Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would skip two kinds of homemade muffins, if I were you.

OP here. I can’t. Picky eaters and allergies. Wish I could.

If this is how you approach things, you’re doing it to yourself.

Uh, no, this is math: muffins take 2 hours. A hospital visit following an anaphylactic incident when you try some “lower your standards!” convenience snack is 6 hours if you’re very lucky. As a mother of a highly allergic kid I promise you OP is not baking from scratch because it is so much fun to commune with the KitchenAid on weekends.

(Dairy and Avacado mom— I feel you!!! We’ve got tree nut and egg and getting enough protein into her is an endless project…)

NP. We juggle peanut, tree nut, and egg here between my 2 DDs and myself, and the egg in particular is a nightmare to avoid with any sort of convenience items, takeout, anything that would make meals less prep and time consuming for me. When I saw OP mention 2 different types of homemade muffins, I knew she was dealing with food allergies. The constant need to prep nearly all food at home and from scratch is a level of time consuming some other PPs couldn't even begin to grasp.

OP- I have to say I'm a bit envious of you right now as I procrastinated all day, got nothing done and have a really busy work week starting early tomorrow. Some of the tips here are good ones that I'll try. I do have a cleaning crew every 2 weeks which makes life a lot easier but my house is a bit of a mess right now, laundry isn't folded/put away and it will really bother me in the morning.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would skip two kinds of homemade muffins, if I were you.

OP here. I can’t. Picky eaters and allergies. Wish I could.

If this is how you approach things, you’re doing it to yourself.

Uh, no, this is math: muffins take 2 hours. A hospital visit following an anaphylactic incident when you try some “lower your standards!” convenience snack is 6 hours if you’re very lucky. As a mother of a highly allergic kid I promise you OP is not baking from scratch because it is so much fun to commune with the KitchenAid on weekends.

(Dairy and Avacado mom— I feel you!!! We’ve got tree nut and egg and getting enough protein into her is an endless project…)

Op, I'd try to do one chore per evening, like, wipe down bathroom on Monday, change bedding tuesday, laundry wednesday...even just 3 nights of chores would cut down on the weekend work. Then you and dh tackle the remaining chores together on the weekend while the kiddos play alongside you guys. Then everyone gets to rest!

As for the muffins-honestly I really don't know what picky allergy muffins are, but whatever they are, if you can do a huge batch like once a month and freeze, that might help.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would skip two kinds of homemade muffins, if I were you.

OP here. I can’t. Picky eaters and allergies. Wish I could.

That’s baloney. You definitely can skip the muffins.

No it's actually really not something that she can skip because a majority of the food that most other kids eat are likely not things that her kids can eat and I'm talking from experience here. With allergies you have to be careful about making sure that they're getting the proper nutrition so for example my kid can't have dairy or avocado so I have to find a really sneaky ways to get appropriate amount of fats in. Considering dairy is like 1/3 of the total calories for most preschoolers I know we have to prep a lot more food. Muffins are easy transportable and freezable.

OP I know what you're talking about but you guys have got to do more during the week. I know it seems insurmountable but even doing like 30 minutes of stuff Monday through Friday and totality that can take two and a half hours from your weekends. That doesn't mean that you're not going to have to do stuff but it can take a lot off your weekend plate

Lower your standards. Easy solution. I spend my weekends outside playing with kids. My house is messy. My meals aren’t prepped. We plan a few meals and wing the rest. And I am
Mentally better off doing this and not trying to keep a perfect house with two little kids. No one else is inside but us, who cares?

OP, head on over to the parenting hacks thread in the General Parenting forum for some other good tips (the ones shared here are good, too!).

Stop folding laundry
Stop doing anything other than Bleach wiping the bathrooms
Double or triple those muffins and freeze them

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would skip two kinds of homemade muffins, if I were you.

OP here. I can’t. Picky eaters and allergies. Wish I could.

If this is how you approach things, you’re doing it to yourself.

Team lower standards here. Organizing drawers, washing linens, and true cleaning of bathrooms and rooms (as opposed to tidying) are not weekly tasks. We also don't cook ahead for the week, just cook big enough batches for leftovers and fill in the rest with easy and not always super healthy stuff. It helps. It's important to have fun!

I’m a nanny and I do all of this during the week for my nanny family. I get paid $26 per hour plus gas for my car and PTO and a retirement contribution.

I also used to do part-time in-home cooking, specializing in helping families with multiple food allergies or dietary restrictions (vegan, keto, dairy-free, etc.). Perhaps you could find someone to come once a month and mass-produce muffins. I have totally done that for families before. I know how hard it is to find pre-made food when you are juggling multiple restrictions. Especially food the kids will actually eat!

Aside from that, I will add that doing laundry as you go is the easiest way to lighten your weekends. Do a load daily and then just put it all away that night. Monday: kid one laundry for the week (then no need to sort by family member), Tuesday, Kid 2, Wednesday grown-up delicates, Thursday regular grown-up stuff, Friday bath towels, Saturday/Sunday sheets and then just put the clean sheets back onto beds at the end of the day (so no need to fold). And I never fold pjs/undies/swimsuits/etc.

Anonymous wrote:Cleaning service if you can afford it. Otherwise buy a roomba. Clean bathrooms with Lysol wipes. You can do this during the week. Why are you reorganizing drawers every weekend? Too much stuff or small space? Ruthlessly purge stuff. No more toys in the main play area than you can clean up in 15 minutes. Use bins that the kids can sort toys into. Hope you don’t fold their laundry—those hanging closet shelves are great for kids clothes and require minimal folding. If the muffins save you time and worry later, then you can’t cut that. But maybe you can bake and freeze? Then they can be baking during a weekday dinner time and you don’t have to lump it into the Sunday prep. If allergens worry you, can you buy the nice Amy’s organic gluten free whatever? To have a shortcut meal on hand (honestly asking—maybe your kids’ allergies preclude that—but thought it could be a good compromise).

Can't possibly hurt. I don't fold kid laundry either, the toddler pulls it out and throws it on the floor anyway.

One of my weekend days and I am a SAHM (with similar aged kids). DH works from home until 8 and I can't pull together dinner without them interfering with his work so I have to do freezer meals too. I try to give myself one "bum" day and one work day. I view it as a season of life.

Our nanny does all that stuff. If I’m not working I want to enjoy the time with my kids.

This thread has me ROLLING. Yea we know all kids must consume muffins to live.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would skip two kinds of homemade muffins, if I were you.

OP here. I can’t. Picky eaters and allergies. Wish I could.

That’s baloney. You definitely can skip the muffins.

Oh hey someone without a highly allergic kid! So great to see you! Good thing you’re here to be irrelevant!

+100 you don’t know how restrictive their diet might be due to food allergies.