balancing work and family

Multi-Tasking Weeknights

Sheri (When the Kids Go To Bed)

With school back in full swing the chaos has ensued. It’s really hard to have three kids all in school. It takes up a lot of time. My evenings are fully packed and I don’t even get to spend any quality time with my kids. I don’t get home from work until 5:30. The schedule goes something like this…

Walk in the door and get bombarded with “I’m hungry, when are you making dinner?” “We’re STARVING.” They might die. Death by not eating for an hour and half. Of course, there are some hugs accompanying these whiney statements, but mostly the demand is DINNER. I’m super lucky if I can just do a quick 20 minute run, or 10 minute FitSugar workout to decompress.

So it goes, dinner. Checking their homework if they did it with dad. If not, then assisting with homework. Signing and checking boxes on planners for all three kids. Then cleaning up dinner and making lunches. So basically I’ve spent the entire evening in the kitchen.

Then all three have to read 20 minutes. Unfortunately my minions can’t be trusted and they need to read it out loud, supervised. So take 20 minutes times 3 kids. That’s an HOUR!! Mind you I got home at 5:30 and bedtime is at 8:30. We still have showers to do people. There just isn’t enough time.

When all is said and done, I’ve spent NO quality time (aside from eating dinner,) with my little guys! I needed a different strategy.

So now I’ve been combining reading time with kitchen time. They come one at a time and sit in the chair and read out loud while I clean up dinner and make lunches. It’s been a lifesaver! It keeps them focused and I’m still getting things done that have to get done. Saving us some time to watch a show together or build some Legos.

reading time

What tips do you have for getting through those stressful, packed weeknights?

 

5 thoughts on “Multi-Tasking Weeknights”

  1. Sounds similar to the routine at my house except that I’m a single mom and the dog needs to be walked too šŸ™‚
    There aren’t enough hours in the day and multitasking is the only way to get it all done.

    A friend said to me once that there’s no such thing as multitasking and balancing would be a more appropriate word. He said he can’t recall ever being able to do more than one thing at a time am d so says his wife. Well I wanted to shout “clearly you’re not a mom and you’ve never had to take care of anyone but yourself your whole life!” (hes married but has no kids), but I didn’t say that since no matter how much I try to explain he wouldn’t get it. Mom’s get it! Doing several things AT ONCE is by definition MULTITASKING and not because some people can’t doesn’t mean some of us don’t know how to. In fact we MUST in order to survive.

    Hang in there, you’re certainly not alone. My little one is three and announced she done with school and would rather stay home and sleep. Bless her little soul…if only she knew I agree with her but alas musthe all chug along to the beat of the drum called life.

    Have a great weekend!

    Ps. It took me a long time to figure out how to comment . There are no comment or like buttons at the WordPress reader.

  2. It’s definitely multitasking. My problem is not finishing one thing before working on another! We all need a cheering on in getting things done. It’s stressful and we can only do our best.
    They changed the wordpress reader around, and since I switched to .org so I can do some sponsored posts, it’s changed even more.

  3. We multitask here too šŸ™‚ The home reading is also done while I’m preparing dinner in the kitchen too – toddler is in high chair having his early dinner, seven year old is reading to me, and I’m madly preparing dinner and cleaning kitchen as I go. Sometimes we combine story time with bath time so the kids have a longer bath while we read to them, providing no one is in a feral tired mood! I used to do my tricep dips on the side of the bath while the kids were in the bath, or push ups off the bathroom vanity šŸ™‚ Get in a work out for you whenever you can! Don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t get everything done every day.

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