Working Parent Schedule Crunch

[Anonymous]

Lunches should be 100% packed and bags checked the night before. It doesn’t help wife but husband’s morning routine could be shorter or less hectic for sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cook on weekends. Do a load of laundry every night/morning. How old are your kids because I taught my kids to bring dirty clothes to laundry room by age 6.

Laundry is always clean. They load it fine and start it no problem. It’s getting it dry and folded which is bottleneck.

I haaaaaatttteeee folding laundry. Just ugh. We do have times where DS, 7, is pulling clean stuff out of the laundry basket because I just don't want to fold laundry. It is not all that often but it does happen. The clothes are clean so I don't feel that bad about it.

Use you head,! Fold clothes as you take them out of dryer. Folding and putting clothes away is something a 7 year old can do.

I'm not the OP, but I would not be able to do this. I can't fold something like a shirt in midair-I need a flat surface like a table or counter to do that. My laundry room is tiny (basically just the entryway between my garage and the rest of the house) with no room to put a small table for folding. So with each item, I'd have to walk to the closest surface (the kitchen table) which is about 15 feet away. It would take forever walking back and forth like that for every item.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, we live on a busy street, and the school bus requires both kids crossing it as well as currently a construction zone as they are building a new apartment there, so lots of random people, trucks and such at all hours. If they were being dropped off on a leafy suburb street, we would be all over that!!

Cmon OP, I live on a busy street in the midst of massive Purple Line construction and NIH traffic. It doesn't get busier than this. And no one drives their kids to school here. It's fine if you choose to give your 12yo door-to-door car service simply because you don't live on a "leafy surburb street" but recognize that this is a choice that makes the rest of your life more stressful. Everyone here is giving you reasonable suggestions for streamlining your schedule and you seem insistent that none are viable - my kid is too short! there's no trees on my street! Fine, keep things as they are, but then why post here?

Well, my DD has been uncomfortable with some of the interactions she has had with the men hanging out there, and I trust her judgment on that.

Maybe she is scamming me to get a ride to school, but who knows.

To be clear, your kids bus stop is in front of the purple line construction zone, with all the workers coming and going, and a nearby 7-11 with day workers hanging out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cook on weekends. Do a load of laundry every night/morning. How old are your kids because I taught my kids to bring dirty clothes to laundry room by age 6.

Laundry is always clean. They load it fine and start it no problem. It’s getting it dry and folded which is bottleneck.

I haaaaaatttteeee folding laundry. Just ugh. We do have times where DS, 7, is pulling clean stuff out of the laundry basket because I just don't want to fold laundry. It is not all that often but it does happen. The clothes are clean so I don't feel that bad about it.

Use you head,! Fold clothes as you take them out of dryer. Folding and putting clothes away is something a 7 year old can do.

I'm not the OP, but I would not be able to do this. I can't fold something like a shirt in midair-I need a flat surface like a table or counter to do that. My laundry room is tiny (basically just the entryway between my garage and the rest of the house) with no room to put a small table for folding. So with each item, I'd have to walk to the closest surface (the kitchen table) which is about 15 feet away. It would take forever walking back and forth like that for every item.

OP here, ours is exactly like this, only its in a hallway. You unload the dryer and block the way while doing, and folding all the laundry while bent over in midair will kill my back!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you have the life that many 2 working parents households have.

And this is why I posted -- it sounds like we are doing it the way everyone else does, and there is no secret sauce we are missing.

Like I said, our school is mostly PT and SAHM, so our DDs friends homes are always immaculate, DW always seem chill, and there are zero of her friends in SACC. So our point of reference was skewed but I'm much more at peace now that I have heard from the WP tribe

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, we live on a busy street, and the school bus requires both kids crossing it as well as currently a construction zone as they are building a new apartment there, so lots of random people, trucks and such at all hours. If they were being dropped off on a leafy suburb street, we would be all over that!!

Cmon OP, I live on a busy street in the midst of massive Purple Line construction and NIH traffic. It doesn't get busier than this. And no one drives their kids to school here. It's fine if you choose to give your 12yo door-to-door car service simply because you don't live on a "leafy surburb street" but recognize that this is a choice that makes the rest of your life more stressful. Everyone here is giving you reasonable suggestions for streamlining your schedule and you seem insistent that none are viable - my kid is too short! there's no trees on my street! Fine, keep things as they are, but then why post here?

Well, my DD has been uncomfortable with some of the interactions she has had with the men hanging out there, and I trust her judgment on that.

Maybe she is scamming me to get a ride to school, but who knows.

To be clear, your kids bus stop is in front of the purple line construction zone, with all the workers coming and going, and a nearby 7-11 with day workers hanging out?

There's no 7-11 in the vicinity, although a Starbucks about a block away, but otherwise yes. Tons of construction workers, insane traffic. And kids all walk or take the bus to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cook on weekends. Do a load of laundry every night/morning. How old are your kids because I taught my kids to bring dirty clothes to laundry room by age 6.

