Work outside the home Mums-come tell me what practical things you do to make your life easier and to try and achieve some work/life balance?

[Yardley]

Going back to FT work on Wednesday...in the middle of a huge cook-for-the-freezer so that dd's will get dinner some time before midnight when I get home from work...nervous about how im going to get everything else done...any tips gratefully recieved....

[VerySmallSqueak]

Do what you can to make sure you get as little post as possible to deal with.
Don't look at brochures or buy magazines.
Everything on Direct Debit.

[stealthsquiggle]

Not sure how old your DC are, but if school age, buy/otherwise acquire more uniform so that they can make it through the week without laundry having to be done. Late nights waiting for the washing machine to finish are not good do as I say, not as I do

[DashingRedhead]

Get a cleaner who will also do the ironing. Plan meals.

We have an admin meeting at the weekend to work out who needs to do what when with regard to the kids' meals etc and includes who is likely to be where on what day.

Regardless of the hours your spouse works, it's his house too. His food, his laundry, his child. Give him really specific tasks rather than just expecting him to pile in. My DH has this odd thing where there are certain kinds of domestica that he just doesn't 'see'. So I give him the stuff he does 'see'. Like the laundry.

Think about when you're most productive around the house and do stuff then. I once had to cook an emergency tea while the kids were eating breakfast and I found that I was fine with that. I was already getting up so early it didn't really make any difference.

We both work long hours, yet I still end up doing loads more around the house than him but I look on it as Work in Progress.

[redskyatnight]

Depending on the age of your DC, allocate them appropriate responsibilities. My DC have to pack their own bags and get their own stuff ready. And one lays the table for tea and the other clears.

Work out a simple and fairly quick evening routine (ours is to ensure all dishes in dishwasher or washed by hand, kitchen surfaces wiped down and lounge tidy) that everyone contributes to.

We have an hour (max) at the weekend where we prioritise any jobs that need doing. We all pitch in -saying it's an hour max helps keep on top of it and not make it onerous.

Put a load of washing in every night, hang out in the morning and quickly sort when you get home. That will keep on top of the washing.

Have a repertoire of teas that take 30 minutes from start of prep to on the table. Have emergency food in the freezer for days you can't evne manage that.