Working Mom

Not every mom has the financial ability to be a Stay-At-Home Mom.  In fact, most of us don't, so finding the balance between working all day and coming home to make dinner, bathe your kid(s), clean the mess from dinner and the toys that were thrown all over the place, get the littles to bed, bathe yourself, get prepped for tomorrow and then finally going to sleep for what seems like an hour or two (deep breath) can seem over-whelming.  Sometimes it actually is over-whelming. 

The most important thing is finding a routine that works best for your family and STICKING TO IT!  What works in my house for my family may not even scratch the surface of what needs to be done in your house, with your family.  But if you find that you are not getting everything you need to get done before you go to bed each night, you may need to go back to the drawing board and try a new routine. 

If you do try a new routine, give it a week or two before you cross it off because it may take that long for everyone to get used to the new way of things. 

But here are my recommendations on a smooth(ER) week :

1. Make dinners that will last more than one night.  This will give you a little bit of a break throughout the week because instead of having to cook full meals each night, you will be able to just re heat last nights dinner.

2. On the nights you do have to cook, give your little one something entertaining to do, and put him/her in your sight.  This will allow you to keep your momentum going while you're cooking and not have to stop every 3 seconds to check on your little one. 

3.  Once you have all eaten, declare it clean up time.  Turn off any electronics that may be a distraction and show your little one where his/her toys belong, and allow him/her to put the toys away while you get any dishes done that you didn't clean as you were cooking. Of course, your little one won't do a perfect job putting every toy away, BUT, you will be teaching the idea of cleaning up after yourself, and it will also lessen the load for you, even if it's just a tiny bit.  EVERY BIT COUNTS.

4.  During bath time, if your little one likes to hang out in there for a while, you can knock out two birds with one stone by reading a story, while your little one is in the bath tub.  Even though he/she may be playing with bath toys, they will still listen to the story, and look at the pictures when you show them. This should give you guys a little time to play together after bath time since up until now you have been busy around the kitchen. 

5. Now that the little one is down for the count, you can clean up any mess that is left over, bathe yourself, pack tomorrow's lunches, daycare/work bags and whatever else you need to handle like bills and wine.

These are tiny tips, but they may make things run just a little bit smoother in your house. Sometimes you will get off track...it happens, just remember to get back on where you left off.

Good Luck!