What are your "Day Transformers"?

[BEAUTlFUL]

What things when you remember or can be bothered to do them really make a difference to your day?

It can be anything, from housework tips to parenting tips, through to beauty routines.

Anything that really makes a difference (when you can be bothered) to your mood...

Mine are...

• Getting up at 6am and showering and getting made-up before anyone wakes up. If I leave it any later than that, I just don't get time to do it, so shuffle round the place feeling ashamed of myself and not meeting anyone's eye.

• Going to bed at 10pm. A lifesaver. SO WHY OH WHY do I never do it, unless I'm at death's door?

• Spending 30 minutes playing with DS1. It transforms him, his behaviour changes instantly for the better. It only takes half an hour but our whole day is saved.

• Packing a picnic the night before, and the baby bag. Whoosh, in the morning we can just up and leave. If I leave it till the morning, I fart-arse around for 3 hours and we never get anywhere till teatime.

What else...

• Organising tomorrow's dinner the night beforte. Otherwise I'm standing in front of cupboards at 45:30pm, resenting everyone's metabolic system that requires feeding every four hours.

Checking messages before I posty them, so I don't have to then post explainers like before and 5:30pm*.

• Baking cakes, with Radio 4 on the radio. Bliss.

Checking messages before I post them, so I don't have to then post explainers like posty*.

Yes, yes, yes to organising the next day's meal the day before, so you never have to come home from work shattered and then stand in the kitchen too exhausted to decide what to eat, let alone cook it. I don't do this enough but when I do it makes a MASSIVE difference.

Going to the library and making sure I have a big pile of books to read. I am foul if I have nothing to read, so this makes a difference to the whole family's day, not just mine!

Making sure that my toe nails are painted at least once a week. Sounds ridiculous I know but I like looking down and seeing them and they are in better condition than my finger nails - also mistakes are less obvious on toes!

Getting half an hour to myself in the am before the children wake up.

Having time to get showered and dressed properly.

Getting the house into some sort of order before friends start arrving and park themselves on the sofa, or before we go out.

chucking a load of stuff in the slow cooker at 9am going out for the day and comming home to a fab cooked meal. The house smells great as you open the front door.

Oooh, loving these. Yes, the toenail one is a goodie. If I do them, I realise how shit I feel when I don't do them!

Same with fake tan. Bothering to do it TRANSFORMS the whole week. I never tan naturally, so it's the only way I'm ever brownb. But I love it, makes me feel 10lbs thinner and suddenly I can wear little skirts, cut-off trousers, etc.

Having a cup of tea in a cafe, alone, with the paper...bliss.

Washing the bath mat (this makes me feel on top of the household chores)

Ha! Washing curtains makes me feel like that.

Emptying the dishwasher before going to bed. I always forget i've done it, so the joy of opening the dishwasher in the morning - bracing self to face a load of stuff to put away - is like Xmas morning!

A resounding "yes" to toes, fake tanning, coffees alone, books, meal-planning!!!

To those I would add:

a candelit bath from time to time
listening to radio 4 while ironing
having some glorious classical music CD on LOUD while tidying up

and

particularly in the holidays:
planning just one 30-min or so craft activity for dd the day before - idea/shopping/setting out materials - makes all the difference

Mmmmmmmm to a candle-lit bath; can't remember the last time I had one though.

Also -

• taking something away each time I go upstairs; it makes me feel virtuous!
• a cup of Earl grey as soon as I get home from work; it marks the transition from work to home for me.

Quite different to the other suggestins, but this is a great day saver for me. When everyone's fed up from being indoors, put the music on loud, blow up a handful of balloons and have fun chasing them round the room. Sometimes I even let the Dc's join in It just chases the grumpiness away.

Ooh I like that idea a lot!

Hope you don't mind me bumping this thread, Beautiful - any more day transformers anyone?

No, I love that you bumped it! Thanks!

I'm finding that doing chores in-between ad breaks on TV in the evening is very good. Last night I watched TV for 2 straight hours but managed to load/unload dishwasher, load/unload washing machine, make packed-lunches, sterilise and fill baby bottles and tidy up the kitchen, all during ad breaks. Perfect!

knee bouncers.com gives me long enough to make a phone call so long as I don;t mind the whistles and bells noises in background. AND boy really likes it too.

In the morning, up and out! Feel so much better even if it's just a little walk. Then I don't feel so bad if they sit in front of tv after lunch and I have a coffee and veg out for a bit.

Disco Ball! They are brilliant. My kids beg for me to make it dark so we can put it on!
They will do anything for that thing.

Stopping everything and dancing round the living room with DS1 and baby to 'Sitting on the dock of the bay'. Makes me feel so much better about everything.

mine is really sad. I set the alarm for half an hour earlier than I need to get up - so I can read. I am incapable of just getting up and out of bed, I must drink tea and read.