolutely does his share.

If he already does, ignore this.

I'd Google quick recipes, make sure that when you buy food you prepare it immediately so that you have fresh, pre-washed pre-chopped veg and meat ready to go.

I'd also strongly advise dropping your standards - if your house is reasonably clean, everyone has clothes to wear and decent food to eat, that's enough. Anyone who criticises your housekeeping can be firmly directed towards the front door.

It does get better, DH and I have two, have always both worked full time. They're now 9 and 11 and pull their weight around the house.

There was a thread about freezing sandwiches recently. We've done it for 3 weeks now, it's great. It really saves us time and money. We've only frozen simple sandwiches, e.g. cheese, beef etc, which is a drawback. But it's great just to go to the freezer and grab that day's sandwich.

freezing sandwiches? That is genius can't believe I've never thought of that before! Totally agree about keeping standards low. Could you afford a cleaner? I know it sounds really extravagant but we have one for an hour a week (she costs £8) and she has changed our lives. Just having someone to do the basics (hoovering etc) is so great. DH and I now spend our weekends actually enjoying being parents rather than arguing over cleaning the oven!

cook double on Saturday and Sunday, so that 2 nights a week you're just warming something through (it's not so much the cooking i find tiresome as the washing up). have Shite Night on a Friday - beans, waffles, fishfingers, whatever is lurking in your freezer.

If you work more than your full time hours, review your workstack at the job and see what can be dropped. If you work 8-4, then really, there shouldn't be any need to do more in the evenings.

At home, cook meals for two days, so you only have to make dinner every other day. In the weekend, have an hour where you do housework while your DP watches your son, then swap. Two hours of focused housework should get a lot of stuff out of the way quickly.

Batch cooking saved my life in this situation a few years ago! If you make a spag bol, make twice as much as you will eat and freeze the rest so you have a meal for the following week. You can then either defrost it and eat it as spag bol or add tin of chilli beans and serve with rice as chillie con carne. I have done the same with casserole/stew ( week 2 you could stick on some of that pastry you buy in packs and its a pie!) or with curry.

I also had set says for washing- so say Monday is always bedding, Tuesday is work shirts, Wednesday is towels. Do a load each evening as soon as you get in, then set up to dry or tumble dry and doing a specific thing each day, I found it made me do it and wasn't left with a huge pile.

If you don't have a cleaner, and can afford one, then you must absolutely get one! I pay for four hours, including ironing, and I reckon it saves me at least one whole day at the weekend.

Before you go to bed, no matter HOW tired, do all dishes and put a load of laundry in to wash overnight.

Every morning, load onto radiators / in tumble to dry while at work.

frozen sandwiches? Genius!!

Another vote for dropping standards! I'm a single mum who works full time, and some things just have to give!

That said, you can't actually walk down my garden for growth, and I can't turn a blond eye to that any more!

Oh, and you really don't have to give a bath every night! If I did, I wouldn't have time for anything!!

I work those hours, 8-3.45 then a bit in the evening and a Saturday morning. What I do is - batch cook at the weekends and have picky bits for dinner one night too. Batch cook for your DC - when we get in I just have to microwave a casserole / bolognese or something for DS.

When I'm at home with him - 4-7.30 - I do not do anything other than play with him, I need to do that to keep me happy.
When he's asleep at 7.30 I race down, sweep floors, bleach kotchen, one load of washing in the machine and one in the tumbler. DH makes sandwiches and tidies the bathroom or changes the sheets or whatever. At 8 we have dinner and a glass of wine and a nice chat and at 9 I do a bit of work, or not, depending.

At the weekend we do two hours of cleaning during DS's nap one day. That seems to be enough if we do a bit eery day too.

We do shopping online to arrive at 9pm.

It's ok, really!

Sorry for essay

Don't freeze salami sandwiches. Remember several weeks of pink bread when I was a child after mum did this!

