Working mum, help me get organised!!

[PreciousPuddleduck]

Hi, I have an 11 month old DD and have been back at work for almost 3 months. Finding it really hard to get organised and dread Sundays as spend the day cooking meals ahead, cleaning, laundry etc. I work 3 12 hr dpw so find it difficult to get things done in the evening. DH is good so maybe I should be more organised with delegation? We have no local family support and DD can be very difficult at times when we are trying to get stuff done at the weekend. I don't have a cleaner as worried re financial commitment though I suppose I could just drink less .
I know there is no magic solution and being a Mum is meant to be hard work but just wondered if you had any advice?

Bump

It is hard when your dd is so little and needs constant attention. FWIW, at this stage, the weekend is just taken up with catching up on chores and juggling childcare.

If your dd is being difficult, can you take turns with your dh. My dh and I used to tag team on weekends. One would take the child(ren) out while the other caught up on chores. At least it is less stressful that way.

You seem to be doing quite a lot right already, in terms of cooking meals ahead.

What do you do no the 2 week days that you are not working?

Baby groups, food shop etc. I like going to the supermarket with her so would not do it online. I do co-sleep with her for am nap some days too which I know is a waste of time but I enjoy the bonding and DH says that is more important then housework???
Have been looking at Fly threads and think I need to do 30 min bursts in the evening when DD is in bed??

Sorry you are feeling stressed. You do sound fairly organised already.

Do delegate to DP, it sounds (maybe incorrectly) that you are preparing/doing it all.

We had (stopped as having building work/am going on mat leave soon) a cleaner every other week for 3 hours. It cost £25. Weekly would have been ideal but too costly and every other was enough to know it was being cleaned properly often enough.

I think you probably also need longer to adjust. It is a bif change etc.

I agree with blueshoes, divide and conquer. I treat housework time at the weekend as me time and put on some music or a tv show in the background and potter away. I never enjoyed housework before!

I don't think you should think of sharing housework as 'delegating' though. You both work FT (36 hours is definitely FT!) and you are both responsible for your home. I would advise coming up with a plan to truly share the housework so that you both have equal time 'off' (to yourselves, or child free or however you define it.)

We have a routine where neither of us sits down in the evening until the daily chores are done including washing, basic cleaning etc. It doesn't matter who does what. It works well for us. Good luck!

As you have a decent amount of fat built into your week in the form of baby groups, morning naps, the only thing you need to organise is yourself. The time is there, in that if you need more cleaning time, it can easily come out of the fat.

That is not to say you should not do any activities with your dd that you enjoy but your schedule has more give than most ft mothers.

Part of adjusting to being a parent is accepting the loss of control over your time. It is usual, even for the most organised parents, to feel that home life is less than ideal and somewhat chaotic. It is a day-to-day fight for survival at your dd's age.

Now that my dcs are older, I am gaining some of that control back. But if you try to do that whilst the dcs are little, it is a recipe for grey hairs.