Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Saving Time as a Busy Mom

Going to back to work this fall has been full of mixed emotions. I do enjoy my job and I feel like I get blessed with great students year after year. Yet I miss Ansel while I am gone, and I still have to keep up with all the everyday tasks that were easier to stay on top of before our precious little one came along. Justin is also finishing his last year of PTA school, so this adds some stress into the mix since he is gone two nights a week and has studying to do when he is home. Before he was in school, we basically split all our duties in half since we both worked (I know, pretty progressive, right?) Now, he has school and I have Ansel to feed, so it's still basically split, although I am trying to do as much as I can to help him since his evenings are more structured than mine. (By the way, I swear I could write a dissertation on the difference between scheduled responsibilities and flexible time to get things done.)

With all that said, here are a few things I am doing to keep myself partially sane.
  • Make freezer meals on the weekends for the next week.
  • Make two of everything so that I have leftovers and don't have to cook two nights in a row. 
  • Buy meat in larger quantities and divide them into small portions and freeze. 
  • Cook (boil) chicken ahead of time and shred or chop for easy meal prep. 
  • Limit grocery shopping trips by keeping a list and only going to the store once a week.  
  • Designate one day a week for house cleaning (sweeping, dusting, bathrooms, laundry). 
  • Pack lunches the night before. 
  • Pack pumping supplies the night before. 
  • Pick out clothes the night before. 
  • Cook a dozen scrambled eggs Sunday night and store in the fridge so I have a healthy breakfast each morning.
  • Split duties with hubby. Me: dinner, dishes - Him: trash, mowing - Both: laundry, other chores
  • Keep up with my social life (phone calls, texts to close friends, Facebook stalking...haha) while nursing. 
  • Be efficient in my work at school so that when I am home, I can focus on my hubby and babe. 
I am feeling pretty tired in the evening though, and I'll admit that I fall asleep nursing sometimes. It's sure hard to get to bed before 10 PM with getting all three bags ready (school bag, pumping bag, diaper bag) and everything else, but I am really trying. At least Ansel is sleeping like a champ 8:30-9 PM to 6 AM. My daily schedule looks something like this:

5:20 Rise and shine!
6:00 Nurse Ansel
6:45 Finish getting ready while Justin burps and changes Ansel
7:10 Drop Ansel off at sitter's
7:30-3:00/3:15 Work
3:30 Pick up Ansel
3:45-5:00 Get dinner ready, eat, clean up
5:00 Nurse Ansel and play with him
6:00 Housework, leisure, bills, etc
7:00 Exercise at least 3x a week
8:00 Nurse Ansel
9:00 Get ready for next day, read Bible
10:00 To bed!

What do you do to save time while working and raising a family?  I'm definitely looking for suggestions to better maximize my time.

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