When I started back to work after having Little Oats, I honestly thought I wasn’t going to survive. Yes, this is dramatic…but so am I. Between getting myself and Little Oats (and Mr O) ready to be out the door, to packing lunches (rather than blowing the budget by eating out all the time), to managing to keep the house in a semi-tidy state, I felt like everything was slipping out from under me. By Christmastime, I was horrified by both my eating habits (Cheerios for lunch, because I couldn’t be bothered to prep something), and the condition of our home life. We were so exhausted that we just crashed on the couch after dinner, struggled to put Little Oats to bed, and then just watched TV for 3 hours until it was time for bed. Nothing was getting done, and by being so cluttered and disorganized, we were really just perpetuating the cycle.

January was a time for resolutions, making plans, and re-evaluating our choices. I’d just found out I was pregnant with Baby Oats, and we knew that if we couldn’t handle things around the house with one kid, we certainly couldn’t do it with a toddler and a newborn. We sat down, developed a plan, and this is what we came up with. Four months in, and its made life infinitely easier:

1.       Organics Live fruit and veggie delivery: This company is a small local one, but they are similar to many other programs. Once a week, we get a box delivered to our door of fresh, organic, (mostly) local fruits and vegetables, for less than what we would pay at the grocery store. Because our produce is delivered, it means we only have to go to the grocery store once every week/week and a half or so, and the store trips are much, much shorter. We’re also saving money, AND eating organic, which is great.

2.     Creating a meal plan: for us, the struggle with dinner is walking in the door at 5/5:30, pulling open the fridge, and trying to figure out what we can make in a reasonable amount of time. Breakfast for dinner and chicken fingers were becoming a staple, and our waistlines were noticing the difference. When we receive our list of produce for the week (see above re:delivery), we check out the flyers and the freezer, and make a general meal plan for the week. Knowing what we’re going to cook in advance takes the guesswork out of prepping dinner; whoever gets home first just starts in on the planned meal.

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3.       Cancelling cable: We found that, when we had cable, we would sit on the couch after Little Oats went to bed and just watch hours of TV. I think we were up to about 12-15 shows that we DVRed on a regular basis, plus whatever else we happened to find on that night. Those three hours per night could be used so much more effectively. So we cancelled our cable (but kept Netflix), and not only are we saving at least $60 per month, we’re also freeing up a lot of time that we didn’t realize we had.

4.       Hiring help: With the money saved from our monthly cable bill, we also hired someone to come in every few weeks and do a deep clean of the house. Sure, we keep things tidy ourselves, but the woman we found is incredible. She will change sheets and do a few loads of laundry, wash floors, vacuum, clean the bathrooms, and also do those dreaded jobs like cleaning the oven and scrubbing the baseboards. Coming home every other Monday to a spotless and sparkling house makes me feel incredible…and more inclined to keep it that way!

5.        Take twenty minutes: On the cleaning note, we’ve fallen into a fantastic routine. As soon as dinner is finished and Little Oats goes to bed, before we sit down on the couch and open our computers, we spend twenty minutes blitz cleaning. The dishes from dinner are done, the toys are tidied, and sometimes a load of laundry is put in. By spending twenty minutes a day tidying, it saves us from the hours-long ‘big clean’ we used to do every Saturday afternoon. Also, waking up in the morning knowing that there aren’t the night-before’s dishes on the counter and a maze of toys on the floor is incredibly relaxing.

6.        TV time: We’re TV watching people – it’s what we like to do. So naturally, we aren’t surprised that Little Oats also likes to watch TV. In the mornings, I get up and shower, then take Little Oats downstairs for breakfast. We put Paw Patrol on the TV (thanks, Netflix!), give Little Oats her breakfast, and then can proceed with making our lunches, getting our own breakfast, and packing up her daycare bag. That 30 minutes in front of the TV each morning is frowned upon by some, but it’s a surefire way to get ourselves ready to go, and I honestly don’t see the harm in it.

.  .  .  .  .

Though a six-point list really doesn’t seem like much, these six things have drastically changed our lives. We aren’t quite as scattered and disorganized, and I don’t spend my days at work dreading coming home to a mountain of dishes and laundry. It helps us strike a balance so that we can enjoy time as a family on the weekends, and not spend the entire time doing chores. I think we’re more relaxed, more calm, and certainly more in control of the situation.

Have you made any changes to help with the work-life balance in your home?