Given the hectic lifestyle that having two beautiful little boys inevitably brings, anything I can do to make home life as stress-free as possible is a bonus. I’ve learnt a lot of things along the way to becoming a mother, but since having Ethan and Logan, I’ve needed to seriously up my skills when it comes to planning and preparation.
These aren’t difficult things to get the hang of, they’re just simple tricks to help make your life a little easier. I hope they help you as much as they’ve helped me!
Always be prepared
First of all, start writing up meal plans. I’m really conscious of what my boys eat, and I want them to grow up healthy and happy. Creating meal plans not only helps me to plan for food for the week, restrain myself from impulse buys and save money, but it helps me to keep track of what they’re eating.
You can prepare in the other ways too, like stock-piling. I don’t just mean batch-cooking meals for when you don’t have the energy to cook (although that is a good idea!), but buying in advance when you see a great price. I’ve bought toys for the kids way before their birthday, but items you use a lot of are where you can really save money. Look out for toilet roll, toothpaste, deodorants and stationary that you can buy lots of and put away as supplies. I do this trick when I buy Canon ink cartridges from Cartridge People; rather than just buy one, I’ll take advantage of their special offers and do a bulk order.
Plan big events in advance
Trust me, I know from my recent experience planning our trip to Disney World that this sort of thing needs a lot of time devoted to it. If you leave it all to the last minute then you’ll be racing around hundreds of shops the day before you fly trying to get everything you’ve forgotten! Whether it’s a big family holiday, or a birthday party you’re throwing, doing all the research way in advance will help you to determine the best prices.
Work as a team
If you’re a single parent then you make all the rules, but if you live with your partner and children then it’s absolutely essential that you work as a team. You may be a supermummy, but you don’t have to do everything alone. Create schedules with them so that you can split the housework and the appointments with the kids, share the cooking (unless one of you is a natural chef and the other is covered in burns!) and make time for one another. It will make your home life so much easier if you’re both on the same page about everything. You can read more on this here.
I hope you enjoyed my top tips on this! If you have any of your own, why not leave them in the comments section - I’d love to hear from you. :)
Meal planning I think is essential, I always like to try and freeze leftovers as well, as it makes it easier for when I work in the evenings and I have my main meal at lunchtime. Having a schedule is so helpful too. Things like cleaning can be done on a certain day!
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