Your tips please to a happy household when working ft...

[YouSmegHead]

So recently went back to work ft and haven't found my stride yet. What top tips do you have for keeping me sane

[OhDearSpareHeadTwo]

• Zone cleaning is a good idea, as is having a mini cleaning kit in each room containing everything you need to clean it. Poundland is good for supplies. Do the bigger cleaning jobs on the days you have more time and the quick ones on more pressured days.
  

• When you have a task on your to do list just DO IT. NOW. Eat that frog !
  

• Train/bus commutes can be used to catch up on emails, diary planning etc. Likewise I use the trip to MILs when DH drives as an oppotunity to write a shopping list/menu plan etc as it's 40 minutes when I can't do anything else.
  

• Repack bags when you use the contents so they are always fresh and ready to go
  

• 10 for a pound at Card Factory. I always have a card available, buy a selection of childish, female, male and neutral.

[OhDearSpareHeadTwo]

And on a beauty front, wearing your hair up saves washing it. I only wash mine once a week, air dry it and it is in very good condition because it doesn't get over-producted/dessicated

[Hopefully]

I am literally taking notes from this thread

[handbagCrab]

I think it's a two pronged approach. I think you have to lower your expectations of yourself whilst simultaneously making sure you have less to do in the first place.

So for eg. All ds', dhs, household and most of my washing can go in at 40 and be tumble dried. I buy a lot from m and s because this is the norm for their stuff and primark because it's not the end of the world if something shrinks. I try to buy mixed colour clothes so I don't have to separate washing. This means both me and dh can just shove mixed loads of washing in without having to think about it. I choose clothes that don't need ironing and will only iron for special occasions and probably school shirts when ds is older but I hope for further advancements on the fabric front by then!

We cook simple stuff that requires little prep. If I didn't have a dishwasher we'd eat one pot meals to cut down on washing up. As we do have a dishwasher I don't get stuff that can't be washed in it. My preference is for things that can be baked in the oven as these tend to make less mess than hob food or grilled.

For lunches I find salads quicker to make than sarnies and also like tins of soup and leftovers. If school dinners aren't extorniate I'd use those too.

I employ a cleaner for 2 hours a week. I keep the house tidy by having less stuff, most surfaces are clear. I have one spot in the living room for crud and one spot in the kitchen. I have a toy box downstairs and a laundry bag downstairs to keep ds' stuff from completely taking over. I ruthlessly bin and charity shop stuff that multiplies such as unwanted gifts, disliked clothes and shoes and miniature toiletries.

I have two hair dos for work, down if it looks alright and up if it doesn't. I wash the night before and see how it looks in the morning. I have a simple makeup routine and I keep the products required in one place and separate from extra stuff. I have a drawer in the bedroom with hairspray, deodorant, hairbrushes etc in it so everything I use everyday is in one place. I have an outfit a day for work that lives on one hanger and I get my clothes out the night before.

I keep a calendar on my phone and both me and dh know what each other are doing. Ds doesn't have evening places to be yet.

My absolute minimum is that ds has clean clothes, nappies, wipes, milk, food and clean bottles and eating utensils. Ideally dh and I also have clean clothes, food and clean eating utensils but if we're too tired its dominos out of the box and an early night :)

[handbagCrab]

Oh and I have an electric toothbrush. Whilst its doing it's 2 min cycle I wander round opening curtains, making beds & straightening things.

[DottyDot]

I know not everyone has got the opportunity to do it, but if you can book the odd day to work from home then do - I do a day a month at home and find I can get tons of work done cos it's quiet but can also get stuff done in the house - washing loads on or bits of cleaning in between work. Feels much less stressful and a kind of bonus day!

We also have a card and wrapping paper box - lots of different birthday and occasion cards plus wrapping paper and we've just started to buy a book of 6 stamps with every weekly shop - so Christmas will feel a bit easier. I've done a spreadsheet of all cards to be sent, addresses and who to buy xmas presents for so we can get things ready bit by bit.

