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

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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?!?)

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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

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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?

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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!

Going Back to Study

For the past few weeks, I have been using my daycare day for work-related study, so that I can update my cv and impress potential employers.

This is the fourth time I have commenced work-related study, but never before have I had such a long break from work.   My inner nerd has been dead and buried for the past five years, since I resigned following maternity leave, so getting back into the zone has not been easy.   But slowly, I am making progress, and my inner nerd is starting to live again.

Have you had to study after a break from work? What was the hardest part? What was the easiest?

Getting to know you: how do you working moms find time to...

…take children to appointments?
...take yourself to appointments?
...monitor homework?
...talk with your husband?
...keep the housework under control?

I know you awesome ladies can give me the answers I need to manage the transition from SAHM to working mom!

Getting to know you: childcare choices

I’d love to hear your stories about the type and amount of paid childcare you use (if any). 

Were your choices limited by finances, location, availability of providers, or any other factor?
Was your choice influenced by your personal beliefs and values? If so, how?
Did you anticipate any issues in transitioning your child into care?
Did your child experience any issues in transition?

Getting to know you: returning to work after children

I’d love to hear your stories about returning to work after your children were born.

What influenced your decision to return to work?
Did you question your decision?
What was the deciding factor for you?
How did you feel after you were committed to this path?

Balancing blogging and real life

By nature, I am an introvert who loves to read, listen, question, think, and write. So I have found that blogging is a natural and delightful fit.  I find myself constantly thinking of post ideas while doing housework or taking care of children; thinking about replies to comments and emails in my ‘free’ time; and researching ways to make the blog more entertaining, informative, and helpful, way past my bedtime.

How to become a work from home mom: part 2

A while back, I posed this question, and it seems there’s a lot of you who would like to know the answer too.

Personally, I’m looking for inspiration. Others may need advice in areas such as marketing, financials, productivity, or balancing child-care and work at home.  So I thought it would be helpful to post a collection of links of articles this subject.  Please let us all know if this helps you on your journey to working from home!

(Warning: the language in some of these articles is colourful - for mature adults only).

Who’s wearing the apron here?!?

As both my husband and I are currently under-employed, we are spending quite a bit of time together at home. This is good and bad: good, because we are interacting a lot every day, and that’s great for our relationship; but bad, because we are in the middle of a shift from mom-at-home to dad-at-home, and we haven’t got our roles figured out yet. 

Today, I am writing this at a café (taking a break from work-related study), and my husband is cooking the dinner, putting the laundry on, taking the kids to school, and looking after our toddler.  Tomorrow is a new day to negotiate.

Have you had to re-define your work or home roles with your “significant other”? How did you do it?

Career choices

I have had three main career changes in my life, and I would dearly love to try a fourth. Each change has meant study, a temporary drop in income, a steep learning curve, and sense of leaving my past completely behind me.  

The first choice (music) was an obvious continuation from high school strengths, but very poor in terms of earning a living. The second choice (retail) was a successful attempt to gain regular income, but poor in terms of mental stimulation. The third (IT)  was great for income and mental stimulation, but poor in terms of flexibility.

What is your method of choosing your career? Did your first choice work out for you, and what factors would influence you now if you were to choose again?

How to become a work from home mom

...I wish I knew!

I have read a LOT of stuff on the internet on how to balance work and family by working from home (see for example Steve Pavlina, the Mogul Mom, and Simple Mom). But the stumbling-block for me is that key ingredient "do what you love", "follow your passion", "find your element".

When I ask myself that question, I get a blank. Every.single.time.  So I'm looking for a job, and I'm creating this blog to keep my mind alive and creative juices flowing. I know I'm good at listening, and I love it, but how do you turn that into a business?

Have you walked this journey? What was your solution?

Unemployment

I am currently unemployed, and finding it really tough. Our finances insist that I return to work full-time with 3 little children, 2 of them still at home, and I'm not ready. But I have to. 

How did you manage?