Laundry is always clean. They load it fine and start it no problem. It’s getting it dry and folded which is bottleneck.

I haaaaaatttteeee folding laundry. Just ugh. We do have times where DS, 7, is pulling clean stuff out of the laundry basket because I just don't want to fold laundry. It is not all that often but it does happen. The clothes are clean so I don't feel that bad about it.

Use you head,! Fold clothes as you take them out of dryer. Folding and putting clothes away is something a 7 year old can do.

I'm not the OP, but I would not be able to do this. I can't fold something like a shirt in midair-I need a flat surface like a table or counter to do that. My laundry room is tiny (basically just the entryway between my garage and the rest of the house) with no room to put a small table for folding. So with each item, I'd have to walk to the closest surface (the kitchen table) which is about 15 feet away. It would take forever walking back and forth like that for every item.

Outside of that, I would rather fold laundry while watching a TV show then standing up in the laundry room. OK, so I would rather not fold laundry but DS is getting to the age where he can handle that. He can fold his laundry while I fold my laundry and we can watching Teen Titans together. DH will continue to not fold his laundry and we shall all soldier on with an agreed feeling that laundry suuuuckkkkssss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you have the life that many 2 working parents households have.

And this is why I posted -- it sounds like we are doing it the way everyone else does, and there is no secret sauce we are missing.

Like I said, our school is mostly PT and SAHM, so our DDs friends homes are always immaculate, DW always seem chill, and there are zero of her friends in SACC. So our point of reference was skewed but I'm much more at peace now that I have heard from the WP tribe

Nope. Your schedule looks fine and you seem to be happy with it. You can pick the kids up a bit later and run errands during that time. Personally, I would cut back on the Church time but that is my lapsed Catholic speaking. I like having Sunday's to our selves. Granted, DS has an event that he enjoys, and that is totally cool, but not working around services is very nice.

[Anonymous]

How long is your church service? I'm Catholic and total time is 1.5 hours, including getting there and back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How long is your church service? I'm Catholic and total time is 1.5 hours, including getting there and back.

8:30AM - 12:00PM with commute, services, and sunday school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How long is your church service? I'm Catholic and total time is 1.5 hours, including getting there and back.

8:30AM - 12:00PM with commute, services, and sunday school.

NP. Ooof that is killing a huge chunk of weekend time. We go to an hour long service walking distance from our house. Hour and a half round trip and we don’t do it every Sunday because sometimes a lazy family day take precedent. Hopefully God understands mental health days! Plus we aren’t super religious. I can’t imagine adding a 6th day of the week that I have to be up, dressed, and out the door early every single week.

[Anonymous]

OP, you are not getting enough sleep and you are working 10 hours a day. Cancel the nighttime email check. Since you get in to the office before everyone else anyway, you can put out any fires then, and your mind will probably be fresher. Use 9-10pm to wind down with a book and go to sleep early so that you get a full 7.5-8 hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you have the life that many 2 working parents households have.

And this is why I posted -- it sounds like we are doing it the way everyone else does, and there is no secret sauce we are missing.

Like I said, our school is mostly PT and SAHM, so our DDs friends homes are always immaculate, DW always seem chill, and there are zero of her friends in SACC. So our point of reference was skewed but I'm much more at peace now that I have heard from the WP tribe

I feel like you are not reading very closely. There are several posts of people who do things differently and as a result have more time and less stress. You are simply dismissing all of those ideas. It doesn't seem like you actually want to make any change, you just want to be told that you are right and there is nothing you can do to improve your life.

My husband and I work full time and have kids about yours ages. We both are able to work normal hours and have more time as a family and for things like date nights and time with our friends. Our house is reasonably clean and our lives are organized. We get plenty of sleep. It is possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you have the life that many 2 working parents households have.

And this is why I posted -- it sounds like we are doing it the way everyone else does, and there is no secret sauce we are missing.

Like I said, our school is mostly PT and SAHM, so our DDs friends homes are always immaculate, DW always seem chill, and there are zero of her friends in SACC. So our point of reference was skewed but I'm much more at peace now that I have heard from the WP tribe

I feel like you are not reading very closely. There are several posts of people who do things differently and as a result have more time and less stress. You are simply dismissing all of those ideas. It doesn't seem like you actually want to make any change, you just want to be told that you are right and there is nothing you can do to improve your life.

My husband and I work full time and have kids about yours ages. We both are able to work normal hours and have more time as a family and for things like date nights and time with our friends. Our house is reasonably clean and our lives are organized. We get plenty of sleep. It is possible.

Can you lay out your schedule? I think you refer to before care, buses, and dropping activities and church? What am I missing?

[Anonymous]

I’m a single working mom of 3 elementary kids. All3 in travel sports. Your schedule seems easier compared to mine