Homemaking for Busy Parents

Today we wanted to talk about homemaking for busy parents. We realize that so many parents are juggling working, parenting and keeping their home. They are trying to make the best for their families. But providing for your family and keeping a home can become very stressful especially if you stretched thin with time or patience. 

So we are sharing a few tips that we have found really helpful to keep our home operating smoothly even on the busiest of days. 

Our Tips for Homemaking for Busy Parents:

1. Plan ahead.

The first tip is to plan ahead as much as possible. At the beginning of the month, look at your calendar and add all appointments or commitments for the month ahead. This includes; children’s appointments, doctor appointments, sport practices, birthday parties, get togethers’, or holiday events. Just get everything on the calendar so that you can plan ahead for the upcoming month.

2. Batch cook, meal prep or meal plan.

The second tip is to either batch cook, meal prep, meal plan or all of the above. We have found meal prepping and batch cooking to be a lifesaver. We spend a few hours in total every weekend prepping and cooking for the the week ahead. Then during the week we heat up these meals for lunches and dinners. By doing this you free up so many hours each day and evening that you would otherwise spend cooking a meal on demand. This also takes away the stress of trying to figure out what to cook for dinner when you get home from work.

3. Do your baking on the weekends.

The third tip is to do any baking or cooking that takes longer on the weekend. If you need to bake any bread, muffins, cookies, granola or any snack mixes make these on the weekend. Then during the week you will have snacks and treats readily available to have or complete a meal.

4. Use your crock pot and instant pot.

The fourth tip is to use your crock pot, instant pot or any other convenience appliances. If you forgot or have little time to prepare a meal, you can throw everything in a crock pot before you walk out the door. If you realize after you get home that you forgot to plan a meal, you can throw even frozen meat right into your instant pot. You can also use these appliances during a batch cooking session so that you are multitasking and making more than one dish at a time.

5. Do a load of laundry every day.

The fifth tip is to do a load of laundry every day. As soon as you get home from work start a load in the washer. Before you know it you’ll be able to move it to the dryer and fold this load before you go to bed. We find this to be very helpful so that laundry isn’t piling up during the week and you have what seems like a mountain of laundry to tackle on the weekend. Throughout the week as you notice you have enough for a dark load, white load, load of towels or baby clothes just do a load. Then you will not feel overwhelmed by your laundry come the weekend.

6. Run the dishwasher every other day.

The sixth tip is to run your dishwasher every other day or every couple days depending on your families needs. For our family we run our dishwasher every other day and sometimes every day. When you eat basically three meals a day at home, the dishwasher seems to fill up fast. Between all the snacks and meals for our child, dishes for packing lunch, and eating meals at home. We try to run the dishwasher as soon as it’s full or getting close. Then either unload it that night or early the next morning so that we are keeping the dishwasher available and dishes don’t pile up in sink.

7. Clean or tidy zones on a daily basis.

The seventh tip is to designate zones or areas that you clean or tidy on a daily basis. Everyone seems to have that place in their house that seems to get cluttered or messy quick. Identify those problem areas and either focus on one each day if more than one or that one area every day. Plan to spend 10-15 minutes each day to clean or tidy that trouble zone. Our kitchen island tends to be the dumping ground and to accumulate a lot of things quickly. We try to take a few minutes every day to clear the island and put everything away to reduce it from becoming cluttered.

You’re probably noticing a trend, the biggest thing is either working ahead or picking things to work on throughout the week. It may seem overwhelming to think of applying all of these tips to your weekly routine. If that’s the case, just start with one of the tips and when you’re feeling confident add another tip. Before you know it, you will be homemaking like a boss.

We’d love to hear what you think about this post. How do you run your home when life gets busy? What has worked well for you?  Let us know in the comments below. Thank you for visiting Sunup to Sundown! We’ll be back soon with another recipe or update regarding our garden or our journey to become more self-reliant. Please subscribe, like or share this post with others who could benefit from it.