I started doing a meal plan for the week a few months ago and it's really made a difference. It really helps with the shopping (so I've cut down on the mad dashes to the shop after work to pick up something for dinner) and all the faffing around trying to figure out what to cook DS or for us.

I'd also third (fourth?) getting a cleaner if you can.

Great thread, some brilliant tips! I'm going back to work after mat leave next week and I feel like it'll all be overwhelming. Stupid question about a cleaner: do they clean while you're there, or have a key and come while you're out?

To make changing bedding faster, keep the matching duvet cover and sheets IN the pillowcase. Then when it's time to change bedding just pull it out and you have all the matching bits straight away.

Time your dryer to finish drying 10 - 15 minutes after you wake up. Empty the dryer straight away and you will probably only have to iron 10-15% of the clothes. Everything else can be folded and put straight away.

Recipe: cut up some chicken breasts and pop then on a wooden skewer (in the morning or the evening before) and leave to marinate in some flavouring - I like using Nandos piri piri sauce. It cooks quickly in the oven.

I prefer adding fried onion to food rather than raw onion. I fry up extra and freeze it in small lidded containers.

JeewizzJen our cleaner has a key - I work FT so the only way I could be around when she cleans would be if she came in on Saturday, which sort of defeats the purpose.

I am a single parent and I work full time and study part time, I do most of the stuff suggested above but clearly I have much lower standards as do much less cleaning

I make DS's packed lunches on sunday - sandwiches (three days in fridge, rest in freezer), tube yogurts in freezer as well (I buy hundreds when on special offer and just keep a supply in freezer to pop in lunch bag in morning - keeps lunch cool and defrosts by lunchtime), chopped up fruit and butter fruit bread.

I organise my lunches on sunday too - usually soup (I make a massive pot of lentil soup and freeze individual portions) or salad.

Online shopping - I do every two weeks or so to stock up and just buy milk and fruit/veg in between.

Don't ever iron if you can help it. Shake clothes to shape and they are wearable (maybe not pristine) without ironing.

Thanks to everyone for suggesting a cleaner, I stole the advice and had one in for a couple of hours last night so we could hit the house together! I can see worksurfaces and carpet! Maybe my standards had become a little too low

Online food shopping, batch cooking, have a cleaner ( if possible ), have all clothes ironed and ready for the week and try to take 1 hour a day to unwind and relax ( I know this is very difficult ) but be kind to yourself. I'm not an organised person by nature but I really have to organise my work week otherwise everything would fall apart .

Have simple meals during the week. Baked potatoes, beans/spaghetti on toast, scrambled eggs or omelettes. Declutter to allow cleaning to be as easy as possible.

Buy a slow cooker - I make anything in there from stew to a joint of beef (and the cheaper joints actually taste better than the expensive ones). Throw everything into it in the morning, leave on while at work then serve in the evening once DS in bed. I also keep those microwave pouches of rice in, so can always cobble something together quickly to go with that.

Because me and DH eat in the evenings once DS is asleep, I try to keep a small portion of our meal for DS to eat the following day, I was finding otherwise I was giving him jar foods all week and he would only eat a home cooked tea at the weekend!

Great tips. I do some version of the above, including the dropping standards!

What childcare do you use for DS?

If you have an extra room, I find a live-in aupair an absolute lifesaver. I used an aupair to do wraparound care for ds whilst he attended ft nursery from 1 year old. You might want to consider an aupair particularly once your dcs hit schoolage.

The aupair would do the cleaning during the day, when I was at work and ds at nursery and dd at school. She can do simple errands (e.g run out of milk), the washing, hanging up and putting away. She does simple homework with dd and arranges playdates (with her other aupair friends and their charges). She feeds the children if I am late home and even puts them to bed. She can also pick them up if the nursery/school calls because they are expectedly ill.

Of course, I compensate for extra hours but at least you have that choice and don't have to disrupt your work day. I am actually more reliably at work than my single colleagues!