[blackcurrants]

I do that, handbagCrab :) I am a firm believer in multitasking in that way, eg in the morning while I wait for the kettle to boil I empty the dishwasher. While I brush my teeth at night I go through the flat picking up toys. While one of us is driving to anywhere we go at the weekend, the other one is typing up the meal plan we're discussing for the week.

Shared google calendar, 'out of milk' shared shopping list, and smartphones... that's mainly how anything gets done!

First one home puts the washing on/switches it into the tumble drier.
Straight onto hangers for less ironing. I don't buy anything that needs ironing for work (can get away with smart knit jersey twinsets or blouses under a suit jacket).

Trouser suit: can wear flats and don't need to worry about tights.

DH irons his work shirts (and the 2 I own that need ironing, the lovely man) on Sunday nights after DS is asleep. I sit sorting clean laundry that doesn't need ironing at the same time, we both watch telly and chat.

We are fortunate to be able to afford a cleaner once a fortnight, who does a very thorough clean of the whole flat. The week in-between we clean the kitchen and bathroom incl. floors, and then wipe/dust surfaces. The hoover doesn't come out and so far not one of our friends seems to care. We certainly don't

Amazon delivers all my siblings, nieces and nephews their birthday presents (recurring reminder in gcalendar, 1 week before). Occasionally I will see something like lovely Hannah Anderson dresses on sale for a tenner, and buy one for each of my (6!) nieces in the size I imagine they'll be at Christmas (if in doubt size up, etc) - and then a huge wodge of xmas shopping is done.

I have 2 DSs and buy their clothes a year ahead, size ahead in seasonal sales.
The moment something doesn't fit DS1 it goes into a hamper that, whenfull, goes into the loft (labelled) for DS2. When it doesn't fit DS2 it is out my door within a week - ebay, charity, or chuck.

Streamlining my own wardrobe saves me SO much time: everything in my chest of drawers fits me and can be worn with everything else. I put work clothes to the left and casual stuff to the right. I do have things hanging up or in the loft which I am too fat/thin/pregnant/breastfeeding to wear at the moment but NOT cluttering up my chest of drawers or wardrobe. I plan tomorrow's clothes in advance (don't lay them out, but do know what I'm going to be wearing and that it's clean, where it should be, etc) and honestly couldn't cope at 6am if I had to make clothing decisions!

Same goes for surfaces: I find it hard to keep on top of admin-style paperwork, bills etc, so I try to do everything online or have an hour a week to go through a folder and do it. If something has outlived it's usefulness I get ruthless about chucking it. Clutter steals your time!

I happen to love my hair very short, so it is easy to style. I usually wash it every other day but can go an extra day without it looking bad. Bath at night to wind down sometimes, then skip the shower the next morning.

Both boys have breakfast at daycare, which cuts down on morning stress.

We have a rule that our weekend days are only ever half-chores. So: morning might involve DS1 haircut or new shoes or buying curtains, but afternoon will involve zoo, park, or playdate. Never a full day of errands, it's too soul destroying.

I love having a dog as it's an hour to myself (well, with baby in sling) outside every day with some lovely podcasts cued up on my ipod, but it DOES add to the workload/cut into my sleep.

Take it in turns to sleep late at the weekends.

I do all nights for 1st year (breastfeeding) and DH does all nights after that. Ditto I pump milk at work (America, no mat.leave) and DH does all the bottle filling, washing, and labelling for daycare. Apart from alternate-morning lie-ins on weekdays, we have a policy where if one of us is 'working' (doing bathtime) so is the other one (loading dishwasher). In the early days of parenthood I would walk up to DH and say "Let's do 10 minutes in the kitchen and it'll be done" or "don't sit down yet" or even "why are you standing talking to me while I wash up, and not doing the bloody dinner/packing their daycare bags/making their lunches?" Now I don't have to say anything.

