Where Do You Invest Time Upfront to save Sanity, Money and Time During the Week?

I don't know what anyone else does but when my kids were little I considered my week a success if they were all alive and fed by the end of the week. lol

I use to do all my cooking on Sundays so that I didn't have to make the main dish every night after working all day. I streamlined laundry by buying only 1 brand of socks (sorting was easier that way). But in reality there was little down time because there was always something to do. That's the way it goes when you have kids. You plan and then things go to hell in a hand basket .... and you don't even remember buying that hand basket.

What are we defining as a successful mom here? Someone with happy, well adjusted children? Somebody who works outside the home and makes a high income? Somebody who cooks great meals and had a clean house? All of these? Just wondering if you could clarify the criteria.

Anyway, for me the most important thing is to plan ahead. Plan meals, plan activities, plan vacations, plan what we will wear, plan to-do lists etc. If I have a plan then things get done. I also need a plan for the weekend, or it can end up wasted.

Three words come to mind for me: margin, balance, and grace. I try and build in margins in my life between activities. I try and not stack things too closely. It is not always possible but I try and have some wiggle room/downtime/handle unexpected time between activities. For example, I get up 30 minutes before everyone to have time to myself. I often go to bed earlier than the rest of the family. I get to work 15 minutes early. Balance: I push myself to get stuff done but I also give myself permission to veg, read a book, surf Mamapedia, or watch Netfix. Grace: I try and give myself grace/cut myself some slack and not be too hard on myself. I try and not take it all too seriously. I try to do the same with others. I don't always operate with all three of these variables but it is what I shoot for on any given day.

Meal planning. When I do it, I think to myself - this is so great. It saves me all those things - sanity, money, and time during the week. Plus planned meals are usually healthier. But then I get tired, fall off the wagon, and stop doing it, and regret it. I know I SHOULD, but sometimes I just need to sit and spend an afternoon reading a book. Because that's important for my sanity too.

ETA: I define success as having a happy family (including a happy me). So I think that's different for everyone.

Well, for me yes, I unplug during the weekend. In fact, it's Friday and I'm unplugging mentally as we 'speak' because my day is half complete :-)

For me, I'm pretty strong at writing a to-do list and tackling each one by the end of the day. The list is in order of most important to least important. It's very effective yet so simple.

Routine and consistency are high on my list too. Although I've had a tendency to become bored easily w certain things, inconsistency at times can throw me off balance. I appreciate knowing when I'm coming and when I'm going, so to speak.

Delegation is useful too in my home. It creates spontaneous breaks, as well as balance.

Success to me goes beyond my being able and willing to financially care for my children, but also being socially, mentally, emotionally and physically available to them. It's super important for me to know that my children know that they are loved, appreciated and valued. Lastly, I truly believe that before I am a mother, I'm simply a person first so it's important to see that my well-being is just as important as my children's or anyone else's. So taking time for me has its place and value as well. A happy mommy is a happy home.

Like Suzanne, routine, routine, routine from Sunday morning to Friday night. That meant most meals, school and work schedules, church, chores and bedtimes were predictable. We kept life as simple as possible. On Friday night, we would order food in and just veg. On Saturday we tended to squeeze in once a week housekeeping tasks in the morning and fun in the afternoon. I don't think I completely unplugged until I retired!!!

My biggest weekday saver is my husband. He pulls just as hard as I do. We divide and conquer everything. He does the yard; I do laundry. He plays with the kids; I cook dinner. The kids entertain themselves; we do dishes. We deliberately keep ourselves not busy. We do outings as a nuclear family but rarely do we have houseguests or go to parties. For us this scaled back strategy with equal labor makes us happy working parents. Good luck.

It helps if I have an hour or so to plan my week. This planning involves the existing engagements, crafting homeschool studies around that, essential to-dos, and thinking ahead to meals. I make sure the laundry is caught up: folding laundry while watching tv is not a chore for me. :)

One thing I've started doing as a SAHM is roasting a pan of chicken at the beginning of the week. I can usually get three meals out of that, or two and some chicken salad for a lunch.

We just take things at a slower speed on the weekends. Husband and I will coordinate calendars; he often has to work late and so that then helps me know what's in store. On the weekends I don't usually teach so we just sort of toodle around the house, run errands, go out to a park/for walks, and keep things pretty relaxed. Oh, and a library visit. That's essential! Every weekend, we go and stock up. Saves us a lot of money, too.

Hubs and I both work full time. We have two boys, 5 yo and 6 months old. He does school/daycare drop offs, my parents do pick up home work and dinner for the boys before I pick them up at 6:30. I do baths, bottles, teeth, stories and tuck ins.

My down time is my twice daily hour long commute. I read, check the news, crochet etc. I go out with a friend about once a week. I take a brisk walk during my lunch hour, sometimes with a coworker.

On weekends the older boy goes to language school, tae Kwon do, ice skating an the occasional play date, museum, or romp in the playground.

