Spending time with your LO vs. getting stuff done around the house

When you get home from work how do you balance your time. There is always so much to do like make dinner, clean up, etc but I also want to give attention to DS. How do you manage your time?

Spending time with your LO vs. getting stuff done around the house

My Ds has an early bedtime (730). My DH gets home at 5 and i get home at 530. DS eats dinner before I get home, so we get to play, read, bath, etc with no interruptions.
After he goes down i usually heat up food that was precooked over the weekend for DH and I. I know this wont last forever...but for now it works for us.

Spending time with your LO vs. getting stuff done around the house

I'm a sahm so my answer is based on what dh does. Dd eats dinner before dh gets home. He will get home at 6 and from 6-bedtime (730ish) they have uninterrupted play time, bath time, bedtime routine, books, etc.). Dh eats dinner after she goes to sleep.

Spending time with your LO vs. getting stuff done around the house

I get home from work at 4:45. I nurse DS and then we make dinner together (I put him in the ergo since he refuses to play and just wants to be held). We then eat together as a family around 5:45-6. After dinner, I bath DS and DH does the dishes. We then play with DS for 15-20 minutes and then he goes to bed at 7:15.

Spending time with your LO vs. getting stuff done around the house

I get home at either 515 (days I pick DS up) or 630 the other days.

We eat around 7, then bath some days and play time and then bed at 9pm. We don't have routines really or anything so we just play it by ear.....sometimes he wants to play be himself sometimes he wants us to build with him etc.

I don't go crazy cleaning my house up during the week. I just pick up after dinner and maybe throw a load of laundry in.

Spending time with your LO vs. getting stuff done around the house

I feel the same way when I get home from work, it's so overwhelming. I try my best to focus on little girl until it's bed time. If I really need to get things done, which does happen often I try my best to make a game out of it. Folding clothes, making dinner etc... Can all be a learning experience. It may take twice as long but it gets done AND we spend time together!??

Re: Spending time with your LO vs. getting stuff done around the house

We get home at 6. Pretty soon after getting home, we get started on dinner. I usually keep DS in the kitchen with me or with us, and interact with him while cooking - singing, talking, etc. I try and limit the meals I make on weeknights to 15-20 minutes prep or 30 minutes total. Any clean-up, etc., we do after he goes to bed which varies from 8:30-9:30. Some nights when we're tired, or just don't feel like it, we leave clean up to next morning or next day.

Message edited 4/6/2015 10:11:37 AM.

Spending time with your LO vs. getting stuff done around the house

Honestly, her bed time is later. Prob too late, but I wouldn't be able to do it all and spend time with DD, if she went to bed at 7:30-8.

Re: Spending time with your LO vs. getting stuff done around the house

DH gets home at 4:30 and will feed DS dinner, I get home between 5:30-6. I usually will make something that doesn't take long for dinner. Then we spend time with DS until he goes to bed usually between 8-9. We will tidy up after he goes to bed, but if we are tired I will put things away in the morning before I leave the house. Otherwise I clean while DS naps on the weekends. I rather spend time with DS and DH since I don't get much time with them.

Re: Spending time with your LO vs. getting stuff done around the house

How old is DS? Nothing wrong with having him be your "helper".

Spending time with your LO vs. getting stuff done around the house

My house is a WRECK. I have a room that's become a junk room ha!

I don't care.

She's happy, healthy, loved and we are all sane.

I focus on her the MOMENT I walk into my house. Before my purse is put down its hugs and how was your day. As I walk to my room and closet it's homework check. Shoes off while I spout out that week's spelling words. My few hours before she passes out are our hours.

So my house is cluttered. Could I clean while she slept? Sure. Do I? Nope. *I* need to unwind and relax too.

She helps pick up her room, I tackle the living room from time to time. He does the floors and bathrooms when he can. Meh

We spend a lot of our weekends out, enjoying the time. We just don't sit at home. So its always rush here and there, no time for cleaning. Just doesn't happen.

Re: Spending time with your LO vs. getting stuff done around the house

We usually get home 5:45-6. I cook a quick dinner and she likes to help (I let her cut soft things like avocados or hard boiled eggs for salad with a plastic knife) or stir things for me. Then I spend time with her until she goes to bed 8:30ish. Usually the time spent with her is eating dinner, bath time, story time while cuddling in bed etc unfortunately :/. I don't think I would cut anything out to wash the dishes or chores! My house is messier than it should be I guess but my time with dd is more important

Re: Spending time with your LO vs. getting stuff done around the house

Re: Spending time with your LO vs. getting stuff done around the house

My house gets cleaned Sunday night. Hubby does the kitchen & I do the living room. We maintain the bedrooms daily (this is really just putting away stuff right away) & bathrooms get done weekly (Monday night, we each do one). I get kids to help "pick up" during the weekdays right before bed (yes, THAT is their bedtime routine).

I spend all the rest of my time with them.

I get home, read with them (which will be home work time in the future). We then do dinner. If I cook, it's 30 minute meals & the kids help. If hubby does it, I spend time with kiddos.

