Two working parent chaos

[Anonymous]

Try being a single parent!

[Anonymous]

-Don't have three kids.
-Don't have pets (especially a dog)
-Declutter and minimize stuff
- Outsource chores. Don't outsource childcare.
- Send all clothes to the laundry, so that it is clean and folded.

[Anonymous]

DH and I also have two kids and a dog and both work. But we have a nanny. We also have relatively short commutes within the city we live in. Can you hire a high school kid to walk the dog after school, at least?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two working parents? All parents are two working parents. If you are working elsewhere , someone else does childcare and house chores, if one is home, they do that work.

Huh?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two working parents? All parents are two working parents. If you are working elsewhere , someone else does childcare and house chores, if one is home, they do that work.

Oh stop commenting just to say something that you think is clever but is in fact not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try being a single parent!

I do this every day but my commute is a bit longer and I’m sure I make a lot less than the OP. If I had more money, I’d get someone to clean. Dinners aren’t fancy with us. We all take the dog for a walk when we get home. It’s my mom’s dog and I don’t have the heart to get rid of her. She is the only reason I get exercise so I am grateful for her. If I had a partner, I’d divide up the chores. One cooks and the other walks the dog. One throws in laundry while the other goes through the mail.

[Anonymous]

Can you send the dog to daycare on the days you’re in office? That helps us on hectic days.

Can you get a babysitter for a few hours on the weekend to work on house stuff? I do this once a month and have a productive 4 hours. That doesn’t help with the maintenance though, we do a nightly pickup and cleanup to keep things in order.

[Anonymous]

Hire help. My husband is a doctor so basically absent. I work ft and have to go in person most days, while also managing all home, kid and dog tasks. The afterschool sitter who picks my kids up, and then walks the dog with them when they get home, is the thing that helps us the most. It saves on commute time because I don’t need to drive to the schools, and kids have had snacks and time for homework, and dog got some exercise before I even get in the door. Our sitter plays with the kids but also arranges play dates for them in the neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hopefully, some other parents can commiserate. I was back to the office today after a long weekend and am just exhausted by the chaos. DH and I are both hybrid and more days than not, we all have to get out of the house and do an approximately 45 min commute after getting the kids to school. We have a 7 and 4-year-old and a big dog. It feels like the house, kids, and work juggle is just impossible sometimes and we actually both have a ton of flexibility compared to what it could be. We have no family help though, and it feels like there is always something more I could/should be doing. My house is trashed, the dog wants a walk, my older child still wants to be hanging out with me, and I have work stuff I need to do before tomorrow. Is this just how it is?

It’ll get better. When both kids started reading for example I felt like they were more independent.

I’m sorry, but I am on team no pets also. I understand a pet brings so much joy. But it’s at the expense of your own mental health at this point. Why?

I work FT but also with flexibility, do pick ups and cooking. The commute to school seems to be a killer for you guys. That’s 3 hours driving per day?

[Anonymous]

I SAH. I’m not sanctimonious about it from a kid perspective. I just knew I would struggle in the situation OP describes. I even found it hard as a SAHM so I can only imagine working too. Yes, I know lots of people do it with ease. I now work PT with teens and still feel I would be stressed working FT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two working parents? All parents are two working parents. If you are working elsewhere , someone else does childcare and house chores, if one is home, they do that work.

lol come on

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2-3 bedroom apartment and no dog would help.
We wake up 30 minutes before school starts. Driving to school takes 3 minutes. Used to live even closer.
Kids don't want to hang out with parents.

Are you saying the bolded is your method for lessening the chaos? That’s sad and, in my experience, unusual.

Mine did when they were 7, but not so much now when they are 15!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two working parents? All parents are two working parents. If you are working elsewhere , someone else does childcare and house chores, if one is home, they do that work.

Huh?

It’s a butt hurt SAHM just ignore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:-Don't have three kids.
-Don't have pets (especially a dog)
-Declutter and minimize stuff
- Outsource chores. Don't outsource childcare.
- Send all clothes to the laundry, so that it is clean and folded.

Who has 3 kids?

[Anonymous]

My H did morning routine so I could get to work at 7 and home by 4.

My H got kids to school and I picked them up at 4.

That gives me 5 hours to spend with kids, cook, walk dog.

We have a cleaning person every other week.

I cook Sunday-Wed, order in W, left over th, F is sushi or pizza.

H arrives at 5:30.

Laundry is put in before I leave, dryer when I get home. H puts it away during bedtime routine.

We are all in bed by 9.

We do a date every Saturday for dinner or hike or something… or we are invited to a cookout/party.

We take off work 1x every month and spend the day together. Minus big holiday months.

I’d pay a teen to walk the dog if that is an issue.