Any Stay at home parents out there???

Well I'm not a stay at home mom,but I am a child care provider and I only take care of infants (ages 6wks-2 years) and I find it works to have a schedule in place. My own children are teenagers now but when they were younger I worked from home, and once again the scheduling worked just fine. Other than seeing the daycare signs you wouldn't believe that I did 24 hour child care in my home. Also, try getting the children involved in keeping things tidy, most kids actually like it because they feel independent. Well I hope you find something that works for you

I stay up way too late...sometimes I work out at 11pm and fold clothes at midnight. I have 4 kids (13yrs, 12yrs, 10yrs and 7 months). The best thing that I've found works for me is a jogging stroller, that and getting my husband involved.

I don't get everything done in a day but I'm learning to not stress about it. My family prefers a relaxed mom and clothes on the couch vs. a stressed mom barking orders (too bad they still get this mom too often). When I exercise and eat healthy I feel better about myself and I'm more calm around the house.

I work from home, but everyone assumes you're home doing nothing when you say that...:laugh:

So I get up at around 230 in the morning. I start to work. If I'm lucky the toddler sleeps til 5 or 6, if not he's up at 4 or so and I'm out a couple hrs of work. I take my daughter to school and hubby to work. Come back, and clean, toddler wrecks place, clean again, etc etc. He just started daycare 3 days a week so I could work, but I have to use that time to run errands (he won't behave in stores), go to doctors (he attacks doctors for touching mommy).

If i'm lucky he'll nap for an hour. Lately I've been getting 20 minute naps. Then he's back to destroying the place, go get my daughter, chase him all around her school while waiting, get home for her to do homework, fight with her for leaving dirty dishes/wrappers in her room, start dinner, rescue the fish tank from said toddler and then go get husband. Make dinner, and then go to bed. When I get up, if I'm really lucky, about 10% of the time my husband's done the dishes. Otherwise they are all on the stove, sink and counter. :grumble:

So basically....Don't worry your place is a mess. The time will come when you'll be able to make a schedule and stick with it. There are times, though, that if you don't chuck that schedule out the window you'll drive yourself crazy. Don't do that. Our kids do that enough for us. And you are only one person -- if no one is willing to help you then they have no room to complain.

Glad to see there are a lot of people in the same boat. Sometimes when you are in it, it seems like you are the only one
that has trouble being Super Mom or Dad. We are on a budget however I found a gym in town that has a daycare. Its 3 a child. You pay ahead of time on a card and its all set. They go with me. Its not the nicest gym in town but it has what I need and I need a daycare. As for the house, I have OCD so things are pretty organized around here and I hate clutter. My clutter. Your clutter I
may love. Anyway I spend a lot of time picking up throughout the day. I try and get groceries at night. I leave after dinner and come home to sleeping children. My huband is a huge help with our kids. I also go to school full time and for that I get a college girl over here to watch my kids for a couple hrs so I can do homewk, write papers, research etc. Then I take another hour while I am out and do something I like doing. Getting coffee and going to the bookstore or TJMAX. A must is a once a month date-no kids-not mom and dad. Rob and Melissa. Its amazing what some alone time can do for a relationship.
I make lists daily of things that need to be done, I have a planner that I write appts in.I can usually manage with these 2 things.