We eat together.

We then do something else together (color, go for a walk, take a bath).

Some nights, we watch a movie or the kids will play & hubby and I will unwind.

Re: Spending time with your LO vs. getting stuff done around the house

Re: Spending time with your LO vs. getting stuff done around the house

It's so hard. I've been enjoying reading everyone's responses. DD is in an exceptionally clingy phase right now where all she wants to do is for me to pick her up. She will not play independently, will not even help me with chores. She just wants to literally be stuck on me. I can't even turn on my oven and throw leftovers in. It's getting so bad - I'm at my wits end. I feel terrible saying this but Im Dreading the summer when I'm home for 2 mos. I can't tote around a 25-lb two and half year old wherever I go around the house,

Re: Spending time with your LO vs. getting stuff done around the house

Spending time with your LO vs. getting stuff done around the house

I feel like it's always a mess. I am on maternity leave now but dh and I work in retail so we have wonky schedules. Often times one of us is getting off at 5 or 6 when the other works till 10. So if I get off at 6, I pick up the kids at 630 and it's tough to get home, get dinner ready, baths etc then cleanup. It's torture lol. Even being home I feel like I don't get the time to do it with a 2yr old and 1 month old

Re: Spending time with your LO vs. getting stuff done around the house

My schedule during the week is this. DS wakes us up by around 645 ( or we wake him up.. either way since we have to get up to get ready for work ), he is always cranky in the morning so I try to feed him & change him while getting ready, then leave for work at 715, I get home around 515 & the next 2-3 hours are all about playing with, feeding, bathing, etc. for DS. He has my full attention for that time. Then he goes to sleep by 8 & I'm ready to pass out too. I try to tell myself I will do one or two SPECIFIC things, such as a load of laundry & washing the floors, or chopping vegetables & cleaning the stove, for example, that I must try to get done for certain that night. Other than the bigger things (I get overwhelmed easily so what's probably considered little things for some people are big things for me), I get his milk & clothes & everything else ready for the next day & do basic straightening up before I get ready for bed. I don't get much done as far as chores. I have a million things on my to do list that I just hope I can squeeze in somehow but most things get done late, poorly, or not at all. I have gotten better about paying bills on time. Like right now I should be working on stuff around the house, doing something productive but I'm sitting on my butt using the computer & watching Shark Tank. I'm not good at managing to balance things.

Spending time with your LO vs. getting stuff done around the house

DH picks DD (13m) up around 5-5:30. I get home around 6:30. He usually makes dinner or will order something in. I'll play and hang out with DD during that time. We eat together as a family, every night, unless one of us is sick or isn't home for some reason. Then we'll hang out together as a family until it's time for DD to go to bed around 9:30-10. Then DH and I will sit and relax and watch a little tv together. Cleaning happens whenever we get to it, usually on the weekend. We'd rather spend our time with DD.

Re: Spending time with your LO vs. getting stuff done around the house

Re: Spending time with your LO vs. getting stuff done around the house

I have a housekeeper every 2 weeks do the heavy lifting. Night before she comes it's a mad dash of tidying so she can reach the diet through the clutter lol.

We both commute in city. My day is 5:30 to 6. Dh does morning routine with her takes her to daycare. I pick her up. We spend 30-45 mins usually some milk and one show as she needs a little downtime. Also playing, quick walk etc.

I throw dinner together. Try to do some prep on weekends or buy ready sides etc. grill. Keep things quick and easy. Dh home at 7 eat together them bath and stories. Bed around 8/8:30.

Then clean up. Like previous poster goal is clean the kitchen and maybe one other thing. I make a list of bills other things and we try to do them during workday. It's hard. My house is a mess. Projects only get done on weekends, 1 at a time.

Previous poster mentioned clingy 2 year old. I have one of those. I try to make the chores sound like fun. She likes putting her own laundry away. I dump it out in front if her dresser and she finds and puts away the wash clothes. Try to make other chores fun. We talk a lot about what I'm cooking. She helps stir. Sometimes I let her Shake in a spice etc. we try to sing or be silly and while the task takes at least 2x as long with her, at least it gets done

Re: Spending time with your LO vs. getting stuff done around the house

We get home at about 5:15-5:30pm. I usually start making dinner and DD will often help me which she loves. Otherwise DC will play together and DH will sit and play with them in between straightening up around the house.

We always eat dinner together as a family so we try to eat by 6:30pm. Then baths, bedtime stories and off to bed.

While we would love to be able to just sit and play for hours with the kids (and I feel plenty guilty about that), it's not realistic. And that's ok. I truly don't believe the kids are suffering or feel deprived of our attention. They are learning valuable lessons. And I think it is making it a larger impression on them just having us together under one roof every evening working together, playing together and just being together.

ETA - We do the bulk of the cleaning up and prep for the next day after they go to bed. Heavy cleaning gets done where I can fit it in on weekends. Laundry gets done at night.

Message edited 4/8/2015 9:15:45 AM.