NapTime Blues

I guess I was lucky. I had good kids and I always managed to get all my house work done. I tought them to help me. Small things at first and before I knew it they could fold the clothes for me. They can do it. Hand them a wash rag and teach them how to fold it. When they learn then just let them fold all of the rags while you do the rest.

wow, three young ones, i thought it was tough with two of them! (: I have a two and a half year old and a six mont old. My oldest, doesn't always take naps, but he has to stay in his bed and remain relatively quiet looking at books if he isn't going to sleep. The most difficult chore for me to do is laundry as well, as I cannot fold anything with my 2 year old awake. Usually I will wash clothes all day, and throw all the dry ones on the bed, then later on in the evening, when the baby is alseep for the night, my hubby will give the oldest his bath, and i'll fold all the laundry, that way it can be done quickly, I won't even try to do it if he's awake, it's too frustrating. As far as choosing what to do when the kids are asleep, Usually I will spend the first half an hour cleaning, I'll set a timer and clean as much as I can, as quickly as I can, then any time left is mine. SOmetimes my oldest only sleeps for an hour, so that gives me a half an hour to do what I want, sometimes he sleeps longer, and on those days I just get extra me time! Also, when the youngest takes his other nap, I put in a video for the oldest, or set him up doing something like playdough, or coloring/painting,and I spend that time doing dishes or cleaning. I can usually get the cleaning done by then, of course I don't have three of them making a mess all day long! One other thing I've found helpful, is that when My two year old takes out his toys, he can't move on to the next batch of toys until he cleans up his first mess. If your's are not in the habit of that already, I suggest it, they are perfectly capable of doing it, but if it's not a habit, once the novelty wears off, they'll fight you about it until they realize your serious. GOod luck to you and your large family! (:

My day is I doubt nearly as heactic as yours I have a 4 year old and a 1 year old. I try to get up before they wake up and shower so I don't have to worry about it during the day. I will set them up with activities, painting or coloring while I try and get a few chores done. Sometimes I will put a Disney or leap frog DVD in for them and try and get as many chores done as possible with in that time. I also wait till my husband gets home if I don't have time during the day and he will keep them entertained while I get things done. My husband will watch them during the weekend every now and then and I will go to the mall or do somthing for just me.

My kids never sleep, or so it seems. I have a 4yr old, a 3 yr old and a 9mon old. I stopped trying to make the two older kids take naps long ago, it was not worth the fight everyday. The 9 month old will sleep but the other two weak her up and then that is that. So what i do to get my work done around the house is give them projects to do that will keep them busy for 20 to 30 min at a time. Just little things, like I am teaching the two older kids house to spell their names. So I give them an out line of their ABC and have them work on that, then I give them an out line of their names and they work on that. Then I tell them a story and have them drew a picture of what the story was about. So I get the clothes folded and put way. And even thought they will not nap we do have quit time, they will watch PBS for about an hour, and as any mom know if your try you can get a lot done in an hour. And for anything else I just wait until they go to bed.