2023 Author: Anita Thornton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-22 03:30
The key to success when balancing work and family is organization! When we do everything blindly, we risk not only forgetting something, but above all making mistakes. Let's go around…
Domestic chores
There is always the solution of recruiting outside help, but it is not always possible financially. You think? Take the trouble to estimate the number of hours normally spent on daily maintenance, cleaning, washing/drying/folding/tidying up and add them to your hours of work, sleep and meals and you will surely find that will run out of hours in a day unless you sacrifice all your moments of relaxation and leisure! A household help, even 3 or 4 hours every two weeks, could save you… your energy and your time! Imagine coming home to a clean house at night!
If this is really not possible, make sure to discuss it with your spouse, without automatically taking this responsibility on your own shoulders. Too many women burn the candle at both ends and burn themselves out rather than ask for help.
Ménage-Aide/ [email protected]There are some deductiblesanywhere in Quebec, 514-871-9333
Meal
You have to eat well! Having an up-to-date grocery list is essential to have all the ingredients on hand. Then, plan your menus, either weekly or even monthly. A good way to do this is to log your meals for several weeks, before you return to work, to determine the frequency of each dish. You print a blank calendar and write down your next meals. It's always easier to know what to buy when you know in advance what you're going to eat.
Other Stuff
- Buy yourself a slow cooker and a good recipe book (there are also a lot of recipes on the internet). You will appreciate coming home knowing that you have little or nothing to prepare! 15 or 20 minutes more in the morning is often enough to put everything in the slow cooker, and voila! Your meal will cook slowly. Adding a timer will allow you to control the cooking time… without worrying about it! Magic!
- Double your portions when you can and freeze half of the meal for next time. Spaghetti sauces, beef bourguignon, shepherd's pie, etc. lend themselves well to this practice.
- Subscribe to a website that prepares your menus for you. A guaranteed favorite with SOS Cuisinewhich emails you your weekly menus, according to the portions and dietary restrictions you have entered. Not only is it a free service, but in addition, the deals from the flyers are used in the development of the menus! Wonderful!
- evoilà5 (Vaudreuil-Dorion and Rosemère) is another solution: we go there to find the 5 menus of the week and the corresponding ingredients, and all you have to do is cook them. For 4 to 5 servings per meal, it costs $125. Customer reviews make you want to do the same!
Grocery
Going back to work, gone are the days when you could shop for groceries outside of rush hour! You therefore benefit from being even better prepared with a precise list, ideally divided by type of food. We lose less time when we don't have to retrace our steps 5 times because we are no longer in the right row!
Of course, grocery shopping as a family has an undeniable educational side, but damn it's expensive! When it's not Le Petit Loup who wants granola bars to HIS taste, it's Pichounette who raves about the variety of cookies and who will die if you don't buy them! Phew! Why not entrust the children to someone instead and complete this task in two steps? Alternating each week between spouses will allow each to spend some time with family or hang out while the other realizes that the cost of living is decidedly high! Yes, grocery shopping is reallyeducational!
- Shopping online is possible, but in one place! IGA
- 3 great grocery list templates: Quebec Recipes and Ziraf
Find a daycare
If there is a task that puts off more than one, it is to find a daycare! Places are rare and those that could be free may not meet your expectations. Without reserving your place as soon as the child is born, you have to start early to find the rare pearl. Consult your local weekly, make it known around you or go to specialized research sites. You will be able to find lists, but they are not always up to date and do not necessarily indicate the number of places available.
- Family Ministry Locator
- My Daycare
Set up a routine
Organization, always organization! The routine may be… routine, but it has the advantage of organizing a day for you! Morning routine, work routine, home and meal routine, and bedtime routine. Of course, we can leave a little room for the imagination and the inspiration of the moment, but when everyone knows where they are going, there is less risk of a blow-up at the end of the daytime! Sure, you'll tire of your little routine and dream of the day when you can let it go, but that's what holidays are for,no?
Managing Stress
Stress! Do we have time to manage our stress? But no, we're too stressed for that! As life moves at 100 an hour, it is important to reserve valves to let the steam escape. Music, yoga, reading, massage, relaxing bath (that's after the kids are in bed, otherwise it becomes a communal bath!), phone conversation with a friend, laugh, anything finally, as long as you have in your day a moment, if not of rest, at least of slowness. When you can't take any more, try them as a trio! Bath + relaxation music + funny reading… Sublime!
Living the separation
The bone of returning to work: the separation from our baby of love! We are bored, we feel guilty, we feel torn, so many emotions in perspective! There is no miracle recipe, no magic tricks. Emotions, you have to live them and digest them one at a time, giving yourself the right to feel!
Train your photos, call several times a day to check on him and even talk to him if possible. Write down how you feel or talk about it, but don't keep it all inside at the risk of blowing up! It is certain that life will no longer be like during your maternity leave, you will no longer have the same availability, but you will manage to find a new balance and, as the days go by, you will develop another relationship with baby… and withyourself.
