<p>
</p>
<p>It really depends on what you do as to whether it would work. Last year when gas prices were so high, our support staff tried to get 4 10s. The attorneys were surveyed and I pretty much said that if I could function every Friday without my assistant, I could probably learn to function without her at all. So it matters whether you have X amount of work to do, period, or whether you support someone who is going to be there when you are not.</p>
<p>RE:
plus snacks eaten throughout the day:</p>
<p>PAPER PLATES and PLASTIC CUPS (or paper cups)</p>
<p>Leave them on the center island or counter.</p>
<p>As a parent (and former single parent) who is also a professor and department chair, who is married to a professor: we share around dinner duties, there is no such thing as an iron, we hire out help to clean once a week and outsource lawn and garden care, dogs cleaning grooming, car washing. </p>
<p>On the smaller scale of things: shop and do bills all online, all underwear and socks are the same workable brand and color and never folded, lunch at desk or incorporate work meeting into lucnh, shop just a few times a year en masse, buy groceries online and have them delivered. Iphone extremely useful for keeping track of everything.I could go on and on. </p>
<p>After 20 years of this, seems sort of routine now. One finds a balance…just cut out what doesn’t matter and focus on the parts that are important OR that you love to do :)</p>
<p>Interesting ideas!! I agree, MOWC, for me the removal of a few days of the ‘frantic morning rush’ would be worth it to stay later a couple times a week (or go in at 7 a.m. – although that’s been my goal in the past, but somehow I never could make it in much before 8:30). I hope your company eventually gets more flexible. My friend who’s sis just graduated from law school said firms/companies have much more family-friendly policies than we she & I graduated about 10-12 yrs ago. That’s encouraging.</p>
<p>Missypie–I’m not someone who supports anyone (I guess?) just doing my legal stuff, so hopefully the long days/short weeks might work. The thing would be to keep up my stamina (eat enough, etc.) to power thru those days, lol!</p>
<p>spideygirl–I do the ‘hang stuff damp out of the dryer’ thing-- but hub has 100% cotton shirts that need ironing (unless I’m wking, then he takes them to cleaner). Today & yesterday I spent 3 hrs ironing – don’t really mind it much, though (each time I finish a shirt: “I saved $1.55!” lol). </p>
<p>starbright—that’s an impressive schedule. Of course, always looking at the flip side—that would mean I’d have to get a high-powered job to support the fleet of household support staff and services…little pressure there. <bites nails=“”></bites></p>
<p>Just give yourself a little time to get in a routine. Don’t expect it to all come together at once. Focus on getting the mornings down and comfortable first, then move to dinner and finally to the big, weekly things. Everyone in the family needs to get in on the routine, too. If you don’t have a big calendar for everything from activities to meal planning, you should get one. One of the biggest pitfalls in my life is coming home from work without a dinner plan. I can waffle, procrastinate and argue with myself if I’m dealing with that when I get home tired and hungry. We then generally end up with pizza or McDonald’s, which is not what I want.</p>
<p>Our company is pretty flexible on most things- but the 4 10s just didn’t fly. We are SO connected electronically anyway. I am always responsive via Blackberry or phone. It would have saved us coming in that 5th day. I’m really OK with not getting it, though, because it would be tough for me to get the early morning runs in if I had to be at work any earlier.</p>
<p>As for “doing it all”. I apparently didn’t do too well. 
