The secrets to saving precious mum time

As a modern mum i am always on the go. Between keeping the kids clean and fed, doing the housework and everything in between it feels as though i have more to do than I do hours in the day. Something a few people have asked me about now is what do I do to make the most of the time I have.. Well here it is! My top things I do in order to keep on top of the chaos. A weekly organisational chart! I have a chart that shows all the days in the week and on Sundays I spend time to note down EVERYTHING I need to get done. Blog posts? Cleaning bedsheets? Groceries? all of these things are on the chart. I also keep an up to date tally on our budget on this chart. Everything we need to know and remember is on this chart. I match it up with a yearly family calendar so as I can plan things in advance and then put them into the weekly chart as needed. Sean and his friends joke that I am crazy obsessed with the calendar but jokes on them as it also plans out their camping trips, golf days and more! Premade meals are an essential for any family! I used to spend hours cooking meals to freeze. This was one way to remove the stress on Sean and I when we got home from work and had to get Xavier ready for bed. After a while I began to slip in this routine however and we decided to get Youfoodz! Youfoodz was a way that we could eat fresh ready made meals whilst not spending the time slaving away in the kitchen. We simply put it on the organising chart what day we will sit down and plan our order. They have so many meals that I think everyone can find something that they would like. A typical day of meals for me is Choc Hazelnut Waffle for breakfast - every sweet tooth NEEDS to try this out! The waffle is soft yet crunchy, the Hazelnut cream is smooth and tasty and my favourite the choc sauce over the top.. can you say YUM! It is always so quick to heat up so I can sneak my breakfast in before the kids wake. Once Xavier wakes up he loves to have the Coco-Berry Protein Oats with some yoghurt. For lunch I love having the Nacho Beef Bowl. It is SO tasty and again it is super quick to make. Dinner I am obsessed with the Flamin' Chicken. I am not usually one to like anything with spice but this chicken dish is amazing. For those like me who aren't used to spice.. Use a small amount of the sauce the first time to test how hot you like it! Youfoodz also allows us to not stress over what Sean will take to lunch the next day. Sometimes we don't cook in bulk so the leftovers we do have doesn't allow for a filling meal for him. Now he simply picks out a meal from the fridge and off he goes. Have you ever taken two kids to the grocery store on your own? I have and honestly it is a SCARY mission. I take my hat off to all parents, grandparents or carers who have done this and especially if you have taken MORE than two children. Xavier is currently an amazing escape artist so going solo out in public with the kids is difficult. One thing Sean and I have done to prevent the chaos is we have found a business who delivers fresh fruit and veges to our door every Wednesday! We have set up a subscription to their service allowing us to completely forget about fresh produce all together.. i just need to meet the man at my front door! No more wrestling Xavier whilst wearing Bailey. This is something I really suggest for all families! Either utilise the delivery or even click and collect options with your local grocery chain or find a smaller supplier like we have done. It will save you so much time in the store. Setting out outfits in advance is the next thing that helps keep our day moving smoothly. Not having to fuss about what the kids will wear saves time in the morning as I can get them dressed as soon as the kids are awake. It also always lets me start the day fresh as I can get dressed properly without waking Bailey as she still sleeps in the room. Get the kids involved in everything. Now that Xavier is getting to a stage where he can understand tasks, I LOVE getting him involved. Our favourite game lately is 'clean up time'. I sit on the floor with the toy box and sing a little song about clean him up and in the box. Xavier then wanders around the room grabbing his toys and brings them to me to put in the toybox. It makes cleaning up the mess much more entertaining for the both of us. It helps him to understand that everything has a place in the home and we cant just leave things everywhere. You can get kids involved in so many household tasks. Cooking, cleaning, gardening. You will find they just like to be involved. Cleaning days are needed in our house. If I just did things whenever we would be living in a mess! I have set days in which I do set tasks. Thursdays for example is bedsheet day. Friday is the day I give bathrooms a good deep clean and so forth. Having a set routine for these things helps me feel like I am on top of things. We got our first dishwasher around six months ago. I know most people have them.. but do you realise how much time it saves you! Last week I decided to wash the dishes by hands for a few days and my gosh it took a LONG time. Especially when you have a toddler jumping all over you and wanting to take all of your attention. All in all I have so much respect for every family who has it together. It is SO hard to organise your time between caring for your kids and keeping the home moving and running smoothly. I don't think I have it all together but we seem to survive in our semi organised chaos. So there you have it, those that want to know how I hold it together.. Organise, order your food and keep on top of the chores regularly! Do you have tips for how to save time and energy? Let me know! Until next time, OnePlusOneEqualsFour x