Help! Not enough hours in the day!

[VHunter]

I'm running in circles, trying to find enough hours in the day...and it seems, I've actually LOST time with my daughters attending school, as opposed to gaining it.
:irked:

My typical day:
6am: day starts and I get up, feed kids, shower, dress myself, dress them, do their hair and my own (usually tossed into a loose bun as their is no time for my own), paint my face, do Mereena's lunch, feed dog & cat, put dog out/bring dog in, and rush them out the door to walk Mereena (my eldest) to school for 8:25am.
Walk back home again and get there by 9am to clean up breakfast mess.

9:30 to noon'sh: (depending on the day of the week, will be something like this doing one of the following or several of them depending)... Fold laundry while watching a show that hubby taped for me that I couldn't watch previous night due to clients, do duty-day at preschool and assist teacher where my youngest Cailin attends, clean bathrooms, make all 3 beds, load or empty washer/dryer, clean bathrooms, take a client on, vacuum, dust, empty diswasher, clean fishbowls, water plants etc.. OR play with Cailin (if I have client in aft, I play in the morning and vice versa), occasional 10min here and there for pc and checking emails... You get the drift

Noon'sh to 1: feed my wee little monkey - Cailin
Take her outside for playtime, or play learning games etc..

1pm: Take on client OR continue fun with Cailin

2:50pm: leave to walk to go get Mereena from school. Wait for kindy students to be dismissed one by one to appropriate guardian. Walk back home.

3:45 - 5:30: dinner prep, dinner, dinner clean up

5:30pm: break before 1s client

6 - 10:30pm: clients

10:30 - whenever: pc time for me doing social stuff, work for Cailin's preschool, work for Mereena's elementary school, data entry for Avon, data entry for my business, maybe watch one of my shows that was taped earlier in the evening...

Obviously different days require juggling of things around school stuff and clients and such, depending on scheduling. I always have clients in the evening. I only take certain clients (not all) during the day who don't mind Cailin (she's very quiet and self-entertaining) or when Cailin's at pre-school.

That's my monday to friday schedule.
let's not even look at weekends, or the multitude of things I haven't listed that aren't daily things BUT are part of life and must be done (like preparing doc to present to the Governing Board of my daughter's elementary school, or meeting with the principal, or going to the dentist, etc etc).


I NEED MORE HOURS!! Where do I get them?

I'm thinking on putting youngest in part-time daycare, 2-3 days a week, instead of the 2mornings at preschool (for which I have to do duty-days and fundraising and other related CRAP) while daycare is cheaper and less work.
It will afford me more daytime hours for business so I could free up more evenings and work out my schedule better, I 'think'???

any ideas ladies?

Feeling very overwhelmed.................
:cry:

 

[Zo Zo]

Something's got to give!!

OK... these are just some of my ideas, feel free to ignore them!

Can you do less housework? If you clean the bathrooms every day, how about cleaning them every other day? Ditto hoovering ang dusting. Your standards might be very high, and maybe you can afford to let them slip a little, not necessarily for ever, just for now while your hands are so full....

Or get a cleaner :lol:

With regard to waiting at the school, look at your watch and see how long you actually stand there, this is such a frustrating waste of time (for me, anyway!) If you are standing there for 10 minutes, leave the house 10 minutues later... if the kids are dismissed one by one Mereena is not going to be hanging around outside on her own.

With regard to clients - sometimes you've got to say 'no'. Maybe you have too many clients for this stage in your life. Stop taking on new clients and maybe even lose one or two to free up some time. This is hard, I know but it does sound like you are overdoing things!

With regard to dinner, again, you have high standards, maybe one or two days per week you could do something convenient that is less time consuming to prepare and less time consuming to clear up.

Things like data entry, don't to it every day, do it once per week, sitting at the pc can take up so much time :lol:

Lastly, don't feel obliged to get so involved with school activities. I learnt that when I stepped back, someone else would step up.

