Ok, for my friends who do it all - have families, travel, have careers, have date nights with their husbands, work out regularly, go to doctor's appointments, hair appointments, and book club events.
HOW DO YOU DO IT???
Who watches the kids while you take care of yourself? When do you do laundry? When do you have time to buy clothes and shoes? When does the house get cleaned, or do you have a housecleaning service? How do you travel - do you take the kids with you? Do you have friends swap for babysitting? Do you live near family? And most importantly, what is your morning routine like?
I have been contemplating going back to work for awhile now, but can't seem to fathom taking on an additional 40+hours of work each week when I can't get the things done that I already have on my plate.
I am not being cynical here, I really really want to know how to do this. Patrick and I were discussing last night how our friends seem to have the ability to get way more done and have way more fun in their lives, and we don't understand what we're doing wrong. Please leave comments and suggestions by clicking on comments below, if you are willing to share the secrets of having it all.
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2 comments:
Great question and post Laura! I definitely don't have the perfect answer for you, but can give you a little insight into our routine and how we make it work.
Weekly schedule:
5:10am - wake up and head to gym or run (I know, early! But this is the only time I have. I'm too tired in the evenings and that time is family time for us anyway. I'm a grouch when I don't have an exercise routine)
6:50am - return home and wake up kiddos/get them dressed & ready for school
7:00am - hop in shower, girls play in our bathroom/bedroom while we are getting ready for work
7:30am - Brian heads out to take girls to school and go to work (they eat breakfast at school)
8:00am - I head out for work
5:00pm - Leave work/pick up girls
5:30pm - Everyone is home and either Brian already has dinner ready or we make dinner together. (TIP: We are religious Supper Solutions people. Most of their meals can be cooked within 30mins which is essential for us and the meals are healthier than anything you get out of a box)
6:00pm - Eat dinner as a family (we always do this except on the occasion that one of us is out of the house for the evening)
6:30pm - Clean up kitchen, head to baths or to play
7:15pm - Camryn to bed
8:00pm - Emma to bed
9:00pm - Mommy to bed
Get up and repeat :)
The most I will add during the week is book club one night a month. I try to read after Emma goes to bed. Brian usually picks up the living room of toys (HINT: teamwork is essential, I have NO idea how single parents do it!)
Weekends: This is when I complete any additional grocery shopping, although our trips have shrunk since we do Supper Solutions for most dinner meals. I DO NOT clean on the weekends. We have a weekly cleaning service that comes every Thursday. This was one thing I told Brian we absolutely had to have if I work. He doesn't disagree because otherwise he has to help clean and he hates it. Weekends are for fun with the kids.
Let's see - travel. Sometimes we travel with the kiddos, but with Brian's mom being in town, we have some opportunity to get away on occasion without them. So far, we've only left Camryn once overnight to go to Denver for the night. But we plan to get away this fall again just the two of us.
When we do go out on the weekends, it is usually not until 6:30 or 7:00pm, so Camryn is heading to bed shortly after we leave and the sitter just has to entertain Emma for about 1 hr.
Shopping for clothes/shoes - online. I buy most of the girls clothes online and a good bit of mine. I get out to a mall maybe 3-4 times a year, it's just impossible to shop with 2 little ones and when would I do it? Hair appts, try to fit these in right after work and I'm always WAY overdue before I get in again.
Dr Appts - I do most of these for the girls, their school and dr office is within a 2 mile radius of my office. Brian goes sometimes and has had to take them alone a couple of times. We both try to make the school holiday parties and switch off our pick-up/drop-off routine as needed.
Anyway, that's how we do it. It is very stressful (at least it was for me) until we found a good routine that worked for us. This is the one that we settled with and it's much easier now.
Oh - and I'm now addicted to my morning grande mocha :)
Julie, Yours was the answer I wanted most. Thank you so much for sharing. :)
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