Well you know how I said I needed to enjoy this last baby and not wish it away. Sometimes I find this a challenge. Like when I would really like to NOT be wearing a 4 kilogram baby in a sling to get things done.
As of last Friday, the Newman household is sans au pair. For the first time in 2 years.
This means that a) I need to do more of the housework and house management and food preparation stuff and b) I need to be a lot more organised during the day.
Also it has meant I have seen all that hasn't really been done in the last 2 years - like deep cleaning of cupboards, tidying of pantry, wiping down of shutters, properly cleaning the shower. As my friend said the other day - if you want something done the way you like it, you really need to do it yourself. I have been accepting not quite things to my satisfaction, as, well, I was never one to let perfect be the enemy of good.
So with baby in the sling - bending down is harder work, also using strong cleaning products and dealing with hot cooking equipment is not ideal. So reaching anything in my kitchen (all in up or down drawers/cupboards), cooking, cleaning - is challenging and tiring.
D and I, believe me, have tried to get S to sleep in his cot. Honestly he lasts like one minute. He will be sound asleep in our arms or the sling, and be awake in one minute once his head hits the cot mattress. Even if I feed him to sleep in our bed during the day, he will wake. Funnily enough at night, he is happy to sleep next to me all night - though still with regular feeds. I just roll over him to give him the other boob. (This can be tricky with weak stomach muscles - see earlier post on exercise!)
Anyway - have implemented a get organised plan for household management. And if your thoughts are along the lines of, "My goodness, this educatemummy lady needs something better to do with her time!" - I think you may not know my four children and husband, where organisation is not something that comes naturally.
So on the inside of the pantry door are two new charts. The first is the weekly cleaning schedule. This is a daily outline of the chores D or I need to do each day to keep on top of things. It includes a week column to tick when it has been done. It would not be possible to do it all at one time (as it would need about 4 hours plus I think). Also by doing a little daily (including bathrooms, kitchen, vacumming at least twice a week) it should stop the germs taking over!
Included in this schedule is time for a 'deep clean' item - this is a once a month activity such as listed above. This is where each room or area gets a good going over - proper dusting and tidying etc.
And on the weekend there is time for two outside activities. Also there is a date column to say when it was last done so that nothing slips between the cracks. For example, if my children go out on either deck after bath, we currently need to re wash their feet as the decks are FILTHY. Also it depresses me no end to have people around for a swim and a play when there are leaves and dirt all over pool tiles and the kids very small play area.
The second schedule is our meal plan.
Please excuse the photo of the scrunched up plan for this week. S had a hissy fit on his first ALDI shop yesterday such that I had to complete the shop holding him screaming (having hid in a corner of the shop to give him a quick feed), and relied on a friend to unpack and pack my trolley (thank goodness you were there K!). So the schedule with shopping list was scrunched up in my bag as a result of the fracas. S shall not come shopping with me again in a hurry.
Anyway, this is a list of the meals (including lunch and snack items) for the week, selected from a list of favourite recipes which I will add to. Also I will try to do one new meal a week so that we don't die of culinary boredom. Also below each dinner is room to put the extra ingredients needed for shopping. If I have it in the fridge/pantry it doesn't go on the list.
Then on the other side of the schedule is a standard shop list where I can cross off items if I don't need to replace this week. I am still developing this list, so next week I will reprint it with the items I forgot the first time I did it. The other benefit of this is that I can give the list to D and he will be able to shop hopefully without spending too much money on unnecessary items (which is his tendency!).
So how is that for a plan? Let's see how it goes and whether I can stick to it.
I am inherently a list person when it comes to tasks that require little strategy or creativity. Probably why accounting suits me at times - I love order and structure, so that the boring tasks can be done quickly and efficiently, so that we can get on with the fun stuff. Probably also why I did well at process re-engineering (remember that?!).
So these lists will be implemented with S in the sling, and hopefully my back will hold out longer than his determination to not sleep in his cot during the day. Groan.
Labels: household management, Large Family, Stay at home mum
