The "Single-Mom" Project: Reflections on Week #1

Exactly one week has passed since my husband started his new job.  That means I spent an entire week as a "single-mom" in the evenings.  Everything went much smoother than I thought!  Granted there were a number of odd things that happened throughout the week that could have easily derailed everything, but overall things went really well!

I will admit that I spent a few days psyching myself up for what I thought was going to be the week from "H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks" but things went great.  Aside from the fact that our kitchen flooded from a loose fitting from installing a new faucet, we discovered ants in our basement bathroom, the dishwasher died, the cable company had to put in a temporary line for our Internet, and the garage door broke - otherwise it was an awesome week.  My little boy did surprisingly well without his Daddy around.  I knew by the end of the week they were both starting to miss each other so we made sure to have lots of family time this weekend to make up for things.

Since my husbands new schedule is significantly different than his prior one, I have to had make major adjustments in my own but they are all good adjustments. Now that he is home in the morning I have an extra set of hands during the Morning-Madness Marathon - which is fabulous! Now I can wake-up at 6AM - which is about the same time that our little man wakes up.  I can get him out of bed, change his diaper and then I can lay him in bed with my husband so they can snuggle for a while in the morning.  In exchange for not being home in the evening, my husband takes the lead on getting the little guy ready for daycare every morning.  After "snuggle-time", the little guy has a bottle and they might play for 20 minutes or so and after getting dressed and having plenty of hugs from Daddy we are off to daycare.  During this time, I am able to get ready, make my lunch, gather up anything I need for the day and maybe drink some of my coffee before jetting out of the door. 

Throughout the week I did notice one major change in my day, aside from the morning routine.  I noticed that I don't have to cook dinner every night.  Now that its just me in the evening I can eat from the leftovers stash in the fridge!  So now I only have to cook dinner a couple of nights during the week.  It seems weird that my husband and I would be eating the same amount of food throughout the week, but I'm cooking less.  I don't understand it either, but it works! Must be one of those "mystical kitchen things".  I am assuming that everything just evens out since my hubby isn't at home to eat dinner when I do cook.  In turn, there are more leftovers from each meal.  I'm not really sure? 

My final reflection on The "Single-Mom" Project: Week #1 is that I've felt less stressed this past week than I have in a very long time.  My morning routine goes much smoother, I don't have to cook every evening, I get to spend more time focusing on my little boy, and I have time to relax and enjoy the silence in the evening.  I'm sure it's a combination of all of the above factors that helped me feel less stressed throughout the week, but I am going to attribute the bulk of it to the fact that I get to spend so much quality time with my little boy each evening.  I'm thinking that it is helping to eliminate some of the "mommy-guilt" that I have for sending him to daycare all day.  

I know you are all probably thinking that its weird that I don't see my husband much during the week and to be honest with you I think its a little weird too.  We have always had strange schedules.  I think I actually see my husband more now than I did with his last job.  Previously, we would see each other for maybe an hour or two a day depending on if he was on the day-shift or the night-shift.  The majority of the time if we did see each other it was for a couple of hours before bed and by then we were both tired and just wanted to zone-out after a long day.  Now we see each other in the morning when we are both awake and ready to start the day. We are morning people so early on in the day is our best time together.  Even though we don't see each other much during the week, the fact that we now have all-weekend, every-weekend together for family time really makes up for our lost time during the week.  This past weekend was fantastic and I can't wait for family time next weekend.  

I don't have a Tip to Help Juggle Kids and Work today, but I will leave you with this piece of wisdom that helps me to feel less defeated when the pile of laundry doesn't get washed or when it's time for bed, but the sink is still full of dishes...

Stay tuned for more tips and tricks from The Modern Day Juggler!

Self-Proclaimed Queen of Leftovers: Part 2

If you read my post from yesterday you might be wondering how I came to be the Queen of Leftovers.  Well lets take a few steps back in time. So gather around children... It's story time!

"Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, there was a girl who was spending way too much on groceries.  By way too much I mean $100+ a week and still eating out.  After closely examining her family budget, she realized that they were hemorrhaging money on food.  So she decided to make a change.  She started meal planning.  Every day of the week had a meal assigned to it.  A shopping list was made accordingly and impulse purchases at the grocery store were prohibited.  The first few weeks were hard, but after awhile the girl got the hang of things and her family adjusted to eating all of their meals at home. After a few months, the girl and her family realized how much more money they had and the rest is history." 

