Question for SAHMS - Troy,TX

NEVER get enough done! My kids are 5, 3, and 9 months, so I have 2 home with me all day. I really don't know where my day goes.

Sorry I am not a SAHM but have been home for some months. I would think if you are doing the everyday stuff (cooking, laundry, paperwork, pickup, cleaning, what else would you not be getting done?

I think you're doing great with the time you have. Some mothers might be tempted to linger all morning with coffee and TV (I might, given the chance, but my children are homeschooled so they are with me all day) but it sounds like you are doing the great mommy thing and keeping your house clean and your errands done. Good for you!

I'm a SAHM of a 5, 4 and almost 10mo old. I know I could do more around here than I do, but I play w/ them. And things like cleaning the bathrooms and such of that nature I can't quite do w/ a baby following me around. The house has to be quiet when he naps otherwise he doesn't sleep as long. I have the older two lay down or play quietly while he does sleep. I usually use that time to figure out dinner and fold and put clothes away. I think as SAHM we push ourselves into think we should have everything done in one day. I think as long as the kids are feed, house is still stand (even if floors are covered in toys) then we are good. I do most of my cleaning during the weekend when hubby is home to distract the kids. :)

You are getting more done than me. My son is two so I spend most of the day chasing him around. I try to do what I can when he is around but it's hard. I do let him help some but as we all know it's really not helping. I have to try and get everything done when he is napping. Don't be so h*** o* yourself, I know we all think we should be able to do more but sometimes there just isn't time.

I was only a SAHM when my daughter was very small, so I only had one semester of her in 1/2 day preschool before I went back to work, but I got basically nothing done, and I think you're doing all you can! If you don't have an errand one day, you might be able to do something else but I know from my experience w/ little ones, that I usually needed a nap in there too!

Not a SAHM, but my best friend is and she was feeling the same way. In fact, in all reality she wan't maximizing her time at home and needed to get more done. She literally has a weekly calendar on a white board. On each day she writes out the household chores that MUST be done on that day, including errands. Mondays are for cleaning the bathroom, Tuesdays she mops and dusts, Wednesday the kitchen, etc. Laundry is every day. She has taken one day a week for errands b/c she has found that she is far more efficient if she takes one whole day to grocery shop, buy gifts, hit the dry cleaner, etc.

Honestly, this is going to sound somewhat judgmental on my part, but I work full time an hour away from my house and am wondering (based on your very general outline) what you are doing all day too (b/c I do most of that stuff in the span of 3 hours) and am hoping that your children are pitching-in with the laundry and meal prep/clean up! Admittedly I have a housekeeper for the heavy cleaning, but the "straightening", errands, carpooling, cooking and day-to-day are all still mine... including a 30 minute workout every day.

We homeschool now, but when my kids were in school I used to feel the same way! And I was trying to work part-time a bit too, but always felt frazzled and even more behind.

It sounds like you're doing great.

For me - I got frustrated by doing the same thing everyday and never making any progress on my "WANT to do" list. So I developed a schedule where I clean only every other week, and only one chore a day (this is the big cleaning, like bathrooms, vacuuming, etc - not "must-dos" like dishes!). I also only do laundry every 2 weeks - we have enough towels, undies, etc to go 14 days easily and I just make Saturday one heck of a laundry day. I also combine errands - I only go out ONCE a week to get everything done. Saves me HUGE on gas as well, I only have to fill up once a month, even with taking the kids to school! This has totally freed up my time for getting the garden ready, painting rooms, reorganizing the pantry - you know, stuff that always gets shoved to the back of your list. :)

Oh, I'm so jealous! But you've given me hope that when my now 2 year old starts kindergarten I might be able to get something done! At least I won't be tripping over his toys all day. I'll know that when I pick them up and put them away that at least they'll stay there until school's out :-)

Everyone does what they can. Sounds like your life is normal.

I work 4 days (approx. 6 hours each day) each week and homeschool, so I HAVE to get everything done, but my husband is with me 24 hours a day, since he runs my office...so we go to the store together, etc. I do the laundry, but he usually folds it and the kids put their own clothing away....even our 3 year old.

We have to schedule life. Costco runs on the weekend or Friday. Most of the laundry gets done Thursday night and Friday all day. We have taekwondo 3-5 night per week for our oldest.

Make sure your kids are doing chores, so their future spouses don't hate you for enabling them. I married my husband and his mother did EVERYTHING for him. Not in my world. He had to learn to clean and do more than just take care of his things, especially once we had kids.

I feel like all I ever get done during the day is laundry, dishes, some picking up, maybe sweeping and vacuuming and that's it!! When my kids/hubby get home from school/work, I spend time with them and make/eat dinner and then it's pretty much time to get the kids ready for bed! So no, I don't think you're alone, but I don't have any helpful tips either LOL

I always get up before my kids and workout, shower, eat breakfast, read my Bible... saves you time mid day. AND once my day is started I rarely have time or energy to do those things. I put laundry in as I workout too, it's a nice break mid workout to put it in the dryer...