[TheOnlyPersonInTheRoom]

"Streamlining my own wardrobe saves me SO much time: everything in my chest of drawers fits me and can be worn with everything else"
Please can I hire you blackcurrants? :D

I am serious though - I do need a wardrobe consultant / declutterer / whatever they are called

[Want2bSupermum]

I do the same as blackcurrants with my clothes. Everything is navy, black, grey, white, cream or red. It is amazing how easy it is to put outfits together. Black dress with grey suit jacket is one outfit, another might be a cream jumper with black skirt/trousers and red jacket etc. It isn't that hard and saves so much time/money.

I have to wear a suit for work and look smart. I have found that some of the washable suits are amazing. Wool is best but they need to be drycleaned. I had a service come to the house but it is rather expensive.

[blackcurrants]

TheOnly oh I am NOT good at this stuff- it's really being rigorous with myself and making myself do it, that's the only way! I don't really care about/enjoy clothes that much, so have assembled myself a 'uniform' of easy-to-care-for, good-to-wear clothes that I can wear for work. If something works for me (landsend cardis) I get it in several colours when they've got a sale.

Am a bit scruffier at home (jeans and hoodies, yay!) but basic principle is the same. Nothing that doesn't fit in easy reach.

My body changes SO much with pregnancy, breastfeeding, losing all the weight again - I can't get rid of everything as I'll need it all in 6 months (or whatever) BUT I can put it in underbed/loft storage so I'm not rummaging past it every morning. Plus, the less packed your drawers are, the 'fresher' or more 'pressed' your stylish jersey knit twinset looks

Seriously, award yourself a half-day one weekend (while OH takes DC to a film or something) and do a wardrobe audit. make a list, try it on in front of a big mirror and then keep a spreadsheet, and have bin bags ready for loft/charity shop. You'll feel AMAZING!

The blog //www.wardrobeoxygen.com has some good tips for wardrobe organization.

[notcitrus]

My kids aren't at school yet (reading with interest!) but returning to work after ds, my tips were:
pack everything the night before.
rather than 5x school uniform, have 5x work outfits (working 4 days a week so one in hand), all non-iron
So I could shower, dress, and if needed pick up sleeping ds straight into buggy and take him to nursery.
And good stash of porridge oats, cereal, cafetiere and coffee at work so I could have breakfast there!

MrNC collected ds one evening a week so I could work a bit late to catch up, and go out for dinner or to the theatre or whatever.

Going to be interesting in a couple months with two kids to get to nursery - dd will still be portable into the buggy, but will have to start early just in case of 4yo strops...

Cleaner once a fortnight, internet shop every few weeks delivered between 8-9pm, pick up extra food on the commute or at lunchtime.

Our house was a wreck that we've been slowly doing up, and the pace has really slowed down, but now it's liveable, there's many weekends were we go "could paint that window... or go play with the kids" and the kids usually win. I'm hoping they won't care about the decor until old enough to actually help.

[Xenia]

I wear a uniform in a sense, same clothes at home, same clothes for work things and it works really well as you don't need to spend any time at all thinking about it. I have suppose I have one "outfit". Obviously everyone though has different priorities.

[stickercharts]

Blusher in the car. Put it on at the traffic lights!

[stickercharts]

Oh and try and de-clutter your house and life as much as possible. Clutter is choice.

[Astr0naut]

CLothes all out night before.

Get up at 6. Get Dh to dress kids.

Have breakfast togetehr before nursey; make butties for work whilse they're finishing (make porridge fingers for the baby - thanks mumsnet!)

Clean kitchen and bathroom once a week. FLick wtih a duster if people come round - but they won't, because you're at work.

Stick to a rigid bedtime routine, so at 7pm you can chill/work etc.

Lose some hours. FT was doable with 1 child, but damn near impossible with 2 (I'm a secondary school teacher).

[FamiliesShareGerms]

I am glad we're not the only family that synchronises their electronic diaries! Even though MiL thinks we are mad to do it, finding out that our work Outlook calendars could talk to each other was a very useful discovery.

