Transparently here’s how we make it work & it’s changed the game. But first let me be very clear- everything comes with sacrifice and each families will look different based on their set of circumstances.
We added a mother helper into the rhythm.
A kind of hybrid between babysitter, home keeper, and nanny, but really her own thing. Literally only best described by the actual title🤪 We currently have three children 6, 4, and 1. Our big girls literally started school today and our little guy is home full time. I work from home most days so our helper comes to our house a few hours a day, a few days of the week.
The way my brain works best + most efficient is with uninterrupted work time (trust me I’ve tried) so being able to check in and out of “sprints” while knowing my little guy is being loved on, the home is being tended to/staying in rhythm, and if need be I can step out at any moment is a sweet spot for how I make it work right now.
Here’s a peak into what it looked like yesterday:
- Came home after drop off for our oldest & tidied a bit, got laundry going and played/hung out with my two youngest for about an hour
- Mother helper arrived and we all caught up (she was gone all summer) and did some laundry together
- I fed the kids lunch, got our 1 year old down for a nap while she finished some clean out projects we didn’t get to complete this weekend
- My daughter and I left to spend an hour or so at Chuck E. Cheese for 1-on-1 time for her last day of summer
- While I was gone our helper was able to unload the dishwasher from the night before and reload it with breakfast + lunch and swap over/put away the laundry I started that morning
- When I got back she had given my little guy a snack after his nap and I was able to get started on dinner before she left and we left to do pickup for my oldest
Con't in comments!
3 months agobaileydomangue
Once we got home, instead of going through a to-do list, I tended to dinner while playing and spending time connecting with my kids. The home was clean, the laundry was caught up, home made dinner was cooking, the tabs were CLOSED. We just had life to live (the whole point) while waiting for everyone’s favorite guy to get home! Every day is different (like today, when I used the time for work) but the value of having two wheels turning at the same time OR the rhythm continuing as I step out briefly is invaluable. If you have littles, ones that depend on you much more (like while nursing) and younger kids that aren’t in a place of full blown big responsibilities yet, this is a sweet spot and has been for us. I just had to get to the end of me trying to do it all, while always being and feeling behind and ask for help! There's no gatekeeping here, if you're 🤯 right now what questions do you have?
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