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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am a mom of three kids (ages 7,4,1) and am going to be taking time away from my career for a variety of reasons I won’t get into. I expect that will happen this summer or by the fall for the next school year - kids would be 7.5, 4.5 and 1.5.

I have always worked full time and had a nanny. I would love to hear from stay at home moms of bigger families how you structure your day. Specific questions:

- do you have any part time childcare for toddlers at home to give you time to do chores like cooking, or to take time for yourself like exercising? 
- what do mornings look like? Right now my nanny and I tackle mornings together before work, and I drop my older two kids off at school before work. So she actually doesn’t handle the morning routine for all 3 at once. 
- after school activities: do you try to get your older kids to do activities in the same place? Do you all go together to after school activities and hang out waiting for the other?
- when is dinner cooked while you’re taking care of all three kids? Do you meal prep or let them play while you cook? 
- how do you help older kids with homework while watching a toddler? Right now I wait until my husband is home from work so one of us can do homework with our oldest while the other watches the baby. Wondering if it’s possible to get homework out of the way earlier in the day.

Any other considerations or tips to stay organized?

I am sort of embarrassed to ask these questions, but I’ve always had my nanny for a few extra hours so I could have time to either exercise, cook, do laundry or run errands. I don’t plan to have a nanny if I’m not working but am open to a very part time sitter for some support. [/quote]

- I do have a sitter one afternoon a week.  I work extremely part time, so sometimes I work.  But I also need to be able to make dentist or doctor or hair appointments for myself or for the older kids without having to rely on DH being home.

- I have always done mornings on my own whether I’m working or not.  Mornings and bedtimes are always the most structured parts of the day.  It really is easier if you aren’t also trying to get yourself ready.

- I definitely put my older kids in the same activities.  Or activities that occur at the same place.  Like one kid is in karate while the other is in gymnastics.  I try to use that time to spend 1:1 time with the kid that’s not in the activity.

- In my ideal world, dinner is cooked right before we eat while DH is out doing yard work with older kids in tow.  In reality, dinner is typically cooked during nap time and left to simmer (soups and sauces) or reheated at dinner time.  I will say that homemade bread is a nice thing to make with a toddler in tow.  There are lots of steps where you do something and then wait an hour or an hour and a half, which is right on toddler schedule.

- homework depends on how self-motivated your child is to do homework.  If your child needs a lot of involvement from you to do homework, you can’t do it with a toddler in tow.  Toddlers tend to have random, urgent needs, and you can’t put that kind of time pressure on a second grader who needs you to really be present with them while they try to figure out multiplication.  But if you have a second grader who can kind of figure it out and just needs you there for questions, then it’s fine.  Same thing goes for music practice and other things.

My only other tip is to try to join or create a playgroup with 2-4 other moms that meets weekly.  Even if they aren’t the kind of people you would normally be friends with, you need co-workers.  This isn’t a job you want to do alone![/quote]

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