Tips to keep your sanity

[Spinderella]

Hey Single parents....

Do you have any tips or routines that you could share to help keep your family organized? I have two little girls and i feel so overwhelmed at times.

For example, I find meal time prep difficult and stressful. How do you plan and organize meals?

Laundry is difficult too. It just piles up no matter how often I try to stay on top of it.

Kid's toys are all over the place. I can't seem to keep them organized. Do you have any ideas to get rid of the clutter?

Maybe I'm too hard on myself. I work four part time jobs, and take the kids to church on Sunday.

I wish I was more organized....

 

[PolarBear3]

As a single parent, I think feeling overwhelmed is a normal state of mind.

You don't say how old your girls are, but I'm in favor of having kids help out whenever possible. If your kids are old enough to get toys out, then they are old enough to put them back. It doesn't mean the toys will be organized, but they can at least be in the corner of the living room or a bedroom.

Give the girls jobs to do. Even simple things can help like putting plastic cups or silverware in the dishwasher or matching up their socks when the laundry is done. It will probably take some teaching and patience at first, but it's worth it.

I multi-task a lot. I put in a load of laundry before I start making dinner so I can move it to the dryer after dinner and fold clothes after my son goes to bed. I make enough dinner so that we can have leftovers another night. Or I'll get up early on the weekend and get chores done.

Some nights I'm happy if I get my son fed and to bed without any major catastrophes. So go easy on yourself and know that you're doing the best you can to take care of your daughters.

Kathy

 

[~Lynz~]

im a single mum of two boys one is nearly 4years and one is nearly 4 months

my house looks like a booms hit it most days. we only got a 2 bedroom house and it should be big enough but its just not.

im trying to get rid of all the suff we dont need like chothes tht dont fit or just dont like.

its just muti tasking everything. my 3 yr ol;d helps me do the washing. and he helps tidy up his own room ath 5 mins later its a mess again.

i try to get up before my boys which cant be difficult but the younges usally is happy in the morning so even when he is awake he just lyes there and i get stuff done.

i stat college soon and i dono how im gonna mange everything but thes no easy trick u just got to keep on going.

im also brest feed the youngest and thats taking lots out of me energy wise so it is just basiclly if the go to bed then i go straight after them so what if theres washing on the living room hair. it ill still be there tonmorrow

do ur best for you girls and thats all u can do.

 

[SelfProtect]

Meals: you can buy frozen already chopped bell pepper and onions. I also buy premade stuff like corn dogs, taquitos, chicken nuggets. Canned veggies. I usually only cook one big pot of something a week. Like spaggehti or chili. Then we eat leftovers or the premade stuff. Its not the healthiest way but it is the easiest. For snacks I buy a lot of fruit and veggies to make up for it.

For laundrey I wash and dry. The kids sort and have their only laundrey baskets in their rooms. They can fold and put away or live out of the clean laundrey basket, I don't care. because my son doesn't care and lives out of his laundrey basket I buy Wrinkle Free spray he can use instead of ironing. For me I wash all 8 loads on Saturday. I get home from work at 7:00 when there are no afterschool activities which is rare. Some days I'm not home until 9:00.

The laundrey baskets are just large bins that are $5 at Walmart. We have 2 in each room. One is for clean clothes and one is for toys. Oh my son has 3 cause he uses one for clean shirts and one for clean pants.

I've had nannys in the past. There are a lot of unemployed people that need jobs right now. I use to have a lady that cooked cleaned and watched the kids. We all loved her but I think the work load ran her off. LOL!

Also, don't feel you need to keep toys. I throw away a lot when they are the cheapies laying around. Also go through and throw away a lot of toys that you know they won't miss then ask them to go through and give some to charity. I was surprised how many my 5 year old got rid of on his own.

I have one kid that empties the top of the dishwasher and another empties the bottom and the 5 year old empties the silverware. I also have them make my coffee every night so it is ready for me in the morning. My son does it on odd days and my girl does it on even days. It is always a problem on the 31 of the month cause my son has to do it twice LOL!

If you spray your bathtub with scrubbing bubbles once or twice a week, you never have to scrub. Just spray and rinse.

I get up early every morning for my quiet time before the kids are up, it's the best time of day! I also get up early and try and spend 15 minutes cleaning up. Its amazing what gets done in that little time when no one is distracting you.

I'll write more if I think of more.

 

[SelfProtect]

Also, if they don't get a bath everynight they won't die. I also use to only wash my son once a week. The other days he is in the bath with a soapy bubble bath and I ask him to wash himself. He does fine. Not as good as me but fine.

 

[Spinderella]

Thanks for the great tips everyone. Things are getting better.