I have never been a good "plan for the day ahead" kind of girl. I'm a procrastinator. I like to relax and do things later. This is fine if you don't have kids. Or if you do have kids and you are not also a perfectionist. I am a procrastinator AND a perfectionist. When I do something, it has to be perfect. A half assed job is not acceptable, and so when I do finally get around to doing something it usually takes me awhile.
My point is, forward thinking and planning for the day/week ahead has finally clicked for me and I want to share it with you. It's been a slow process. It started with meals. Last month I planned meals for two weeks, and cooked most of them over the course of one weekend. For the next two weeks I had a plethora of meals to choose from that only required pastry or rice or pasta to go with it. This made life SO much easier. I would pull out a meal the day/night before and set in the fridge to defrost. Sometimes if I forgot to do this I would set it out in a bowl of cold water on the counter for a few hours to defrost. This was awesome. It taught me that even if I don't cook everything for two weeks, something as simple as cutting up the chicken into strips before freezing cuts down on the time required to cook dinner. Sounds simple? It is. And it makes a difference, plus it saves money.
Next I started cutting up cheese (I buy the big blocks of cheese because it's cheaper), carrots, fruit, and other snacks at night to have ready for Cooper for the next day. I do it all at once, and I then have quick and easy snacks ready to go throughout the day when he's hungry or we go out and I need to grab something quickly. It's very simple, and it saves time. It also forces me to check whether we actually HAVE snacks for the next day and if I need to pick something up from the store in the morning. I even started getting his breakfast ready the night before - all the way to putting it in his bowl ready to pull out and set down in front of him. He LOVES fruit, so often his breakfast is fruit with yoghurt. If it is cut up already, he can eat it while I grab something for myself and we can eat at the same time. Prior to this I would spend most of my time cutting up fruit as he ate it, and then he'd be done and I'd have to clean him up and he'd want to play so I wouldn't get much time to eat something myself. We all know how important it is to look after ourselves as well.
Lastly, I have made a big effort to do a load of laundry before bed each night, and to tidy the kitchen/sweep the floors if needed. I try and wash, and put away any dishes that are left out so that the dish rack is empty in the morning. If I have to cook dinner, I start it at 4pm so that I can eat with Cooper at 5pm. I usually then put it in a container for my husband to eat later and I clean up the dishes if Cooper is happy to play.
The day runs so much more smoothly when I do these things. The tasks that might take a couple of hours at night to complete when Cooper is asleep would take ALL DAY when he is awake. I end up chasing my tail, feeling like I've spent all day cleaning and zero time enjoying my gorgeous son. I do believe involving children in daily chores is important, and I want to cultivate his independence by providing him opportunities to help out so this is not just a matter of "doing everything while he sleeps". By doing these things in advance I can take advantage of the opportunity to show him how we clean up after playing with toys or crafts, to help him start to take ownership of his 'space' and tidy up at the end of each day.
The daily rhythm of each family is unique, so some of these things may be helpful to you and others not. But they have certainly made my days more enjoyable, and I felt that it would be worth sharing.
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