Tips on how to stay organised with a toddler

[haveyourcakeandeatit]

Ok, I'm not naturally an organised person and weirdly it doesn't come easy for me to stay on top of things.
We have a DD 16m. Does anyone have any tips, ideas or any suggestions on how to save time or make things like cleaning up, getting out the house, making dinner and tips on what you've found that saves some time or how to easily be organised please?
This sounds ridiculous but simple things for me for example, getting my clothes out ready for the next day, tidying one room at a time has helped.
What are your suggestions on how you keep yourself and life organised with a toddler?
Thanks

When I’m at home with my toddler I try to tidy as I go and not leave it all till the evening (obviously there is some mess still).

Every time I leave a room I look around to see if there’s something that doesn’t belong. E.g. if I go to the kitchen I’ll take any cups/bowls from the living room with me. If you go upstairs is there anything you can take with you to put away.
It becomes second nature if you do it every time.

I don’t spend all my time “entertaining” my toddler, so he’s used to not always having my undivided attention. He has a toy kitchen in the kitchen. So I will clean the kitchen and he plays in his kitchen.

I let him “help” me unload the dishwasher - he picks up one piece of cutlery at a time and hands it to me.

The turning point with me was realising that I don’t have to “play” with him 100% of the time - it’s fine to do normal housework and get him to join in or entertain himself sometimes.

How long does it take you to get out of the house?

Making dinner... Just plonk DD in her high chair/baby bouncer/playpen. Whatever contains her. If needed, this is screen time.

I'm not really sure why you can't find time to get clothes out in morning etc. DS would just potter about in my bedroom when he was toddler and ingot dressed.

I have a basket with complete outfits rolled together in (I fold them like this when putting the washing away) and then we just take one out each morning. I then get out pjs/sleeping bag and towel laid out over the cot bars ready for bedtime (on nursery days)

I also make sure I put things from each room in to the kitchen/laundry etc as I am going.

I now use a plain black rucksack and I keep a change of clothes/few nappies/cream/wipes/hat/suncream and jacket in it alongside a little tub of snacks that I top up and his water bottle. Getting ready to go out on our days together is a lot quicker now

I cook during nap time for that day and enough for the next day too, that's for evening meal. For lunch we tend to have a picnic so less cleaning up to do.

I think a routine really helps because it takes out a lot of thinking time!

If you're going to the same place, on the same day every week you just need to do it, but not think about it. It's the same with food, having a meal plan makes it much easier. Also, kids love routine so it often makes them easier to deal with too.

Limit the amount of clothes and toys that your DC has. They don't need huge amounts and it keeps mess and laundry to a minimum. If you have loads of clothes and toys you can pack half away and then swap round once a month or so.

Get DC a backpack and pack it the night before with changing stuff, spare clothes, snack and anything specific you need for the following day e.g. swim kit and leave it by the door ready to grab when you leave.

And batch cook.

Always cook more than you need and either have it for lunch the next day or freeze for use another time.

Cleaning - get the toddler involved. Mine loves sweeping and wiping and putting clothes into the washing machine. Saves me having to run around the house to collect clothes off the floors as toddler does it 😂 Same with putting rubbish in the bin (like all the Cheerios that were dropped at breakfast). Make everything a game.
Clean the bathroom while they're in the bath. Then clean the bath after they're in bed.

Cooking - get toddler involved. I drag a chair up to the kitchen surface for toddler to stand on. Give them a vegetable to explore and a plastic pot while you cook. Today my toddler helped chop mushrooms (took them out the box and onto the chopping board, poked a few with the toddler knife from the toddler cutlery set) and spread cream cheese on toast (and also up their arm). Flannels are better than baby wipes.

Getting out the house - have a grab bag ready to go by the front door/shoes/coats. Mine has in it some small toys alongside packet snacks and nappy change stuff, with seasonal extras like sunscreen or a jumper or hat as needed. Then it is shoes on and go.