How do you do it? Is something pretty much no-one ever asks me. But I'm going to share anyway.
I am a systems junkie. I like things to work and be organised, and because I have some strange issue with time (as in, if I have to be somewhere at 3pm I worry about it from about 2pm and can't start anything that won't be finished in time... and yet we keep just making it to school on time in the morning!) I need to know how long things will take so I can best arrange my day.
It wasn't always this way, but the reality is as our family has grown so has the need for systems that work. Combine that with a supertrucker hubster who is away half the week or more and you can understand why I get a but thingy when I'm not on top of things.
So I have some systems that work really well. I make sandwiches and try to do the baking for school snacks at the end of the week or over the weekend. All the sandwiches are frozen and the snacks appropriately stored so when the kids get home of an afternoon I can repack their lunch bags, pop them in the fridge and not worry about them. I've challenged myself to no bought snack bars or similar this term, and so far am right on top of it.
Laundry is another system I'm usually on top of depending on the weather. I don't have a usable outside clothes line (ie its under a huge tree for reasons beyond me) so I wash of an evening and load up the clothes horses. I have a system within the system where all the clothes for individual people are hung together, so I can fold them and pop away right away once they're dry. The horses go outside in the morning and the clothes are usually dry and ready to put away by mid afternoon. Anyone who's known me a while will know I LOATHE and DETEST doing laundry, it is my most hated household chore. So I am actually quite proud to have a system that is going great guns for us. That said with the crazy weather we've been having of late, my marvellous Mum has been running the washing through her dryer for me which has been such a blessing. At least in Winter I can pop the horses over the floor ducted heating... the recent humidity has been terribly unhelpful!
I try to have dinner started by lunchtime, as afternoons and evenings here can be challenging especially when hubs is away. I like to be able to just spend time with the bigs after their school day so knowing what we're doing for dinner makes life lots easier. I'm a half hearted menu planner... I try to keep a running menu but inevitably I don't want what I'm meant to be making on any given day and it all falls by the wayside. Instead I have big cook up days so our freezer always has a few meals ready to go when the lazies strike.
I also buy a lot of things in bulk from Costco to save time and occasionally money. Even when it doesn't work out all that much cheaper, the convenience of not having to drag two small children out shopping more often than necessary makes it well worthwhile for me. Check out Bogue Living for a good cost/value analysis of Costco shopping.
And if all this sounds a bit rigorous and restrictive, it isn't. I'm a bit ace at multi-tasking in general, and by getting as much household stuff done as possible when the man is away I get to actually just have fun and enjoy our family time when he's at home.
So when do I blog/Facebook/tweet? Well I am breastfeeding two small people. If that isn't the best use of enforced sitting time I don't know what is.
Ohai! I'm Kate. I say stuff.
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I am a systems junkie in some ways and not in others. Not at all a systems junkie in the food preparation, cleaning, washing, daily living ways... very much a systems person in the financial and work ways... luckily am married to someone who is a systems person in ALL Ways so the things I suck at are covered! We even have a printed shopping list with all the "usual stuff" on there that just gets ticked if we need it that week and spots to put in miscellaneous stuff - all meals are thought of before the shop so we only buy what we need - plus chocolate - and he puts it all away according to another system - I love it! I fold up and put away the shopping bags afterward, hehe that's how much responsibility he trusts me with!! His organisational skills support mine - he looks after what we're buying and eating according to the budget I set, but can't manage money to save his life while I'm pedantic on it, I tweak it almost weekly to make sure we survive. Match made in heaven, I feel! Is suspect he'll be a bit like you in the food preparation stakes when we are parents - he has a weeks worth of lunches and "smokos" in the freezer for himself as it is! And he makes mine when I'm working. Bloody amazing. When it's up to me, I just don't eat at all! I buy a coffee and that's that! Amazed by your (and J's) system-keeping! (sorry uber-long comment!)
ReplyDeletegreat post. I like to be organised and am a self confessed control freak but at the moment am really lacking and it is frustrating me no end
ReplyDeleteKymbo you know the daftest thing, with all this organization i often get to mid morning or lunchtime and realise I've not fed myself! That's just silly :s One of my goals this year is to budget better so we can save for a holiday next year. Do you use a spreadsheet? I need a better system for that.
ReplyDeleteKelli it's hard to get the mojo back huh? I go through periods where it all falls to pieces (often tied in with kid changes... Dropping naps, changing bedtimes etc) and I often need to kick myself into gear. I love it when things run well but I'm not averse to some major procrastination either, which inevitably just makes me more frustrated!
Being a systems junkie is the best way to be! I would be a stress head without my systems and routine and I would end up sitting in a corner, hugging myself in a little white jacket!
ReplyDeleteBe proud of your systems!
Oh and I so remember the days of tandem feeding in front of the computer!
Go you!
Sooooo trying to get into this at the moment, cos I know it will hit the wall next year when the big girl goes to school! Have also changed work days in the last few months which threw whatever "days system" in regards to washing cleaning etc straight out the window. Amazed at anyone that can manage it as well as you! xxx
ReplyDeleteReading your about page and came to this post.
ReplyDeleteThis is me. We could be twins. I am also a systems junkie. So much so that I could be considered to have slight obsessive compulsive tendencies.
ps: LOVE tupperware!