Tips For A Working Mom

Discussion in 'General Discussions' started by Snehadabir, Dec 11, 2019.

  1. Snehadabir

    Snehadabir Senior IL'ite

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    I am new mom to a 9.5 month old infant and I work a full time job. I am finding it very difficult to manage work and family life and would love to hear what works for you. After a very tiring month trying to juggle work, spending quality time with family, getting some "me time" , I broke down and sought out to get solutions to make it all work. Here are some things that I have got so far.
    1. Wake up early : I try to wake up at least 1.5 hours before my baby does. Even on weekends. In this time, I get most of my cooking and self care done. The me time I get before my baby wakes up is essential for me to recharge myself. To be able to drink a cup of coffee while it is still hot or listen to some motivational podcasts help me get kick started for the day.
    2. Meal plan and Prep the night before: I realized that I am much more motivated to cook in the morning when I have a clean kitchen to work with and have a clear idea of what I am going to do. Seriously, the most difficult part of cooking is to decide what to do. I try to meal plan for a week and stick to it. Additionally, prepping your meals the previous night has been a game changer. I cut the veggies needed, roast and grind any masala items, and keep the rice and dal ready for the next day's lunch.
    3. Keep breakfasts simple and easy: I try to make easy breakfasts like idli/pongal/upma for breakfasts since they are one pot recipes. Avoid chappathis and dosas since they can be time consuming. Cereal/Bread toast come in handy towards the end of the week when you are running out of idli batter and veggies for upma.
    4. Dinner preparations: When i get back from work, I want to spend time with my baby- talk to him and play with him. I don't want to run into the kitchen and start preparing dinner. I try to prepare whatever I can for dinner in the morning along with lunch so that I get this time.
    5. Weekends are family time: With a small baby, we have limited time to go out and enjoy before he has to nap or eat. And this is mostly in the late afternoons/early evenings. On weekends, I try to finish all cooking(both lunch and dinner), meal prepping for the week like grinding batter, making chapatti dough, making chutneys for the week all before noon so that we are ready to head out after lunch. If I don't they always linger on the back of my mind and I get overwhelmed at how much work I have when I get home and I am not able to enjoy the outing.
    6. Do grocery shopping on weeknights: I usually buy veggies for the week on Thursdays because I always meal plan that day. When I was doing meal planning on the weekends, i was spending more time in grocery stores because they were much crowded and also the produce was not as fresh because new stock usually came in on Wednesdays. By moving it to Thursday, I could free up a significant amount of time on the weekends. I also do it at night after dinner. That way my baby is asleep and I get time to shop peacefully without the need to constantly call my husband to check on him. Saves us both our sanity. Added bonus-> fresh produce and less crowd.
    7. Get some me time: I grew up in a household where my mother always put her kids first. As a result, sometimes when I just wanted to some alone time without the kids- to pamper myself, to take a quick nap while my husband watched the baby, I felt as if I was a bad mother. It took me time to realize that I was a much better mom and wife when I have had the time to unwind or relax and that it was not wrong.
    8. Let it go: Learn to let things go.It is OK if the toys are not put back in place one night or if the floors are not vacuumed that day. I can get to it tomorrow. Be clear - this is different from procrastination. This is saving yourself from feeling overwhelmed and taking the time out to get some sanity before you try to tackle it the next day.
    I would love to hear what you wonderful ladies have to add to this list.
     
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  2. Rihana

    Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Neat list. Well compiled.

    My three inputs are from a retrospective point of view.

    Time with husband: I was wise enough to schedule in me-time, order take-out, outsource household tasks, but I missed on making time for just me and DH where we connected as a couple without me going on about my latest baby/toddler worry. This continued for 6-8 years. I lost out on some of the respect

    Exercise: Sleep is important, as is going to the beauty parlor, and not skipping dental/medical check-ups. But, more important than all of this is a fairly disciplined regimen of moderate and regular exercise. Might not be the case for others but is/was for me.

    Intelligent conversation: Consciously create opportunities for intelligent conversation that is not related to kids and job. Don't become that woman who is an expert on pregnancy, childbirth, (in)fertility, preschool, school stuff and the technical aspects of her job, but cannot make the time to read about at least 1-2 topics such as politics, sports, science, finances. Remain interesting.

    P.S.: Sending the child with dad to the museum, zoo, park or India is not "I sent my child to <place> alone with my husband."
     

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