stafford stories: Working FROM HOME (working mama post)

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Working FROM HOME (working mama post) - Nicole

Happy Thursday EVERYONE!

One day closer to the weekend...yeah!

I am excited to share this working mama post with all of you!

Meet Nicole she is a working mama that works at HOME!

Maybe you working mama's out there that work from home can get some tips...

Hello Everyone!

I am thrilled that I can be part of this series. I have enjoyed reading everybody's so far.

I am Nicole from the Da' Clarks. I am passionate about my faith and my family and living each day to its fullest.

I am married to a wonderful,hardworking man and we have 3 children. Kendric{8}, Cadence{6} going on 16 and Kaelis who is a few weeks shy of {3}.

I work fulltime at home. I know alot of people think working at home has perks, and it does, but it can also be very challenging and draining as well. I have a preschool/daycare in the basement of my home and am down their usually from 8-4 with an hour of naptime and I usually go upstairs to get a few things done if I can.

I love working from home and I am blessed that I can. It allows me to stay home with my kiddos,but still bring in that income we need. I only watch teacher kids, so I have my summer off and all the school holidays,but I never stop working being a mom!

My day is chaotic and noisy,but very busy.

Here is a glimpse of our morning:

I wake up at 5 and get ready for my run. My husband goes first and runs so while he is running I will get my weights lifted and do some ab work.

I will leave the house around 550 and get back around 630. I quickly jump in the shower and get ready. I am usually downstairs(living area) by 645 to prepare for the day. My kids are up by 7 and I have kids arriving around that time as well. I get the kids breakfast and I usually eat in between doing everything else. That is just the way it goes! My kids are old enough that depending on what breakfast they want, they usually get it themselves, This helps a lot and I can focus on the daycare kids.

My kids have a late school start so they do not have to leave until 8:45 or so I do not feel as rushed to get them out the door. I normally will take the kids downstairs to get their day started. I have a timer that goes off when it is time for my kids to leave for school and that way that is one less thing I have to worry about. They have everything ready to go and shoes on when I head downstairs.

How we make it flow:

The only way mornings will run smooth(believe me there are days it just fails) is by getting everything prepared the night before.

My kids get home from school around 430PM. We have snack and chat about our day and then they watch a show or play on ipad for some downtime. This is usually when I start dinner and get a few things done. We usually eat around 6PM or 615PM(Ryan gets home about 530PM or 6PM)and then the kids do some school work or reading before they can have some fun time.

They usually play outside until 730PM and then come in to take showers/baths, brush teeth. Since my kids are older, they usually can shower themselves and then I will give Kaelis a bath. While the other 2 shower I pick out their clothes for the next morning and my clothes. This has saved so much time. I take forever picking out outfits and knowing this is already done is such a time saver. We also pack our lunches between after school and dinner time. That way is out of the way.

After showers we do a family activity which could be watch a movie or play a game. No matter what it is we make sure we do it together. By this time it is about 830 and we prepare for bed. Our laundry room is on the 2nd level so before I go downstairs I throw a load of laundry in and put in on the delay cycle for midnight and then the load is ready to go in the dryer when I get up in the morning. I fold the load at naptime.

Our routine can change a little from time to time because of school events or the kids sports events,but we always try to keep it as close as possible. Life is not perfect and neither are we and things will not get done the way I like it or a load of laundry might not be put in at night,but sometimes I just have to take a deep breath and know that it will get done at some point. I just move on and know the tomorrow is always a new day.

Qualitity time with my husband:

This has been an issue that has had to be ironed out. We have struggled with this issue because we are tired or I do not like what he is watching and we go to different rooms. We knew that had to change so after some deep discussions we decided that after the kids go to sleep it is our time. We usually watch a show or sometimes just talk without cell phones or any distractions. This has helped our relationship tremendously We get so focused on our children and spending time with them,that we forget about each other. We still have things to work on,but it gets better each day.

We also try to go on date at least once a month if not more. Those dates are a MUST!

How I keep the house clean:

I like a tidy house,but it may not always work out that I have one! This is where I get the family involved. My kids have know that the playroom is their room and they need to be in charge of the cleaning. i have taught them that as soon as they are finished with something,they always put it away. That way they have less to clean up at once. I try to have a home for everything and this helps with clutter. I will go in and tidy up after them if I need too,

When I cook dinner, I clean as I go. I will rinse the dish or pan I am using and put it in the dishwasher or drying rack, I will put all the ingredients away when i am finished using them. This works for me because then after dinner I am not left with a huge dinner mess to clean up. The kids will take their dishes to the sink after dinner and then I just put them in the dishwasher. I do not like going to bed knowing I have dishes in the sink or a messy kitchen to wake up to. I make sure the kitchen is clean before going to bed.

As far as the rest of the house, I take one task at a time. I had to make a plan on paper for myself and it has worked great. Mondays I dust and clean the baseboards..., Tuesdays, I clean the bathrooms... etc.. Since I am able to get a few things done during that window of nap time, this is when I do these things. That way my weekends and my evenings are not spent cleaning. This way it is not so over whelming and I feel like I have accomplished more that way. My house seems to stay cleaner this way. We just pick up as we go.

All the beds are made in the morning. I feel like I cannot continue until the beds are made. I have always been like that.

My husband is type A so everything of his is clean and picked up so he helps out in that department.

Spending time with friends:

This is something that needs to get better,but even though we may not get together as often as we like, I always make sure to send a hello text or a note on facebook to let them know I am thinking about them. I will ask them how their week is going or just hello.

Ryan and try to do something with our friends separately when we can. I usually will have bunco once a month with the girls on a Sat night and he will go see a movie or whatever once a month. This is just enough to be with our friends have fun. On occasion we will get a group together,but finding a sitter is tough work!