Last night my daughter announced- at a group dinner- that she truly doesn’t remember what we ever had for dinner when she was growing up! (she’s 25) I reminded her that when I picked her up from swim practice (if I was in town- I traveled a lot in my job) I would say, “Guess which country dinner is from tonight?” She was to guess what take-out we were having- pizza, Mexican, Chinese etc.<br>
Interestingly, she has turned out to be an excellent cook and has an online food blog. Wonder where THAT came from?</p>
<p>Now that Son is in college, I’ve been wondering what food he’ll crave when he comes home…I fear it will not be anything homecooked. Panda Express? Chipoltle?</p>
<p>Outsourcing. You don’t have to be in a highpowered job and apologies for sounding so much like I just hire a team of help. I think many of us can outsource what we can, where we can when/if the return is worth it (e.g. depends on how much your own time is worth and would you do the same job for the price you are paying someone else to do it?). Our cleaning person earns $60 a week and it’s very very valuable to us, dog groomer is $150 every 3 months, lawn is $30 every two weeks on average. Car detailing $150 once every year. Online groceries delivered, cost of a tip. </p>
<p>These aren’t a fleet of hired help (I only wish!), but they are things I can afford to make my life work better (this means more quality home time, lower stress, happier family). I would not detail someone else’s car for $150 nor clean someone else’s house for $60, so that to me is worth getting someone else to do it. I’d rather help others have jobs that helps them put food on the table.</p>
<p>Two things I do:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Get up early. Ugh. But getting up at 5:30 (or even earlier in bad weather) is what gets us out the door on time, and then home by dinnertime.</p></li>
<li><p>I try not to be too ambitious with what I try to accomplish on weeknights. If we eat, do the dishes, the dog gets walked, homework is done, and lunch gets packed for tomorrow, that is sufficient as far as I am concerned. I usually put one or two other items on my radar to get to if I can, but if there isn’t something URGENT that has to be done for the next day, then I don’t sweat it too much. I save shopping and cleaning mostly for the weekends. That said, I get behind on some stuff… but so far the world hasn’t ended because of that.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I agree with the getting up early. The little tasks that seemed insurmountable at 10 pm seem very doable after a good night’s sleep.</p>
<p>I want to also add a vote for passing chores and life to kids. It’s quite amazing how much they are capable of, and most importantly it is good for them! My kids make their own lunches, do their own laundry, fill and empty the dishwasher and share walking the dogs. They handle returning items to the store, calling about a problem with a cell phone charge, make their own doctor appointments, refill prescriptions, and get themselves by bus to orthodontic appointments. Basic stuff I see moms doing all the time and I don’t get it. I’m their guiding and loving mother and I pay the bills, but I’m not their personal assistant: as soon as they were old enough to do it, they did it. </p>
<p>As a professor I meet wayyy too many smart kids who have never learned to navigate the real world or juggle the demands of work, play and “real life”. If they can’t juggle it all in school, they never will so protecting them from it until they leave the nest does them a disservice.</p>
<p>My dear husband is the only one in the house who knows the Proper Way to load the dishwasher…he believes that and the rest of us reinforce it.</p>
<p>MP, I’m wired the other way: the things that are too annoying to contemplate at 8am are perfect to deal with at 10pm.</p>
<p>As to the general notion of doing it all, mark me down for “You can’t. Make choices.”</p>
<p>I once spoke with a mom who was flummoxed as to how her daughter could pursue ballet (at a serious level) with gymnastics, soccer, and school music program. I sensed that she didn’t like my answer.</p>
<p>And of course there’s an optimal way to load the dishwasher. It was very gratifying that when a sister in-law was visiting a couple of weeks ago she agreed with how I did it, much to TheMom’s aggravation. Organized beats higgly-piggly and once you accept that, certain principles for maximizing space and facilitating ease of unloading become apparent upon examination.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Ah, but we mere women and children can’t learn it…only The Man of the House has the skills to do it properly…that’s my story and I’m sticking to it…</p>
<p>missypie- My husband has that same skill. No one else can load the dishwasher correctly.</p>
<p>You know, with a bit of thought, that idea could be expanded and melded with the idea of having kids do chores…one person (not Mom!) could be proclaimed the Best Grilled Cheese Maker in the house, another the Best Pancake Maker in the house, etc. Of course, if anyone was proclaimed the Best Toilet Scrubber, he or she might catch onto the trick and balk. But a very small child might like the title of Best Sock Sorter.</p>
<p>
Same here. We’ve had our same dishwasher for about 8 months now and I haven’t loaded it yet.</p>
<p>Of course, only I know the proper way to put groceries into the fridge, so . . .</p>
<p>
My ten-year-old actually does a lot of the laundry. Earlier this year, older sister thought it was worth her while to hire him for $10 a week to do her laundry and so taught him pretty well. She still pays him, but washing the linens and other non-delicate items is one of his chores for the family.</p>
<p>We sent D2 to the ICE for cooking lessons a couple of years ago and she cooks at least one night a week.</p>
<p>D1 is the most ruthless de-clutterer I’ve ever met. She founds it therapeutic and I find it useful.</p>
<p>My husband is the best waffle maker and bacon cooker - has been for going on 30 years now! Oh I wish we had a declutterer in our house.</p>
<p>Doing it all is not possible. Prioritize. And, more than anything, don’t sweat the small stuff. I live by that.</p>