Oh, dear universe god, what does that term mean? If it means anything other than my affections for yummy food, I sure can't relate to it. Days after babies all seemed like a blur to me. In my previous life, I was a news-chasing-journalist so I thought I know a thing or two about multitasking, time management and adrenaline rush but motherhood sure gives it a new twist and introduces me to a whole new level of all those....and More.
Through the years, I have learned to walk straight past the magazine stand without casting a jealous glance at the women featured on the parental magazine. Those women with spotless shirts and big grin on their face, a perfectly arranged dinner table and a clutter-free house. Yeah...remember them? forget them. In real life, it is almost impossible to expect your shirt to stay clean all day when you have kids. And some clutter around the house here and there is perfectly acceptable. The perfectly arranged dinner table? Well, my personal recent studies showed that perfectly arranged or not doesn't seem to affect my kids' ratings on eating behavior.
Here are some of the things that works for me:
- Plan your meals ahead.
This meal planning can take anywhere from an hour to three hours a week, depending on my brain speed and how active my creative side is. But generally speaking, these three hours of investment is much more efficient (both in time and cost saving) than spending hours wondering aimlessly in the supermarket and the amount of money spent on vegetables that goes uncooked into the bin.
- Treasure chest
I absolutely loooovvveee having a treasure chest around! This treasure chest is filled with gift-materials for all ages and gender. This saves me the time and stress in buying last minute gifts when I find birthday invitations in the kids' bag.
- Magic ditty bag
I keep one pink ditty bag in my purse at all times. This is my emergency kit. In it you'll find: band aid, small betadine, tweezer, safety pins, colored lip gloss, hair bands, a small bottle of sanitizer, a few coloring pencils and a couple fruit gum candies. This little investment in space in my purse has proven to be a life-saver in more than one occasion.
- Internet banking
I do all my bills and account needs for my business on line. This saves me from having to stand on the oh-so-long queues in the bank and I can save the receipts all electronically on my computer.
- Evil little book
This little notepad carries the list of things I need to do in a day. Or in a week, or in a month. Well, it's a combination of work-related notes, things to buy, errands to run and what the kids should bring or do for the day. So maybe it's not so evil after all. I take a few minutes every day to glance at it and jot down things on it as they pop out during the day. The pay off? Nothing beats the feeling of crossing each one of those things out!
- Phone book secret
I keep all numbers with disclaimer and notes. Have always done this even since my journalist days. Notes and disclaimer would look something like: "awesome driver but smells" "best to call first thing in the morning, grumpy otherwise".
No comments:
Post a Comment