Share with Intel how you juggle modern family life - £300 Argos voucher to be won!

[EllieMumsnet]

A big part of being a parent is being flexible and spinning several plates at the same time... there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do every task individually! Have you always been someone who can juggle multiple things at once or has parenting taught you the art of being flexible, Intel® would love to hear your best multi-tasking moments, as well as any tips and tricks for managing modern family life.

Here’s what Intel® have to say: “A thin and light Modern PC with an Intel® processor has great features that make it more flexible to use, so you can be more creative, productive and entertained. Cortana lets you use your voice instead of the keyboard and Windows Hello* lets you log in with your face not a password – perfect for when you already have your hands full with the children.”

Did you manage to book a holiday while you fed and bathed your children? Perhaps you helped one child with homework while breastfeeding your baby, being on Skype to your mum and eating your dinner all at the same time?

Whatever your tips or your best multi-tasking moment, share it on the thread below to be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher from Argos.

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

* Cortana available in select markets; experience may vary by region and device.
** Requires specialized hardware, including fingerprint reader, illuminated IR sensor or other biometric sensors and capable devices.
*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

I send emails and work on the computer while helping him with his homework - we can sit together and talk but both be productive at the same time which is nice.

winging it day by day. not worrying too much if ds doesnt stick by routine,roll with the punches, quite literally have a 10 month old boxer on my hands. but honestly i literally just try my best to go with the flow if he naps an hour amazing if he naps 20 minutes thats fine too. honestly im so sleep deprived and i spent so much time worrying about how mich he was eating and sleeping that i drove myself insane i would walk him 4 times a day in the winter just to try and get the ‘recommended sleep’ but hes so happy without it. juggling modern life parenting is definitely starts in your mind, you cant juggle it without relaxing, accepting tantrums and poo stains and sleep deprivation as apart of your normal life is key. constantly wishing for sleep and white vests and a baby that handles teething like a champ doesnt help anyone. today when creche costs nearly as much as you earn and you’re grandparents arent able to help you its tough, my partners family live abroad and my parents look after my sisters children so my son hasnt been babysat since he was born hes almost 11 months and when your exl breastfeeding this can be really intense so ive looked after my mental health and just learnt to relax and if i feel things are getting tough i strap him in the buggy and go for a walk. otherwise google and scan as you shop has been a real time saver/ help. im going back to university in september to study childrens nursing so i will have to pay for creche and im not sure how ill cope without my son by myside and that will be a whole new juggle.

Have to say before the internet how did we cope, without my laptop, life in our house would stop!!

I can cook and teach weights and measuring homework!
I can order food on line and discuss nutrition and healthy eating homework.
We can read the paper on line for reading practice and me to keep up to date.
Can eat and discuss the weather, the day etc - but absolutely no techno at the table and upstairs in bed!
Sit on the tube commuting to work and plan holiday activities and child care, paid on line
Have taught DCs to cook their favourite meal by the age of 8 yrs old, they load the washing machine, put it on, take it out and put in drier and fold their clothes - whilst I do something else.
I can clean whilst on the phone. cook whilst on the phone.

i can pour hot water on my tea bag with my left hand whilst buttering the sandwich with my right, whilst booking appointments on the phone - have poured water on the bread and put butter on the teabag if someone dares distract me, but hey we live and learn!

My 'modern family life' includes having a 'modern' approach to things - DH is a SAHD, which solves many of our 'juggling' challenges! I work FT - usually away - so don't really have a snowball's chance of keeping on top of things while I'm gone, so I leave DH to ensure there is food in the house, school uniforms are clean, lunches are packed, homework is done, fortnite is not played 24/7 - while I crack on with earning a living.

I highly recommend getting a SAHD for this purpose - every home needs one

Thank goodness for speakerphone - I regularly sit on conference calls while sitting in the playpen with DS who is quite happy to play on his own as long as I am nearby.

Likewise, apps on the phone are my saving grace as they make it so much easier to do things with a sleeping child - Tesco shop, moonpig, banking.

Being hyper-organised is how I do it all as a working full-time, single mum. Direct debits for all bill payments, online calendar, online grocery shopping, online clothes shopping, supply of birthday cards, Christmas gifts organised in the early Autumn, get children trained to help at the earliest opportunity. Don't expect perfection - good enough will mostly do.

Organisation is key for me. I put EVERYTHING on my phone calender and I transfer most of it to my weekly planner.

I like to.combine things that are boring for the kids with something they like, so if we find the washing together, We will have time for a game of Guess Who. Type of thing.

But what I have learned from having g children is just how much stuff you can get done one-handed. It's amazing.

