How and when do you find the time to...By Claire

The Fabulous Moms Guide tagged me in a meme which was originally started by Ms Dolly Daydream ( Sex, drugs, rocker and stroller, baby ) and which posed the question             ‘How  and when do you find the time to…’     and while being tagged was a great honour, the prospect of actually trying to record the ‘madness’ of my daily routine was quite daunting!
Firstly, I want to say that I love the idea of this meme and the insight it gives into ‘how people cope’. I have learned a lot from reading what others have contributed, in particular I learned what a meme actually is; a useful thing to know considering..., i.e. subject that a group of bloggers write about (thanks to Fabulous Moms Guide).
Firstly to list the Rules of this meme:
1- Please post the rules.
2- When answering the questions, please give as much detail as possible!
3- Leave a comment on Sex, drugs, rocker and stroller, baby so we can keep track of the  meme and I can totally steal your routine tips to make my world a happier place.
4- Tag 3 or more people and link to them on your blog.
 So, having completed No:1 above, I shall commence with my first meme!!

How and when do you find the time to…….do your laundry?
Washing machine is constantly going in my house. The laundry basket seems to magically reproduce and multiply clothes.(Once, I put jeans in the laundry basket with €20.00 in the pocket, but do you think the €20.00 multiplied?.. Nooo, in fact that money magically disappeared!).   I do all my laundry in the evening after work, Apparently ‘off-peak’ time is cheaper (Um No). I tend to tumble dry everything (heavier items get put on radiator if heating is on). Tumble drying might be a ‘no no’ in some peoples’ books but for me its convenient, fast and has a guaranteed result of dry clothes, no guarantees with weather. I sort the clothes whenever I get a chance, no exact time.

How and when do you find the time to…….write a blog post?
 I Write blogs whenever I get a chance, if the girls are watching TV, on tea or lunch breaks at work, doctors waiting room! I record blog ideas and notes on my phone and then I tweak and tidy in the evenings or in bed at night.

How and when do you find the time to….look after yourself…i.e. wash your hair, paint your nails, take a bubble bath etc.?
Again, it’s in the evenings when I don’t have anything more urgent to do. My husband works overseas and it’s only me and my girls so I only have time for myself when they are asleep, and sometimes I am so tired I can’t be bothered! But I suppose it depends on ones view of ‘me’ time e.g. I have taken up Knitting, so I consider it ‘me’ time if I get the chance to knit for a while or finish something, (which again I do at night in bed mostly). Someday, I do intend to take up a sexier hobby though!

How and when do you find the time to…….spend time with your other half?
That is a difficult one in our case. Because my husband works overseas and only gets home for 2 weeks every couple of months, it’s very difficult. We try and get out for a night but the girls want to see their dad too, so it’s hard. I try to take days off work when he is home, so we can spend a bit of time together, but there is nearly ALWAYS something to do or somewhere to go.....

How and when do you find the time to…….do fun stuff with your LO?
Evenings and weekends, I love cuddling up with them at bed time too. I try to take them to the Swing park and off to the beach as much as possible because if we are at home I’ll only do housework and that defeats the purpose of our fun time.

How and when do you find the time to…….spend time with family?
 I love spending time with my family, my sisters are my best friends and I don’t know what I would do without them. I see my mum almost every day, don’t see my younger brother or dad as much as that though (must be a guy thing). My in-laws are Scottish and they are great to visit as often as possible and we go to them as much as we can too. Overall, its all a bit irregular!

How and when do you find the time to ….socialise with friends?
This is something I have really let laspse, I see my friends that live near me on and of, mainly due to the ‘having children thing’! I live a bit away from my other friends so a night out involves getting a babysitter out to the ‘sticks’(country) or me going up to the city with my brood, its just so awkward and trying to get a night that everyone is available is neigh on impossible. So, I don’t have an answer for this one!!

How and when do you find the time to ….prepare an evening meal juggling a baby/toddler bedtime routine?
When I get home from work I just do a light snack for me and the girls, they have already eaten through the day , then its wash and bed by 8-8.30pm. Luckily my daughters occupy each other while I cook and there’s always the TV! (Probably too reliant on TV But ...oh well it works for me)

How and when do you find the time to ….deep clean your house?
I get fads of cleaning fits, empty wardrobes, clear out junk and tidy playroom etc once every few weeks; on those days none of the normal stuff gets done!! Other than that a light clean on a weekly basis at weekends.

How and when do you find the time to ….do the food shopping?
Once a week at the weekend mainly, I don’t have a list because I never stick to it anyway. My girls (under duress) and I go to the next town to the supermarket. And then I spend the rest of the weeks’ lunch breaks, from work, going in around Tesco getting things I never got at the weekend shop. Organised chaos!

How and when do you find the time to ….bulk ironing?
This one is an easy answer for me..I don’t!
 I only iron if I need something. My husband loves ironing and I don’t think he trusts me with his shirts (wise man is my hubby)!

So that’s how I do things, no real plan in there at all, just organised chaos with a little sprinkling of luck and a continuous flow of coffee!!

Now to Tag 3 more ..
http://mumofalltrades.blogspot.com
http://miniandmum.blogspot.com/
http://schoolgatestyle.blogspot.com/
Tagged .. ladies your ..you are It! xx