Working Mom Life Hacks?

[quedee]

My husband and I both work full time and have two kids (22 months and 5 years). Looking for all the life hacks you have that make everything more manageable. I always feel like I am behind at work and home. The yard, papers (like mail and school papers), and clutter are where I struggle the most.

I will share some of mine below:

-no sort laundry, everyone gets their own basket and a day of the week and we do their load

-no fold laundry for kids- my daughter has a ikea cube shelf with cubes labeled by item type and everything goes in there, no folding needed

-pre made outfits for kids in an over the door shoe holder- makes morning a lot easier.

-load and run the dishwasher every night, even if it’s not completely full (this one is my husbands job)

-meal prep lunches on weekends- I make all our lunches for the week on Saturday or Sunday

-eMeals & Walmart +- just started eMeals this year, and man it’s such a time savor and helps with decisions fatigue about dinners. We have used Walmart+ for many years and love the convenience.

-housekeeper- someone comes 2xs a month for an hour and does the linens/toilets/floors. This one saves me hours on the weekends, but would be the first thing I would let go of if money became an issue.

 

[nativenewyorker1980]

@quedee I have a file box for keeping the kids school stuff/art. If it's not worthy of that box (one file per grade) it goes straight to the trash.

 

[quedee]

@nativenewyorker1980 Love this! One box per kid or one total. Preschool projects and papers are literally everywhere right now. I need a system.

 

[gemsqaush]

@quedee Check out Clutterbug’s system for organizing paper clutter on YouTube. I recently started doing it and it’s been huge on helping me cut down on papers.

 

[nativenewyorker1980]

@quedee One per kid. Search milestone boxes on Etsy. I made my own.

 

[grace_alone]

@nativenewyorker1980 I always took pics of my kid’s art for anything that wasn’t worthy of holding onto, I have a folder of them on my phone. My son loved looking back at them and I didn’t have to deal with the papers

 

[kram1005]

@grace_alone I do this too! My daughter is prolific and taking pictures and tossing the original is the only way we’re not drowning in paper

 

[benlin910]

@nativenewyorker1980 You can also turn art projects into paper boats or planes for a disposable activity if you don't want them going straight to the trash

 

[aiden92]

@nativenewyorker1980 I do this too! I don't save every single art project.

 

[jonathanbewell]

@quedee My biggest hack was lowering the expectations of myself. Honestly, I love it. Tired from a long day in the office? The cleaning can wait. Relax after the kids go to bed then go to sleep early. Clean another day. I had a long, rough day in the office, I’m on my period, and I feel so ill. Both kids just went to bed. The living room has some toys out and the laundry needs to be done. But I said screw it and ate an ice cream cone and I’m going to bed by 10pm tonight. I won’t be happier if I do the chores. I’ll be a happier person if I refill my cup before I pour out for others!

 

[quedee]

@jonathanbewell Love this! Moms are so hard on themselves. My work bestie and I always comment that we are expected to work like we don’t have kids and parent like we don’t have jobs. It can be so overwhelming.

 

[wiley27]

@jonathanbewell Yeah, that’s helped me the most. Is my house a total mess right now? Yep. Don’t care nearly enough to do anything about it in the middle of snow days and illnesses. I made a bag of popcorn and sat on the couch watching tv for an hour tonight with plans to go to bed at 10.

 

[jonathanbewell]

@wiley27 Yeah!!! Enjoy that popcorn!!!

 

[acedeck]

@jonathanbewell The mess can wait, it’s not going anywhere

 

[vanessajune]

@quedee I do a nightly pickup so that I’m not searching for things in the morning or tripping over everything that was left out from the day before. Nothing more than 10-15 minutes after the kids go to bed.

We also do weekly family meetings on Sunday and add everything to the calendar so we all know what we have going on for the week.

 

[quedee]

@vanessajune We do nightly pick up too. Playroom is attached to living room and it’s a nightly to do for our kids to clean up before bed.

Family meeting is a great idea!

 

[pheadablessed]

@vanessajune Yup, nightly pick up here as well.

Means I always get up to a nice and neat house.

 

[quedee]

@pheadablessed And my kids play better the next day? I don’t know what it is, but they don’t play as well in the clutter.

 

[pheadablessed]

@quedee Probably easier to make clear choices as to what to play with.

 

[fatherhansen]

@vanessajune Same here! It's also a safety thing for us or if there are emergencies in the middle of the night.