Managing a house is very difficult, especially if you're single
parent. The tasks might become
overwhelming. What is usually a shared
set of challenges is now a burden on just one person--From doing the house
chores to spending quality time with the children, it all rests on your
shoulders. What's even worse is when the
responsibility of running a home by yourself comes on suddenly, especially due
to a troubled divorce. So if you have
found yourself in this scenario and feel like you're being sucked into a world
of chaos, the matchmakers from Portland Singles have a few tips that can
help you manage a house as a single parent, and at the same time, keep your
sanity in the process.
*Tip: The matchmakers of Portland Singles have been working with
single parents for many years. They help
them with their social and dating life by finding them suitable dates, so they
do not have to waste time looking on their own.
Save On Time
If you were used to dividing all the chores with your former spouse,
after becoming a single parent you might feel that you're overwhelmed by all
the commitments you will now have to face, commitments such as helping your
kids with homework, doing the house chores, as well as working in your own
profession. The secret of sailing
smoothly through the waters is to get organized, explains Portland Singles. Or in other words, plan the family and your
own activities in a way that everything works perfectly, and everyone gets
time. The simplest way to accomplish
this is to get yourself a calendar or a weekly planner with plenty of space to
write schedules and appointments for the week.
You can also invest in an electronic organizer, so you can mark
important dates and times. The great
thing about this is that you will get alarms as those important dates are
approaching.
If you find that you are always rushed to do things in the morning,
then do some of those tasks the evening before.
Such things might consist of laying out your clothes for the work day,
packing lunches, helping pack book bags, and doing the dishes. The time you invest in doing these things in
the evening, will save you more time in the morning; therefore, you won't be
rushing around the house and feeling stressed.
In addition, try to get your kids to start helping you out with some
things they're capable of doing on their own.
Also, if you are always short on time, look for companies around your
house that deliver groceries to your doorstep.
This will save you a lot of time you would normally spend at the grocery
store, so you can do something else with this new found time.
Simple Housekeeping
One of the most crucial aspects in keeping a house organized is to keep
ahead of performing domestic duties, like cleaning, washing, and dusting, which
might seem like never-ending projects.
And one of the best ways to handle such things is to distribute them to
your kids. It is always good to teach
children early on to be responsible about housekeeping. For instance, this will teach them to be
careful about where they keep things and how they should take care of
things. Also, look for ideas that can
help you be a little more organized, suggests Portland Singles. For instance, as a single parent, you cannot
afford to waste precious time looking for items all throughout your house. Therefore, placing a simple sticker or label
will help you find them easily. To
eliminate wasting time, find a place in the house that everyone can store
little items. For your children, this
might be placing a small hook behind their bedroom door, where they can hang
their jackets or school book bags. For
you, it might be a drawer in the kitchen where you place all your small random
things that are always needed.
Stick To Meals That Are Easy To Make
A single parent with many things to do cannot afford to be Chef
Boyardee in the kitchen, especially because now, you have many responsibilities
around your home, and making 5 course dishes every day will be non-sense. But at the same time, you do not want to
encourage your kids to begin bad eating habits, such as eating canned foods or
frozen dinners all the time. For
instance, breakfast is the most rushed meal in every American family. So serve your children cereal that is packed
with vitamins and minerals, and you can add milk for extra calcium and even a
banana for potassium. A good general
rule of thumb is to stay away from packaged and processed foods. Not only do they cost more, but they're not
nutritious, explains Portland Singles.
Instead prepare your children meals that are healthy that consist of
protein, whole grains, fruits, and veggies.
Try setting aside some time to prepare many meals at once and store them
in your freezer. This will help you out
tremendously during those busy weeknights.
Always Be Prepared
If you happen to be a new single parent, try to consider who else can
help you out, other than your former spouse.
In other words, it's very important you start creating a social support
network, explains Portland Singles.
This should include close friends, family members, and even
co-workers. One of the most efficient
ways to get this accomplished is to gather everyone's phone numbers in case of
an emergency. Rather than going to
everyone and asking them, you can send everyone a mass email to get everyone's
information at once.
Also, remember that at one point or another, your kids will be ill,
which will force you to leave work early and even stay at home for a few
days. To prepare for such events, have
instructions already written out for your co-workers for them to know what they
will need to do to cover for you. This way at a moment's notice they can
accomplish things at your work while you're gone. Also, remember to keep backup childcare
products in your home in case you cannot get there right away. At the same time, do not forget to keep over
the counter medications, like tissues, band-aids, and headache pills, so in
case of an emergency, you do not have to run to the store last minute.
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