The moral of this story is that leftovers save money.  You might be thinking "duh...of course eating leftovers saves money".  I mean it - eating leftovers saves tons of money!  I spend roughly $50 a week or less on groceries including produce and my family eats 3-meals a day.  So lets do the math... That's 21-meals for $50.  That breaks down to about $2 a meal!  Over the course of time that is a huge savings!

Clearly a person does not have to take things to the extreme like I do.  It's OK to eat out once in a while and I will admit that every now and then my husband and I sneak in a lunch date at one of the local restaurants.  We just don't make it a habit.  I mean really - a meal  for two people at a restaurant runs about $20.  That is nearly half my weekly food budget!

So do a little math ladies (and gentlemen).  Find out how much you are actually spending on groceries and challenge yourself to spend less.  The savings really add up over time!


Stay tuned for more tips and tricks from The Modern Day Juggler!

Self-Proclaimed Queen of Leftovers

My family used to be the type that purchased frozen meals or those steam-in-the-bag microwave meals to have at lunch.  At the time, they were easy and seemed "somewhat" healthy.  I never really gave a lot of thought to it.  It was just something that we did.  In recent months I have outlawed those types of meals in my house!  They are loaded with salt and preservatives and to be honest they are expensive and I AM CHEAP!  In lieu of purchasing frozen meals, I began making larger quantities of food for dinner each night. Then while I'm cleaning things up, I divide the leftover food into lunch size portions and put the portions into individual containers in the fridge or freezer. 
I have begun referring to myself as the (self-proclaimed) Queen of Leftovers.  I know - it sounds silly, but I am! I love being able to look in my fridge in the morning while I'm packing my lunch and be able to have my pick of multiple meals that are already portioned into containers.  All I need to do is make a selection and put it in my lunch bag.  Between the frozen breakfast burritos I make ahead on the weekends and the huge stash of leftovers in my fridge I can put almost zero thought into my breakfast and lunch on weekdays and still have great meals.
So here it is ladies!  Tip #4 to Help Juggle Kids and Work: Leftovers are your friend! 

Here is a my new favorite recipe that reheats well and tastes amazing!  Its Taco-Tot Hotdish - a variation of Tator-Tot Hotdish. It's delicious!  I made this recipe once last week and again last night. It is addicting!

Source: thecookinchicks.blogspot.com via Breanna on Pinterest

Stay tuned for more tips and tricks from The Modern Day Juggler!

The Beginning of Something Great

Today starts a new chapter in my professional life. As of today, I am officially working full-time. Some of you might be thinking, "huh? I thought you did work full-time?". Well, in the scheme of things I did work full-time (i.e. 32 hours a week). A couple of weeks ago I was offered a full-time position in a neighboring jurisdiction and after a few days of thinking about it, I brought the information to my current employer and they decided to offer me full-time status. Of course I couldn't refuse! So today is my first official day as full-time.

To change things even more for the family, my husband accepted a new job and will be starting soon. His work hours will be drastically different. At his previous job he was working 12-hour rotating shifts bouncing back in forth between days and nights with every other weekend off. His new job will be Monday through Friday, with every weekend off, but the hours will be drastically different. He will be working from 3PM - 1AM. So during the week I will be a "single-mom" every evening, but we will have the ability to have family time every weekend! There are pros and cons to every job, and the pros definitely outweighed the cons on this one.

We are excited to start this new chapter in our life, but I think we are both a little scared too. Change can be scary thing. There are so many unknowns involved in changing, jobs and changing schedules. Will we like it? Will I be able to handle being a "single-mom" every evening? Will our baby be affected by having different hours to spend with his daddy? I'm sure it will take a little bit of time to get used to our new schedules, but we adjust and will cherish the time we get to spend together that much more!

Now that I will be a "single-mom" in the evenings during the week, I'm sure I will be acquiring a few new ways to juggle. I will be sure to share my tips and tricks as they emerge!

Check back soon for Tip #4 to Help Juggle Work and Kids!