Both boys sleep before 9. I have two hours in the evening with or without hubs to relax daily.

I nap with baby or snuggle the older one on the sofa in the weekend afternoons. Hubs and I will each take both boys so that the other has a chance to do something or nothing at all.

My downtime is important to me. It's important to us. Hubs does the laundry and we cook once or twice a week at most. The house keeps clean because we are never home. The boys are tidy. We use robots and a monthly cleaning service.

Life is good. Be well.
F. B.

Sex! After all, weekends were made for fun, and mama needs hers too ;-)

Family fun here first - as much as we can.

I'm a very organized person - but not a control freak. I organize people. So my family all helps with chores, meals, laundry etc. and we do during our downtime. Bored? Fold some towels.

So stuff gets done between the busy times. It works for us. Weekends are for lazing about and staying in pajamas as long as we want and having time to make brunch. But the other stuff tends to get done, because someone will throw a load on. Kids have responsibilities here whether it's Monday or Saturday. Whoever is doing dishes - does dishes.

So other than less to do - weekends are pretty much the same. Just slower pace.

Was like this whether I worked full time or am home.

Make a large to do list and then break it down into smaller things by day.

When my kids were little, I made a daily chores (duties) list for me and it worked. I had just stopped working outside the home and adjusted to being home with family. The home was a total mess and I decided to fix it. It worked well with me being able to have time to myself to do things I enjoyed.

I returned back to work when the children were a bit older. To keep a tidy house and sanity, I did all I could to keep a schedule and change where and when I did chores. Hubby helped and we included football and scouts into the mix. Meals were homemade when possible as fast food was not as it is today a staple it was a treat back then. You could not find a fast food store on every street corner.

Once we got into a routine it was easier to continue as things did not get done without the routine very well. You find what works for your family and improve it.

the other S.

Sleeping until I've had enough sleep is big on my list.

I guess it depends on what you define as "successful".

I am a planner, I am always on time, and we worked together as a family.

Date nights with hubby were priority for both of us and we did that routinely every week until he died in October, 2015.

Our daughter was very active in cheerleading and it was a family thing we did every week. She is now 21 and has lived in her own condo (our condo) since 2013 and she manages it quite well. She is a planner just like me and her dad.

We worked from home running our company. I still do that so it is not uncommon for me to be emailing, running reports, and working at all times during the weekend.. an hour or two here and there and things stay caught up.

I tend to do my best cleaning and planning on the weekend. Saturday is the day I deep clean the kitchen. Sunday I scrub the tub. Sunday morning i also write out my plan for the week. Once I month I will also do a full on all weekend freezer cooking. So yes, I keep working hard. Am I successful? Well, I feel like I'm doing a good job steering a sinking ship --we're headed the right direction, I'm just not able to come up for air.

I decided the other day that we should call motherhood perpetual motion. I must only sit down and relax for less than 5 hours a week. I'm serious here. If my human kids don't need me, I'm caring for the silly pets in the house. There is always something..and I find plans essential to not losing my head.

For me it depends on whether it's hockey season (late August - early April) or not. During the 4 months a year that it's not hockey season, I tend to decompress a lot on the weekends. Friday night dinner is always takeout as I'm too tired to cook, and I sleep in on Saturday and Sunday mornings (which means sleeping until 7:30 or 8 and not 5:30 or 6). I try to take those days pretty slow if I can, but in the absence of family functions (and there are a lot over the spring and summer) I tend to use some of those days for catching up on cleaning, yard work, and I almost always go grocery shopping, make my lunches for the week (mason jar salads) and do some meal prep. I try to make sure my kids play with friends or that we do something fun like go to a movie or out for ice cream each weekend. It's family and catch up time, and I try to make some time for fitness such as a yoga class, a workout at home, or a bike ride.

During hockey season, all bets are off and I'm often busier on the weekends than week days. I often start Friday night going straight to the rink to meet one of my kids for a practice or game, and our days can start as early as 4 AM or end as late as 11 PM. For those weekends, I normally still try to get in grocery shopping and some meal prep because without those steps, the week is much harder. But the house, yard, fitness and family/friends take a back seat to the game and practice schedule. One of my kids also plays football in the fall and lacrosse in the spring (and the time in between is the holiday season) so it's just a never-ending grind for months and months.

Weekends are when I get all the stuff done at home that I can't get done during the week because I'm at work.
The old man and I go fishing early Saturday and Sunday mornings and then do housework in the afternoons. Fishing is our playtime.

My goal is to have everything that has to be done done by Friday morning. So, that means waking up 45 minutes to an hour before the family each day and doing housework, the grocery list for the week, meal prep. I find in that hour without the family bustling around I can get more done in 3 hours when they are awake. On the weekends, DH takes our son for most of one day till 5 p.m., and I the other. We don't feel that we have to have both of us along for every single excursion or errand. This allows the other to have several uninterrupted hours to catch up on work, any lingering chores or just to veg.