I'll be honest, sometimes you just have days that go completely out the window. I don't know anyone that has perfect children that do the same thing day out with the perfect attitude, especially at Master almost three's age! The one things though is that if we are home, bedtime is ALWAYS 7pm. If he gets up I just keep putting him back to bed until he stops getting back up.I put him on a Save Our Sleep routine when he turned one and never looked back. Its a controversial topic so I'm not going to go too much into it and I can stay it wasn't as effective with the second boy who just eventually just found his own routine.
Pick up as I go:
As an example as I move about the house I will look around a room before I leave it to see if there is anything there that needs to go where I am going. e.g.. Picking up the socks in the lounge room and dropping them at the laundry , taking the clean clothes basket to my room to put away even though I am only going to the bedroom to put my runners on.
Meal Plan:Especially because I am wanting to stay on my healthy eating and exercise regime I always prep my own meals to avoid eating the wrong stuff. As for Master Almost Three I try to make him healthy snacks too that I can whip out the freezer and throw in a pan or the microwave. I also have packs in the freezer for whole family meals for when the other half comes home. It means more quality time spent together and a whole lot less clean up! I usually spend one chunk of time on a Sunday to get this done. Ill cook up things like meatballs, burgers, slow cooker soups or roasts or snacks I've made in the food processor or baked goods frozen individually like muffins or vegetable pancakes. I like to sneak veggies in wherever I can and use nut meals over flours.
Order groceries online:For some of my things I'll head to the shops for to avoid paying more than I want to or taking advantage of the junk mail specials. I do order my groceries online from an organic company which costs me $60 a box and lasts me the week. I have even managed to score a box of veggie scraps after they found out I feed our bunnies some of the food so now I have free bunny food delivered, bonus! We will also soon be putting an order in for our meat getting it direct from the farm in bulk to put in the freezer and last us the year. It works out so much cheaper, especially when we are eating predominantly organically.
Rotate the kids toys:
Some time ago I got to a point where I had just had enough. Enough of the toys and kid's bits and bobs strewn around the house and me spending way too many hours in the day picking it up only to trip over it again 20 minutes later. I went out and bought and huge plastic tub and stripped 50% of the toys ( actually probably more) into the tub and put it in the cupboard. I then put the remaining toys on to a cube shelf so they could be easily seen. I made sure I included a range of things from books, puzzles, blocks, colouring in and boys toys but only one or two of each item. The new rules were if he used it, he had to put it away before he got something else out. Doing things this way means less mess and also he definitely appreciates what he does have a lot more. The bonus? Rotating the toys and he gets excited over all his "new" toys and I haven't spent a cent extra!
Toy Room Before
Toy Room After
An everything basket:I bought a beautiful massive wicker basket for the lounge room. This is for all those things that I use several times a day but a hassle to keep moving somewhere else. In this basket go the baby toys, a cushion and blanket/throw, tummy time mat, my dumbbells and weights reference book and a ball me and Master Almost Three kick around the house while I'm cleaning up the kitchen or lounge area. It means too, that if people come over I can literally throw everything in it and it all still looks pretty damn stylish.
Declutter:
Having way too much stuff meant I was always picking it up and finding somewhere to put it. Considering I have a real lack of storage in our home this was a big problem and things would be shoved wherever I could fit them. Decluttering is definitely an ongoing process but now I have a streamline shopping list I am well on the way to making this all a much easier process and things are finally finding a "home." It's also quite refreshing to have a lot less stuff and I plan on eventually getting to very basic low maintenance living, it will just require a bit of renovating first.
Baby Wipes Everywhere:
Even if you don't have kids I totally recommend having a few boxes throughout the house. I have one in the bathroom for doing a quick wipe over of the bench tops and the loo seat ( gotta love little boys using the toilet and giving it a bit of a sprinkle!) Another in the kitchen for quick access for grubby hands and face, little bits of burp follow through off the floor or some dog drool. Obviously the last one has to be where I change the baby. Bet you didn't see that coming! if you don't want the Disney baby wipe boxes everywhere just use some contact or glue some nice wrapping paper around it to match in with your decor.
Designated Cleaning Days:
Because hubby works away this is pretty easy to keep track off. Every two weeks on the day he comes home I do a deep clean of the house. Most people could potentially do a deep clean monthly but with two children, two bunnies and two dogs ( i like things in pairs ok?) I have to stay on top of this a bit more often. Ill use this day to do things like changing bedsheets, cleaning out the fridge and pantry, scrubbing the bathroom, washing windows and vacuuming the car out. The best thing? Hubby thinks it looks like this all the time! OK not really, but doing the deep clean definitely helps with preventing daily maintenance getting out of control.
Part of the bedtime routine for the kids is having a bath. Because in winter its so damn cold I have the heater on in the lounge room and dress them for bed there. To cut down on running around I put together a "bath box." When the bubs PJs come off in the morning they go straight into the bath box. It also contains the baby moisturiser, nappy and sudocream. Having everything there ready makes it so much easier.
Be prepared and pack right:
I have a small backpack for general short outings and then a nappy bag for the whole day affairs. I always have nappies, plastic nappy bags, dummy, a spare change of clothes for each child. I also have a car organiser that has a few emergency items if for some reason I lose my brain and leave without the bag. This means I only need to add the bottles and food before I leave the house.
I always have a blanket and a bottle of drinking water in the car in case of a breakdown too. The blanket also doubles as a change mat when I'm out and about and need to change the little one in the back of the SUV.
Separate clothes:
I like to separate all our house clothes from our nice clothes. It makes it so much easier when hunting for something to wear when you need to go out. If the kids need dressing and you are only hanging around home you just send them to their "house clothes draw" and they won't be ruining the good stuff! I keep all my house/run about clothes in the tall boy, my painting/renovating clothes in a cupboard in the laundry and hang my nice clothes in the wardrobe where I can see it all and easily coordinate outfits.
Store relevant cleaning products in the right place:
Instead of storing cleaning products all in one place and running back and forth I tend to keep what i need for each room in there or closer to it ( out of reach of little people of course) For instance bleach and spray and wipe in the bathroom cupboard, carpet cleaner, floor cleaner and mop and bucket in the laundry, broom and dustpan and spray and wipe in the kitchen. I also colour code my cloths by buying the micro fibre assorted bulk packs from Big W and use blue for bathroom, green kitchen, pink dusting etc.
Encourage independence:I have Master Almost Three help me out with lots of things and he is responsible for his own things such as toys or putting his Pjs away. I think if you always do everything for them then you are potentially setting up a bad pattern for later in life.
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