When you have so much to do, where do you start?

Question

Cleaning the house, cleaning the car, bathing the kids, sending my husband care packages during his deployment, weaning my daughter from nursing....How do I prioritize in this pile of mess?

Answer 1

you start with your kids and you don't get anything else done, lol, kids come first, when they nap get as much as you can done, but when they go to bed for the night you go to bed too.......the house is gonna be a mess, there's gonna be dishes everywhere!  that's what bein a mom is all about.  you also can't cater your kids 24/7, I don't mean ignore them, what I mean by that is you can't be right next to them all the time, they have to learn to be somewhat independent and you will get much more done if you teach them that, they need me time just like me or you do, and they learn to enjoy it.................or you could get one of those play gates to keep them confined in an area with some toys while you fold the clothes or do the dishes.  as far as the nursing goes, I'm not sure, I never nursed I always did the bottle, but either way you're gonna have to listen to them cry......you could give her little snacks to hold her over and gradually move down from how many feedings she gets a day, good luck!

Answer 2

I feel for you.  I've been through all of those things but never all at once.  Don't try to be super-mom and super-wife!  Make a list by priorities and work your way down.  If you don't finish, you don't finish.  There's always tomorrow, and the next day, and the next...

Don't forget to take care of yourself, pamper yourself on occasion, and relax!

Answer 3

First off...take a step back and breath.  You forgot to put time for you in there as well.  Do you have friends or family that can help with anything?  You have to decide personally what's most important to you...obviously your family is ranked top on the list.  Best way to ensure the kids health and safety is by having/maintaining a clean home...not necessarily obssesive compulsive clean.  

Kids don't need to be bathed until ready for bedtime...in the mean time, depending on their ages, perhaps assign some household chores to get a little help with the house work.  Obviously if they're too young for chores that won't work.  My mother would clean at night after we were asleep because she claimed it was pointless to clean during the day when as soon as we got home from school we would mess the house up again so that may be an option provided you aren't too tired from other activities during the day.  

A friend or family member as well as the kids (again depending on age) can help put together the care packages for your husband.  Along with cleaning the car...the same day you take your husband's care package to the PO stop at Do-It-Yourself Car Wash place, dump the trash there and vaccumm then run it through a wash (most have an automatic wash as well) or go to a Gas Station and get a discounted wash when you pump so much gas.  

Weaning is actually not too hard to do, especially when you have so many other things going on around you.  It's all about timing.  How I was told to wean my daughter was by replacing a nursing session one at a time with a bottle.  So rather than breast-feeding 6 times a day I went down to 5 and bottle fed once, then after a week or so of that went down to 4 and bottle fed twice, and so on.  My daughter transferred beautifully to the bottle and my b*****s only bothered me for a day or two once she was completely weaned.  

Once all is peaceful and done by the end of a week...the kids are asleep, grab that book you've been trying to read or movie you've been dying to watch along with Ben and Jerry LOL kidding, unless you like to indulge like that from time to time.  That way you get a treat/reward for kicking butt and managing to get things done.  

It's hard trying to figure out how on Earth you are going to get all of this done but in honesty if you don't find a system that works best for you and you don't take care of yourself while doing all of this, you're going to get run-down...and unfortunately maybe even sick then you'll become even more upset because you can't take care of your family like you should be able to.  So take care of you too and best wishes to you and your family!

Answer 4

I live by the motto, "inch by inch, everything is a cinch."  Just starting the smallest thing will get you motivated and moving in the right direction.  Before you know it, jobs are done.  I like to tackle the most annoying or stressful task first just to get it over and done with and off my mind.

Answer 5

You take care of your family FIRST.  Housework and cleaning out the car can wait.

Answer 6

Well, there are some things that you need to do at a certain time, so make sure that those times, you're free to do that. like dropping of someone, picking up something, or an appointment.

With the time left over, put in the things that you can do w/ no time limit, like cleaning the house and cleaning the car, etc.  Make sure to give yourself a couple of breaks in between though! :)

GoodLuck! :)

Answer 7

start with music to get you motivated that is what i do to get started then i start with the kitchen, dinning room, living room and i have two boys who can bath themselves i have one that i still have to bather her but i have time to do that durring the day

Answer 8

I understand I have a similar situation .What I do is everything that I need to concentrate on fully I do when she is asleep like my homework. I let her play while I am cleaning house and When she goes down for the night I take that as my personal time...Good Luck

Answer 9

Make a rough draft list . Then go down your list and put in order of it's importance to you. Just remember with little kids your house isn't going to be spotless. You can even make picking up a game with them. Your first priority should be having good quality play time with your kids and sending those packages to your hubby. The kids aren't going to remember the clean house. They are going to remember playing with you.

Hang in there I KNOW it gets overwhelming at times. When your kids go to bed tonight, go get in the bath tub and take a nice long hot bubble bath.

Answer 10

Some things can take care of themselves.  Do what you can, rotation is key. Do not focus too much energy on weaning the baby...she will wean herself when ready (giggle). Now, my house is not the cleanest on the block since children and that is ok with me. Do not let it stress you out because this at one time did stress me out. I know it feels better when the house is clean though. My best advice is one, two, even three rooms per day of cleaning (depending on your home size) with 1 day of complete rest per week.  I usually take a grocery bag to my van when I remember and rid the trash when I go somewhere. I also keep amor all, windex, papertowels somewhere in my vehicle. During warm parts of the year let the kids help wash the car with you. Give them trash duty, or wiping the seats down. Leather seats are a blessing from God! You are all alone which makes everything harder. You need to ask God for a support network in your area. Ask him to send you servants after his own heart! Then watch out! Really I wish you lived near me because we could help each other! Still I have help from my husbands family! I will pray for you there. I know this can get redundant but all of these questions are best presented to God and he will help you. Just be stilll and know He is God! :) You are a precious beautiful soul! I know you are tired! You do not have to be perfect...if you are too tired to bathe the kids take a rag and wipe them down well enough to sleep. Just make them brush those teeth!