Feeling Overwhelmed

[SunshineMama]

1. Kids eat what works for the family. Friday is tuna day because we are catholic. Don't like it don't eat. No complaints allowed at th table. I always make dinner while daycare is open. Kids Free Play or read for the last hr in the living room area while I'm making it. Also, everything is cleaned up 15 min before time to go so I'm not spending my personal time cleaning up toy messes.

2. My kids occasionally get baths during dc. Yep, flame me. Dck read outside bathroom within sight of me or I do quick baths while kids are sleeping or when all but 1dck has left. I have cameras on my sleeping kids so I can see them at all times.

3. I do a wash load every am before kids arrive. I change my kids out of pj's and immediately put in a load of wash. After preschool worktime we switch to drier and then I fold at nap or during free play.

4. Flylady.net has good organizational ideas.

5. I clean during dck too, windows and dusting in living room while kids eat breakfast. 5 min or less a day! Wipe bathroom every third or so day at nap or if my kids are playing really nicely.

6. Ask hubs to help out and give specific jobs.

7. I make freezer meals and they are tremendously helpful to have. One sat of work means weeks of extra time when you need it most.

It will get easier. Good luck. You will get in a routine soon.

Oh good, I'm not the only one who gives my kids baths during daycare hours! Phew! My kiddos are all 100% safe but I always felt bad doing it. Seriously though I don't want to work 10-12 hour days, be done super late, then just bathe them and put them to bed right after work. I need play time wih my kids too!

[Oneluckymom]

BUUUUT, what about us DCP's that do daycare that is separate from the rest of the house. Any advise there? I can TOTALLY multitask but now that I'm away from my main living area my house work is getting left by the way side

[Sprouts]

If you can afford to hire an assistant part time that.makes a huge difference! My assistant takes the kids outside while I make lunch and clean up and recharge its so helpful. She keeps the kitchen for daycare clean and whatever I ask her to do, it's so worth paying the extra for my sanity and I don't have to term anyone. I actually like having part timers but they leave earlier, I don't any child less then 3 days though because that's when problems arise.

[MrsB]

I had always felt bad too because I felt like my family's dinner time suffered. I was just too pooped by the end of daycare to do these elaborate dinners. Not to even mention my motivation to eat dinner.

Now I do alot of crockpot meals. You can cook EVERYTHING in one of those. We eat from the crockpot 3-4 times a week.

When Daycare kids are eating breakfast, I throw the meal in the crockpot. By the time daycare ends. It takes 5-10 minutes to prep the table and we are all sitting down and eating. And we are all anxiously awaiting the meal since we had to smell the yummyness (is that a word?:confused all day.

Plus there is always enough to feed the daycare kids the next day for lunch.

[SilverSabre25]

I was going to suggest enlisting your husband to help, but if he's working AND doing school then I can understand why he doesn't help much!

Decluttering is a huge one for me--it's harder to clean when you're trying to clean clutter.

Otherwise it's a lot of routine and a lot of shutting my eyes and ignoring the mess.

We clean up toys in the playroom before lunch; then they don't really get played with much before the end of the day. While kids are going potty after nap, I scoop litter boxes and work on laundry. Once I am down to just a couple kids in the late afternoon, I will bag up garbage, keep on top of the toys in the playroom, straighten the naproom, etc. I clean up the kitchen and start dinner during naptime and afternoon snack. I try to load and run the dish washer during breakfast, empty it while they eat lunch. Once the downstairs is cleaned up in the afternoon (when I have just a couple kids) we move upstairs and I tidy up here, work on dinner, clean up the living room, etc.

Meal planning is also huge, huge, HUGE. That way the shopping will be DONE and I won't be having to run out to the store in the evenings. I can plan meals during daycare time, too. I have a composition book that I plan meals in. It's handy because then I can look back on past plans for ideas. I also have a well-stocked pantry and can pull meals together out of things i always have on hand, if need be.

Time for yourself is important, too. If you don't recharge your own batteries then you can't do a good job of doing everything else that needs done. Part of naptime and the time between kids going to bed and me going to bed is always mine. I read, watch TV, play computer games, whatever. Sometimes I'll clean, even! But usually that's the more detailed, decluttering/reorganizing kind of cleaning.

[mom2many]

It was definitely much, much harder when my 3 kids were little. As they grew up and could tackle household chores, they helped me with those. When things get hectic here and my house is a wreck, it makes me crazy and is very stressful. Once things get put away the atmosphere always seems so much calmer! Staying organized and doing a little bit of housework each day is key for me! I try to my best to keep things put away, so the house at least looks neat. Toys are kept in the playroom area and everyone pitches in to clean them up several times a day. We always make it into a game!

You are in a tough situation with your husband working fulltime and going to school, because he isn't able to help you much. Definitely get your kids to step up and help when they are old enough to. It helped mine become more responsible and was a huge help to me!

I always made food for the daycare kids at lunch and our family would then eat the same thing at night for dinner. It helped making one meal that served for two purposes! This was also great when my kids were involved in after school sports and dance and needed to eat dinner early, way before 6 pm when I was off work.

[Jenniferdawn]

MrsB, would you be able to share some of those crock pot meals your family loves so much? that would be a huge help.

I wish i could hire an assistant, but it would cost the the same amount as money I would make having two daycare kids here. I can only take 4 in addition to my own kids. So with my expenses, she would end up making more money than me!

The taking time for me is crucial. I sacrifice my time too much of me I think. Good news is I've joined a woman's group that three hours every Tuesday night is just for me without kids, so that will help.

[MrsB]

I cook just about everything in the crock pot. I could give you recipes but I dont really have any recipes. I just throw what I have in the crock pot and everything is all nice and ready to go.

If there are no veggies in the pot with the food, then I usually serve them raw on the side or a salad.

Taco soup - I will usually buy a rotiserree chicken from the grocery store and we use the chicken for sandwiches and I clean the carcass and the rest goes in the pot.

Beef stew
spaghetti sauce and meat balls (I usually brown up the meat balls the night before) then put everything in the pot in the morning and turn on low
ham soup
roast w/ potatoes and carrots
pork tenderloin
bbq chicken
pulled pork or chicken sandwiches
ribs
polsa kilbasa, mushrooms, carrots, potatoes
one of everyones favorites is meatballs (i use a jar of mustard, a jar of ketchup, and a half a jar of grape jelly) serve it with rice.

Those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.