A lot of parents worry about family life becoming overwhelming, and when that happens struggle to manage things, often ending up feeling like a failure as a result of being unable to cope. However, struggling to get everything done that needs doing does not mean that you’re failing, it simply means that you lack time to get everything done.
The good news is that if a simple lack of time is the problem, there are plenty of ways that you can save yourself time. It’s just a case of thinking about what steps you can take to make managing family life a more efficient affair.
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Wondering how you can save yourself time and make managing family life a little easier? Below are a few tips and suggestions to take note of!
Prep meals in advance
When it comes to making family life easier, a great step to take is to prepare meals in advance. This could either mean taking the time to prepare all of the ingredients for your meals for the week every Sunday and portioning the ingredients up into marked tubs or it could mean deciding to order food ready prepared from a meal service like Gousto or Hello Fresh. Obviously, this option is a little more expensive, but if it’s affordable for you and makes life easier, then it’s something that it’s worth looking into, isn’t it?Batch cook
Another option for making family mealtimes easier and less stressful is to consider batch cooking for the week or month ahead of time. What this means is spending one day or weekend a month dedicated to preparing meals for the entire week or month ahead. You cook up meals in large batches, portion them up, and freeze them. There are lots of simple meals that you can batch cook and make easily, such as lasagne, stew, curry, chilli, and soup, for instance. A handy hack for reheating these meals is to pop them in your slow cooker on warm in the morning, and then by the time you are ready to eat in the evening, the meal will be ready to enjoy.Make exercise part of daily life
Making time for exercise can seem almost impossible when you have a family to look after, so why not make exercise a seamless part of daily life. For instance, as a family, you could walk to and from school every day. The kids will just assume this is part of their normal routine, and won’t even consider the fact that they’re exercising, and you will be able to fit in the activity that you need. Another option is to spend weekends doing active things as a family, from walking and cycling to swimming and rock climbing. By making physical activity a normal part of family life, you can ensure that your little ones enjoy being active while making sure that the whole family is able to get plenty of regular exercise.Automate as many tasks as possible
Parenthood isn’t always an easy task, there’s always a lot to think about and do, which is why taking the opportunity to automate as many tasks as possible can be helpful for better managing your time. For instance, instead of going to the pharmacy on a weekly basis to get your prescriptions, consider using a new NHS prescription service instead that operates online and offers fast and efficient delivery to your door. Or, when it comes to managing your finances, considering automating the task and using a family financial planning app to help. By choosing to automate simple tasks, you can make family life a little easier and less stressful for yourself.Make healthy eating fun
Something that a lot of parents struggle with is encouraging their little ones to eat healthily - it’s not always easy to ensure that your children eat a healthy and varied diet. However, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a struggle either - it’s just a case of knowing how to approach the situation, that’s all. A simple hack for making mealtimes easier with fussy kids is to get them involved in the cooking - you will find that when a child has made something, they will want to try it.Perhaps you could start by making homemade pizzas? You could blend lots of veggies into the tomato sauce, and then make a wholemeal base for them to top with healthy foods such as chopped peppers, sliced tomatoes, diced ham, sliced mushroom, grated cheese, and sweetcorn.
As for healthy snacks, provide snacks that incorporate dipping. Kids love dipping one food in another, so by providing dipping snacks such as yoghurt and strawberries, hummus and sliced peppers, and yoghurt dip and cucumber, you can make healthy eating fun and tasty, while preventing arguments at the same time. The more creative you can be when it comes to healthy food, the better.
Create an efficient laundry routine
Laundry can be a real struggle for lots of parents, especially parents of large families. If you are a parent of a large family, managing your children’s laundry can become a real time-consuming task. However, that doesn’t have to be the case - if you take the time to create an efficient routine, you can make life a little easier and less stressful for yourself.One option is to split family members’ laundry into different days; so on Monday you deal with your laundry, Wednesday your son’s laundry, Thursday your daughter’s laundry, and Saturday you do your husband’s laundry. This makes putting laundry away easier as you don’t have to worry about splitting dried laundry up.
Another option could be to put a load of laundry on every morning when you wake up and then a load on every evening before going to bed. That way you would get through two loads of laundry a day and should be able to keep on top of everything.
There you have it, a few handy tips for making life easier when you have a hectic schedule and a family to look after.
K Elizabeth xoxox
*Collaborative Post