I would limit your cleaning to maybe 2-3days per week and do you errands on only 2days/wk. I thnk clumping stuff together usually saves on time.

If you feel you aren't accomplishing enough, make a list of things you need to get done during your week. I write it all on a list and then divy it up by days. I TRY to get one "project" done a day - although some of them take all week - like cleaning out the attic!!! I agree with the person who said to run your errands on the same day, or at least combine the errands that are located near one another and do them on the same day - saves gas and time.

I do all my laundry on the same day, once a week (except towels). That way everything is clean at the same time and the kids only have to haul it upstairs and put it away one time a week. I only have 2 kids, but because of their ages it's like having 4 adults in the house as far as the size of their clothes. I only do full loads of laundry so I'm not wasting water and I find that doing it weekly and on the same day that no one has an excuse not to have it in the hamper and all the loads are full!!!

Never. I always think I should be able to get more done.

I never feel like I get enough done, but I have two under 4. I get done what I can, but spend time playing with them too! I try to do a little at a time, like wipe down the counter when the kids sit to eat before I sit, scrub the toilet after I've stepped away to potty, ect... I rarely do everything at once.

As long as you have the peace in your mind that you are taking care of the needs of your husband and children (and even taking time to work out and take care of yourself), don't worry about how much you are getting done or not getting done. If you try to take on too much, then you won't have the energy to be excited and patient as you greet your husband and kids at the end of their day and continue to care for them when they are at home.

I bet you have a very happy family from the way it sounds.

Right now I have 3 kids 4 and under, so no, we don't get much "done" during the day, but I was home for the last 5 mos of my pregnancy with my first (and I've been home ever since), which is much more comparable to your situation. My husband and I laugh, a SAHM with kids at home is a very different thing from a housewife; the SAHM is not going to get much done at all, but once the kids are out of the house, you really should be able to run your household during the day and that way you have time for fun and family time in the evening. That's the whole point of being home, right? to make everyone's lives easier?

Basically, I treated the house like my job (just like now the kids are my job). that meant 40 hours/week were spent focused on house stuff and improving/supporting our collective life. anything that wasn't in that job description had to wait until "my time" just like for people who are collecting a pay check. so, working out, outings with friends (except I gave myself an hour lunch break most every day b/c that's what I got at my desk job, but I was disciplined about it), clothes shopping, etc. all had to happen on my own time and not during work time. If my husband was at the office, then I was working on home stuff.

He and I both loved that time, though I confess that I think I enjoyed it as much as I did and got as much done as I did in part b/c I knew it was temporary (and there was so much to do!), but that's just me. It sounds like you just need to structure your day a little better. If there's stuff to get done that you're not getting done, then you need to make lists, organize your time, prioritize what needs to get done, and make sure that you're really treating this like a job. At your old job, you had stuff that had to get done, and you got it done, right? you have to be disciplined. not to be harsh, but if you're working out during "office time" and then you're gonna shower, (blow dry your hair? put on make up?), get ready to go out, yeah, that's a lot of time, and it's time that you used to spend outside of the 40 hours that you dedicated to your job. so, you're not working your 40 hours, b/c that stuff doesn't count. and, honestly, running a household can easily eat up 40 hours a week if you're doing it all. but it should ~only~ eat up 40 hours a week, if you're disciplined and efficient.

If it's more that you just feel like there's not enough to do to take up 40 hours/week, then either get a part-time job, volunteer your time, or do something else to make yourself feel like you're contributing in other ways. and be grateful that for whatever reasons you have systems in place or simple enough needs that keeping your household running isn't a full-time job. hooray, you have time for something else!

hope that helps.

Oh Goodness... we run our business from home. I don't "work" on the business for a set amount of hours, that job is never done and I am never caught up with housework.

Most of the time, hubby is home working with me and he hates to hear the sweeper running so I try to do that when he is away. He is anal about the house being "ready to show" at any time and I am more of a keep it neat, picked up, clean and enjoy living in it type personality.

I have a lot of errands with business, volunteering at school and I tend to go to lunch with friends, etc often as well.

I only have a hubby, 16 yr old daughter and 3 dogs.

My laundry is 1-2 loads daily, mostly towels. My daily goal is to keep the kitchen and entry area neat. My husband does all the outside work so I don't deal at all with that part of the housework.

You sound like you are on top of things.

sure seems like a ton of laundary! the twelve yr old should start learning how to do laundary soon. its a life skill. are you washing each towel daily? small loads? i am stumped at the amount 4 daily?!?! but even when i clean all day 6-8 hrs it still is never done!

wow you sound like supergirl to me! You are busy with 4 kids and cook clean and do laundry. Give yourself a pat on the back for just surviving. LOL. I think you do more than enough.