“You’re a SUPER MUM”

Have any of your been dubbed a ‘super mum’ (mom for my US viewers).  Over the years my friends and family (and even recently, my husband), have called me this or have even bragged to others;  “You’re a super mum”.

What is a supermum exactly?

This is what the online dictionary defines as a SUPERMOM?

 
Noun 1. supermom – an informal term for a mother who can combine childcare and full-time employment female parent, mother – a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother); “the mother of three children”
Definition of 
SUPERMOM – an exemplary mother; also : a woman who performs the traditional duties of housekeeping and child-rearing while also having a full-time job.
 

supermom - an informal term for a mother who can combine childcare and full-time employmentSeriously, how did they come up with this?  The above could be EVERY single mother, whether working full-time or not.  Those of us that are stay-at-home-mothers do work full-time 24/7.

The word SUPERmom (we will go back to the US spelling as of the dictionary) to me is ridiculous.  If only I did have some sort of super powers and could really see through walls (while keeping an eye on that sneaky child), “run faster than a speeding bullet” (after the kid that runs away from me when they are in trouble, or about to walk into danger), “leap tall buildings in a single bound”, have the speed of light, superhuman strength & “more power than a locomotive” perhaps I would be a real SUPERMOM.

On the other hand I can admit to being SUPER tired or SUPER exhausted, SUPER angrySUPER stressedSUPER annoyed, SUPER busy………..oh and by the way “IS super ready yet mum”? (oh that’s spelt supper right)?


So, why am I referred to as a supermum?  Perhaps it is because I have 7 kids, like to be organised and seem to be able to shuffle my day to day duties with ease. You know what, EVERYONE can do this.

All you need to do is get yourself organised, whether you have 3 or 7 or 12 children, it doesn’t matter.  What matters is what works for you and your family.

There are several ways to make things a little easier so your day runs smoothly (I am talking about chores here and tasks throughout the day ~ I know our little darlings can mess schedules up big time):

  • Have a schedule or family calendar big enough to see and write on.  List all your appointments, meals, things to do in the one place.

  • Put a load of washing in the machine the night before, then it will be ready to hang the following morning.  As soon as you get up, take it out of the machine and throw another inside for the second load.  It doesn’t matter if you haven’t time to hang it first thing in the morning, just leave it until you come back from dropping the kids off at school; at least you have  made a start on the laundry pile. If you are keen and the weather is nice, you could hang a load in the evening too.  Hang out time can by enjoyable too.

 

  • Make the school lunches the night before even if you don’t have school children, (I also do this for my 4yr old as it saves time). Get uniforms out and ready at the bottom end of their beds (or in their room) and shoes and socks (I also know this sometimes does not work as shoes have a habit of disappearing as soon as it is time to get in the car).  The same goes for toddlers and non school aged children, get out their clothes.

  • Set out the breakfast dishes the night before, this is a time saver in the morning as well.

  • Some meals can be prepared the night before or otherwise make sure you get the meat out the freezer the night before and leave in your fridge. Again, if you plan your meals this saves time and less stress too.
  • Have chore charts for the children. If they are old enough there is no reason why they can’t make their bed as soon as they rise, get dressed and start preparing breakfast for themselves and the little ones.  If you have older children assign a bigger child to look after another ~ changing their nappy and dressing them too.
  • Don’t leave the kitchen a mess the night before; a clean kitchen makes the morning routine go smoother.  Wash the dishes (get the kids to help) and/or stack the dishwasher and put it on in the evening.  If you can empty it the same night do so, otherwise empty it in the morning while breakfast is happening.  (Again get the children to help).
  • Get up before the children of a morning; shower (to wake yourself up), refresh, have a coffee, I know this helps to get myself moving in the mornings.
  • Another little thing I do is move our kitchen clock forward 10 minutes; this really helps us not to be late to school in the mornings.
  • As of an afternoon again keep to the schedules. Empty school bags including lunch boxes, bags hung at door and uniforms changed out of and into ‘play clothes’.  Then homework, followed by their evening routines. I tend to get homework done first, then they can play afterwards. I refuse to allow  any movies/DVDS/tv etc on school nights unless all chores are done and everything is above schedule.  Mostly there is no TV though.

The above suggestions are EASY to adapt in any home.  I don’t need to bribe my kids to help either, they know if they help and be quick about it then they will have more free time to ‘play’ or time for themselves.

Organisation & order in the home makes me a ORGANISED mum.  Although I don’t have any babies in the home at the moment ~ my youngest is 4 years old, I have always tried to keep things in place and structured.

For those that may be single or having their husband or partner away from home – I had mine away from a period of 6+ years:  As some of you may know, my husband use to work away from home during the week (he is was home weekends) and did  several trips overseas for 3 weeks at a time and months on end.  Hence this is the main reason why I have put all these routines in place ~ they are for my SANITY and peace of mind.

Earlier last year, I also had been helping out a mother of 9 with the youngest two being twin boys (2-3 months old).  I had been going over to cook meals for the family on Mondays and Wednesdays.  I went straight from school drop off and get home around 12.00 noon.  I was able to do this due to the fact that all the above points have been taken care of in my home first.  I also made sure my main meal was an easy one ~ either in the crock-pot or prepared the night before and all that was need to do when I arrived home was make a side dish (salad) or something else simple ~ rice, mash potatoes, pasta etc.

Another thing I have been doing over the last 7 years is being apart of a major fundraising committee for my kids school.  This year being the second in a row of co-ordinator of a Dinner Auction.  My role requires organising the function, administration, running meetings and basically organising a function for 200+ guests.  Of course I don’t do this all alone, I have several great people on our team that help with the organising. Again I can do this BECAUSE my home is organised first.

So, take a look around this website and blog as there are several household hints that may help. Go to the CATAGORIES tab and have a look at my EASY recipes in CUISINE section.  I am sure there is something here that can even help just a little.

This is the main reason why I set up my blog in the first place so thank you all for stopping by ♥

Hmm, now where did I put that cape?





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