My brother was chuffed to bits telling me about this app where he and DSIL can add things to their shopping list through the week. DH and I exchange a look, as we find a piece of paper and a pencil perform this function exceptionally well.

There is a specific format to my shopping list and I once gave a seminar on the topic.

The List Format covers everyone's shifts and extra-curricular activities, food left over from previous that needs to be used up, meals are cross referenced to which cook book or folder the recipe is in and the page number and the shopping list is in three sections - fruit and veg, chilled and frozen and finally ambient goods.

I should blog about it.

We very nearly cancelled the move to Scotland when I found out there is no Ocado in Scotland.

I used to have a reserve list saved on Ocado called "emergency shop" that would cover us regardless of DH's shifts that week, everything frozen or tinned, so if I didn't have time to follow the List Format (see above for details) I could just bosh the whole lot in my Ocado trolley and have done.

Online food shopping and meal planning whilst cooking/supervising homework. Spellings, times tables, lines and songs etc practised on car journeys.

I always start the day with a list of tasks to do on my phone. As the days goes on, I put a tick next to the tasks already done and can check what still needs to be done. This has helped me save time and it keeps me on track and organised.

I’m not great at multi tasking but I try to make the most of each bit of time - so catch up with emails/ do homework with my son while my daughter does ballet. I do extra work in the evenjngs while the children are in bed. I go to the gym upstairs while my son is in his swimming lesson. That’s been the key to finding more hours in the day! What I am hopeless at is just relaxing and doing nothing. I would like to be able to do that

dd needed help but a quiet space.so be on skype in the lounge toddler playing and watching tv then the older dc skyped in anytime she needed help.
online shopping is a life game changer and saver at times.
catchup on laptops means we can move about more.ironing whilst cathing up or putting the dcs favourite on.
taking work to the kitchen so you can by by the hob but tpying up.
WhatsApp video call means distressed and desperate disable dc could now go out on virtual runs.virtual outings with her ds.

I pretty much do everything online. Shopping, booking tickets, organising events etc etc. I sit down I eve a week and look ahead 4 weeks to make sure there are no suprises.

I'm pretty good at breastfeeding my youngest while seeing to my two other children. I've found I've had to do it at times and now do it without thinking! I can even breastfeed while buttering the boys toast!

I'm a lone parent who works, and despite my daughter seeing her Dad, it's down to me the day to day basics of organising mine and her life. I rely on a calendar and sticky notes to remember shifts/events/Birthdays/days out/appointments. The list of things to remember is never ending and always increasing, so to be a multi-tasker and organised very important to me, I like to be in control and know it's all done but it's sooooh tiring. I also rely on my laptop and internet at home to do all my jobs, I have no time to 'visit' branch or shop for certain items. I do prefer to food shop in store though, and fit this into my days off.

One multi-tasking memory is of serving up Christmas dinner for eight with one arm while holding a vomiting DS over the kitchen sink with the other.

Online shopping can be done whilst sat at the taxable waiting for small children to finish eating!
Listening to my son read or practising his spellings can be done in the car on the way home from school.
Everything online can be done while cuddling children on the sofa watching tv while they are ill!

I make daily lists for chores. We also have a shopping list notepad on the fridge which we all add to.
We meal plan and do a big on line shop which helps us save money and keeps us organised

Having my phone to hand makes my life so much easier!
I do the grocery shopping using the Asda app - I can pick up where I left off if I have to pause to play with LO, make a snack, etc.
I do all my banking transactions online - again, via an app.
I have one day off work during the week when LO is at school & I use that time to do the housework & the ironing while catching up with my mum on speakerphone!
I listen to audiobooks on the commute to work so I still get to enjoy 'reading' & I don't lose out on any sleep by doing it at bedtime :)

We listen to the children read whilst we are eating our breakfast (they tend to get up before us and have already eaten).

I do the grocery shopping online while tea is cooking or quickly use the app to add things as and when items are used up.

I phone my Mum on my lunch breaks to catch up.

Letters from the school/clubs are photographed and recycled to avoid lots of bits of paper hanging around and ensure that information doesn't go missing.

I manage by accepting help! Being organised helps massively though, a family calendar and organising things for the morning the night before. Joint bathtimes. Not expecting too much of myself (or anyone else, kids included) also helps, eg I started off thinking ‘in the morning we can do a and b, in the afternoon we can do c and d. This always ended up in tired, grumpy children (and adults) so doing less works better for us.

It is amazing what you can do while feeding the baby. I think my top was sitting an online course with Harvard

Shop online whilst watching toddler play and feeding baby.
Cordless dyson on standby all day long for multiple vacuums when crumbs and bits get on the floor!

I can't say I've ever needed to juggle anything with my family unless they've demanded a circus act.

Cortana is a busybody and needs to keep its beak out.