At the end of the day, you cannot conjure up more hours in the day, you just need to learn to say no!:hug:

 

[dee]

crikey i must be lazy!! i do my bathroom once a wk , apart from giving the bath a quick clean when its been used, i hoover every couple of days (less if i am lucky) :lol:
i personally think , if its cheaper and you will free up more space maybe put youngest in daycare ? if you are happy to do it , if not , then you have to SLOW DOWN otherwise you will be totally worn out
good luck hun xxxx

 

[leah82]

Sending you hugs hun!! :hug: hug: Know the feeling!! Just not enough hours in the day. As long as your happy to put little one in day-care & she'll settle well go for it!! You need a break somewhere or you'll make yourself ill. My eldest is at school now but my youngest (3yrs), goes to nursery 3 half days & 2 full. (one being half day but I run parents & toddlers one afternoon at the nursery so he comes to that also)!! But he loves it, gets him out of the house & some independence, but also gives me some free time!!!!!!

 

[marion]

Its amazing that so many women all over the world are juggling family life and work. Your day seems very similar to many British and Irish mums.

I had three children under 5 at one stage, and i was totally losing it HAHA. But now they are at high school and i have more time to concentrate on myself.

I think its important to make decisions that make life easier on yourself, such as the changing to the creche and cleaning a little less. Also i remember helping out at the school but then resenting it as it took up so much of my time during the mornings, so i just started to say no im working, even tho i was working at home, Don't feel guilty about that.

Good Luck and best wishes to all hard working mums out there

 

[Danger Mouse]

Wow super woman or should I say Mary Poppins lol

 

[VHunter]

OH gosh no! I don't do bathrooms every day, nor the vacuuming.. some of that stuff is varied day to day obviously.
Well, maybe not.
My front room where I have clients HAS to be dusted daily. No choice there.
The powder room (small loo) off the kitchen that clients use has to be cleaned every day too, cause well....... kids are messy and splash everywhere when they wash up before a meal.

I have started putting my foot down re: stuff for the pre-school and elementary school.
BUT the Pre-school is a co-op and to keep costs down, parents have to 'kick' in by fundraising and each having their assigned tasks. Yet ANOTHER reason I want to put my daughter in daycare instead.
As for the elementary, I've had to 'fight' for some changes lately (like increased security for the kindergartens when they exit the building because teachers weren't doing their job and my daughter was nearly in the street because I was exactly 1min late one day).

Hubby helps out where he can... but his day starts at 4:30... he often does 12hr days that are very physical, comes home to help out with kids while I work and it's hard for him to even keep his eyes open. He does help out with the kitchen and cleaning on weekends. If I ask him to run an errand or do yardwork, poopscoop... he's great bout it. He often does it without me saying a word. There's a lot around here he does that I never do (garbage collection, yard work..).

But.. yeah, need to say no somewhere.
I'm leaning towards the daycare BIG TIME.

Right now, it's 7:31am, taking a 10min time-out for my morning coffee and smoke, then off to take Mereena to school.
Friend/client coming at 9.....
Later today, off to the SAAQ for my new (old) car LOL
Grocery shopping...

Thanks for listening..

:hug::hug::hug:

 

[nikkirocco]

wow well done you. I simply would not be able to keep to a schedual like that in a million years you must be exhausted. I would def try getting some extra childcare to give yourself some time. Do you know any nearby mums that you could swap childcare with for a few hrs or one day a week? Do you know anyone that would do some cleaning in exchange for a treatment? I find a favour for a favour really helps when money is tight and works really well. Could you make a big dinner one night and save enough to reheat the next or freeze so cooking can be reduced?
I think we all feel the need to be a perfect mother, wife, friend, etc and earn a living. Too much pressure is put on us or do we put the pressure on ourselves? The housework will still be there tomorro so don't give yourself such a hard time. Sending you big hugs sounds like you are doing a fab job xx

 

[*JOANNE*]

lordy i couldnt keep up with you hun, my life is so hectic scince starting college full time, the 3 boys and nail clients........................
pot noodles, 11p prawn noodles.....oh and quiche pmsl
rustlers burgers.....creased clothes......thats us now....pmsl.
i blitz once a week but even that now is to much to fit in.......:lol:
before september i was a perfectionist clean house daily on top of the washing good home cooked meals etc .........now i cant do that the boys arent suffering for it nor am i...........
i agree with others reguarding the school...taking to much on.....helping out at school is taking up your "me " time

 

[dee]

plus it must be great that day care is cheaper than schools ! over here childcare is a fortune