Back at Work ans Stressed Out - Help!

[lenmont]

Your schedule sounds pretty similar to mine, except that I usually shower at night, and often shower with DD to kill two birds with one stone. Would your kids be willing to hop in the shower with you? And I usually go to bed around 11 and wake up closer to 6.

Meal planning helps, as does having a crockpot. I basically tell myself that each night, my goal is to straighten up the kitchen and do one more household chore. If I'm tired, that one other chore can be as simple as putting some mail away, or if I'm feeling more energetic, I'll do some laundry or sweep. I usually spend saturday mornings doing laundry and cleaning. My house is never perfect and I'm often tired and stressed, but at least I feel like I'm accomplishing something if I set one small goal to take care of each day.

[Arabesque]

Originally Posted by lenmont Your schedule sounds pretty similar to mine, except that I usually shower at night, and often shower with DD to kill two birds with one stone. Would your kids be willing to hop in the shower with you?.

That's a great idea. I might just try that.

[DottieHarley]

I completely understand the issue of SO not being home for the frantic evenings - DH is not home til after DD's asleep, 4-5 nights per week, AND he works ALL DAY Saturday and every other Sunday.
Some thoughts:
-Definitely shower at night!
-Re: dinner prep, I do lots of cook-once-eat-2/3/4 times, with the big cook day being planned for a night when I know DH will be home (IDK if your DH schedule is that reliable?). On his late nights, DD and I will seriously have scrambled eggs, grilled cheese, or cold cereal and fruit. I feel no remorse for this.
-I leave stuff in the crockpot for 10-11 hours and it's fine... big cuts of tough meat though, not b/l s/l chicken breasts OR you could start the crockpot the night before, and when you wake up pop it in the fridge? Then at night it's just scoop and reheat!
-Is there any way that you can get into work earlier? I realize it would kill the whole commute-with-DH thing, but if it's at all possible a little more time in the evenings can make a big difference. I leave the house at the crack of dawn and it's up to DH to get DD off to daycare. Then I leave work quite early (for most people) and have more time in the evenings.
-Simplify anything you can. Ie errands on the weekends - combine, make DH do quick stops on his way home from work, purchase online, etc. Do you have a smartphone? Can you do anything via app while commuting?
-My favorite tip... let the housework go Seriously, i scrub the kitchen floor maybe once every couple months. Bathrooms are clean, we have clean clothes and diapers, everything else I consider expendable :-)
-I clean the tub while I'm in it and the rest of the bathroom while DD is in the bathtub.

[Arabesque]

Thank you for all the fantastic suggestions. Unfortunately DH's schedule is not predictable, but I think you're all right, I need to just let myself relax and not care if the kids have scrambled eggs or pbj for dinner some nights.

[5PrincessMommy]

I'm right there with you! Evenings are SO hard! I have 5 kids, one of which is a baby who will not let me put her down once I'm home, and one is a 2 year old who's just plain crazy.

I have to pack 4 lunches every night too. One time this week I was just too tired and too busy and never got lunches packed. Luckily, dh saved the day and brought me and the older girls McDonalds to school (I teach at their school). The girls were SO mad at me b/c they thought they were going to starve LOL.

I guess I am realizing that I have to let some things go, and let others pick up the slack when I just can't. It's still so hard though.

ETA little side note: Note to self-buy some food to keep at school in case of emergency LOL