I wish I could get away with only a couple of uniforms for DS. Seriously, how? No amount of careful sponging would get rid of the mud /paint / food / pen stains that are on every item of clothing every day...

[harrietspy]

FamiliesShareGerms, we do the sponging thing but still have a stack of uniforms... I couldn't do it with 2 sets per child, no way. Respect to those who can!

[freerangelady]

I'm expecting first dc - I'm scared after reading this thread - I'll never be the organised superwoman you all are....I'll be too busy grumbling that the days of thinking I was
Busy when I only got to watch an hr of tv a night are over!!

[Snog]

Agree amazon prime is your friend!

[vor]

I have just gone back to work full time, after 4 years at home. I must admit I was never a particularly good housewife - bizarrely, I am much better at organising the house now that I am working!

I do think you have to decide which standards are important to uphold (eg. healthy food, getting homework done, having fun, clean loos!) and not worry about the rest (for me, ironing, filing, dusting, making beds)

I have a cleaning service come once a week - I have a small budget, so it isn't a perfect clean, but gets to the most important parts (eg.loos and bath, floors)

Things that are working for me to keep calm and more organised than come naturally:

• strict morning routine, no coming downstairs until fully dressed, breakfast at the table, dishwasher always dealt with
  
• lunches made the night before and kept simple so they only take 5 min to prepare
  
• eat lunch at my desk and use lunch break to go for a walk to refresh or pick up groceries/do chores
  
• set nights for household / family chores eg. laundry on Wed and Sat; quick hoover on Thurs night, major tidy on Sunday, homework on Friday afternoon and Sunday morning (luckily DS gets all of his at once and then has the week to finish)
  
• folders for each member of the family with forms, letters, admin, jobs that need to be done (it can be hard to stay on top of all the stuff from school)
  
• batch cooking
  

We're a house that doesn't iron (almost!). The DCs uniforms are acrylic jumpers, polo shirts and the usual school grey stuff that you can wash, shake, hang to dry and wear (I might iron the shirts once a term if they've become a bit curly) I wear suits with knit tops or dresses, so just a visit to the dry cleaners. DP used to iron his own shirts, but found an ironing service that pick up, iron and drop off for £15 a fortnight.

[vor]

oh and forgot to add, we use google calendar to keep up to date on all work and school and fun diary dates, especially useful as DP travels a lot for work

[Somermummy1]

Oh i love this thread already!

DS (aged 4) just started school. DD (15 months) at nursery. Me just gone back to work FT from PT last week. DH very good but only if told EXACTLY what to do other wise seems to lose all ability to think for self

By 8.30 I'm like a screaming banshee as DS who is perfectly capable of getting self dressed has started wearing school trousers backwards and somehow getting entire body through pants leg hole and has shirt on back to front...................

Seriously though ......I can make sandwiches and freeze them?????

[vor]

Freezing sandwiches is a bit of a family joke here - one year DP's parents decided to fill a whole chest freezer with sandwiches for their 5 boys (talking late '70s here), spent a whole week on the task, made enough for months. The boys were a street smart bunch who quickly worked out how to dig the best ones out, eventually leaving the marmite sandwiches that no-one wanted to eat....

off to make a packed lunch now....

[LadyLetch]

I would say my two tips are...

1. Lower your standards - it really doesn't matter if the house isn't all that tidy, or you haven't ironed the school jumpers. Do what is manageable and forget the rest.
   

1. Make your children self - sufficient. I think when you are a SAHM it can be easier just to do everything for your children, but this isn't possible when you're working. So now, my children (8 and 5) are perfectly capable of: getting up, getting themselves dressed (clothes laid out the night before), getting their own breakfast, take their bowls out, cleaning their teeth, brushing their hair, grabbing their bags and leaving. Pretty much we get up and get ourselves ready to go. If they do all this on time, they get a sticker for the sticker chart. And mostly, they do... I'm usually the one that's overslept and is running late! But life is so much easier when you have only got to worry about getting yourself ready, when your children are trained, they can sort themselves out .