So now that Fall is here our busy lives just got a whole lot more complacated. With the kids being back in school, having after school activities, us having to work and much much more. Its starting to get harder for us to keep up with our daily housework, and other activities. I'm not sure about you guys but sometimes I don't know if I'm coming or going. After i get off from work I come home to have only 30 minutes to an hour to myself before it's time for me to get the kids from school and daycare and to their activities. With my oldest having his after school activities and me working on my blog, My upcoming book Santa Babe and my cookbook New Orleans Best. I sometimes feel like there isnt enough hours in the day for me to complete everything that needs to be done. Especially when I have to cook dinner and make sure that the kids have done there homework, completed their chours, took theirs bathes, ate dinner, etc. It seems like once the sun goes down my night gets shorter lol. But its always ruff for me the first couple of weeks of Fall especially after Day Light Saving Time comes around, but over the past two years I've been working on a schedule that nt only works around my family but it also helps me get through my day a lot better. I Just had to get better organzied when it came to balacing my time and everything esle. So I went to a group on facebook adn asked a few moms how they make things happen when in their household. Just to my surprise a mother of six inboxed me, she went on to explain to me how she not only has time to go to work and take care of home but also have a couple of hours to spare before its time for her to call it a night herself. And with her being off on weekends she really has more time to complete the things that she know she wont be able to get done durning the weekday. This mom was having the same problem I was having a few years ago, and when it came down to balacing her time she had no clue how to do that. She went on to tell me that before she got in her scheudle her life was hetic and having six kids that are into six different things didn't make it any better. She said that on good days she barly had 20 minutes to herself, and as far as hangingh out with friends she didn't even know what that was like. And thats when she decided that it was time to get some type of order in her life and in her household. So she started a time schedule, on this schedule she broke down her time. She made a list of all the activities that her kids where in, she also made a list of all the things that she had to do herself durning the day while the kids were at school. Now im not going to lie at first I thought that it was a waste of time to do this but after i read further I started to get the hint. Once she figured out which one of her friend had kids in certain activites with her kids she inquired about the carpooling. Which gave her an extra three hours each day. Once she figured out how much free time she had in the day she decided to give at least two hours to herself to help unwind from the days events. Once she got her family on the schedule she set out in search for ways to make meal planning better. Like any mother I can completely understand the need to plan meals ahead for my family. Once she found the meal planner that worked for her and her family she later come back and posted the success of her schedule and meal planning to the group. So a week later I took the time and did the same thing, I planned my meals and even got everyone on a schedule, but as we all know life doesnt always go as planned especially when you have kids. But I'm proud to say that after a year and five months we finally got it together. Not only is every one on a schedule and I have been succefully sticking to my meal planner but my kids are enjoying the extra hours that they have each day and I'm also enjoying the extra hours of down time that I have as well. Since then I have been able to catch up on some much needed girl time and reading. But here are some tips for you single mothers out there. Having a schedule and sticking to it is a wonderful thing and trust me it will have you feeling so much better about. Being a single mother is stressful enough so if there is anyway that i can help any mother make that better I will. Plan out your week, weeks, or months in advance, trust me it will come in handy to do so. It will be hard but try your best to stick to the planner especially durning the week. Somewhere on each week it doesnt matter which day of the week give you and your kids free days, free days will help you so much. On my free days I order in and allow the kids to do what they want to do, I sit back and dont do anything that day. I make sure the house is lean and tidy the night before so once i make it home from work there isn't anything that I have to do but to get a glass of wine and unwind. In my house our free day is Wedensday, and since Wedensday is the middle of the week it allows us to just relax and prepare the Thursday. Durning the week i try not to run any errands since im limited on hours once I get off from work. So when Saturday gets here the kids and i take the day and run all the errands that we need to run. Once i make it back home I use the rest of the day for me time (unless the kids and I have plans to go out and about) By the time sunday roll around I'm back to my regular schedule.
I hope this is helpful to some of you and please feel free to sure your methods.
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