Time Management for Busy Moms 5: Starting School (Or Why Did I Think Getting Out With Babies Was Hard?!?)

Image source

I wish I could tell you that I had this phase of life under control, but that would be a complete lie!!!!

However, there are some things I’ve learned that would have made my life easier when my eldest first started full-time school (for non-West Aussie readers, Pre-Primary here is an optional year of full-time schooling, following Kindergarten, for children who will turn 5 before June 30. The school year runs from February to December).

Note: I have learned most of the following lessons the hard way!

Time Management for Busy Moms 4: Second Baby (or: Ahhhh!!! TWO!!!! What was I Thinking?!?)

Image source

Shortly after I brought home my beautiful baby girl, it became blindingly obvious that looking after an infant and a toddler was not going to be easy. I hope that the lessons I learned from this experience will help prevent someone else from making the same mistakes!!!!

Time Management for Busy Moms 3: Nap Transitions

Adriaen van Ostade: Mother Holding her Child in a Doorway

I started this series by detailing the process I wish I had used to develop a good time management plan (or schedule) when our first baby was born. Today, I’m looking at modifying that plan as your baby approaches and enters the second year of life, when normally, naps decrease in number and waketimes lengthen. I am assuming for this post that you have only one child; balancing the needs of multiple children is a subject for another post!

When a baby transitions from 3 naps to 2, or from 2 naps to 1, there are larger chunks of time available which are not filled by nursing, meals, or sleep. These nap transitions are the ideal time to revisit your schedule.

Time Management for Busy Moms 2: First Baby

Image credit

When our first baby was born, I had no plan. I had read and agreed with the principles outlined in Baby Wise, but I had no idea how I would manage household tasks as well as infant care. And I think that this is normal and appropriate for a rookie mom!!!! 

Although my baby soon settled into a comfortable eat-wake-sleep routine, we had nursing issues which meant that a lot of naptime was spent in pumping milk for the baby. So to handle the housework, I sacrificed sleep. This is not a strategy I would recommend to anyone!

Having learned from my experience, this is what I would advise a first-time mom, assuming that there are no medical issues with mom or baby:

Time Management for Busy Moms 1: Why?

Image credit

Becoming a mother for the first time involves a huge learning curve in many areas of life. One blogger compares it to a change of career, and I agree.

One of the many skills a new mother is required to learn is time management in the family. By this, I mean creating a plan to manage the time required for all the responsibilities that come with nurturing a family. Time for feeding babies and preparing meals; times for work, play, and rest, in appropriate balance.

This series describes the process by which I have planned our family’s time over the years, and some mistakes I have made along the way!

School holidays routine

We are on day 3 of school hols right now, and I have mixed feelings. It's wonderful to have the freedom to stay home each day; but it's not so wonderful dealing with the non-stop demand for attention by my school-age child in addition to the needs of the younger two.