Staying at home moms- how do you manage your time?

I took a good piece of advise from my Mum, she always said to do as little as possible during the day :) Unless it's smaller stuff! If i do the washing & dishes (with the dishwasher) then the machines do most of the work for me anyway which gives me more free time. My partner finishes work around 3-3:30pm so he's here to watch our daughter while i prepare dinner & such - he is also very handy in the kitchen & is happy to cook on occasions. My partner takes care of the outside over the weekends usually & i spend my day entertaining our daughter (almost 2) & trying to relax (we are expecting #2 in about 6 weeks). Once our daughter goes to bed, i then put away all the toys & tidy up a lot but my Mum always said to me, with children as long as the house is tidy then everything is fine - you don't need perfection. Kids make mess & you don't have to run around after them cleaning up, wait until they're asleep at night & then do the quick tidy up. As for mopping & things like that, that will be done over the weekends when we're both home, the washing usually gets hung out & the dishes put away when my daughter naps in the afternoons - or while she watches a movie if she refuses to sleep. I have an eBay store - it doesn't make a lot of money but it does help on occasions - you could try something small like that. I hope this helps you some but remember you cant expect perfection when you have children coz they love to make mess & other people know that as well!

Well, first off, stop and breathe. It sounds like your family is very fortunate to have such a committed mom. Having young children is very time consuming. It sounds like you are running yourself ragged. My daughter is twelve now so I have much more time on my hands. Time management is tough with kids, you can't schedule a tantrum like you can a business meeting. I could make a few suggestions, though. First, I would make some time for me to relax. The more relaxed you are the better you can handle the stress of the day. I used to have that before she woke up, after she went to bed or while she napped. Secondly I would make a chore chart and decide which chores to do on which days. Time can be budgeted just like money can, although often with the same result: more time needed than what we have. Some days it works out, other days not so much. Try and clear small blocks of time in the day to sit and work. Just small blocks. I work the site on my profile on and off throughout the day between household chores and such. By putting in a few minutes here and it can actually be like a time out. A break from running around. Thirdly, choose what kind of work you want to do and start out slow. As things fall into a rhythm for you, hopefully you will find more time to do whatever it is you want to do. And lastly, remember that each day she is growing up a bit. Your time with a toddler only seems like forever, they do grow up faster than you think. I was working anywhere from one to three jobs when my daughter was young so I became real good at at time management. I learned nobody would die if the laundry was put off until tomorrow. However, I also learned that then I had to fit it in tomorrow. When I started my second job I felt guilty because I was taking time away from my daughter, but in this day and age sometimes it has to be done. I was in debt because she went into the children's hospital the day she was born. Now things are better for me and I get as much time with her as she wants. Remember you can't do it all, nobody can. We just do the best we can for our kids.