How important is time in your life? To me it’s like gold a precious commodity. Time was not always on top of my worry/priority list, and then life has taught me many lessons about how precious time is. I always thought I would be a mom of 2 by the age of 28, which did not happen, more like 30.
I have always been career driven, and since the age of 18, I have worked – I always admired those moms that could work and have children – “have it all”… but what you realise when it’s you, the mom working from 8 to 5 and a toddler that demands your attention and a husband who is also tired after a long days work – that “having it all” is not always all it’s cracked up to be.
Your children need you – YOU, not a screen, not sitting in their room on their own playing, they need good quality time with their parents. Time for you to ask questions about their day, time to play and just be silly.
I battle during the week to give my child the quality time she needs, I get home around 5:30 – 6pm, and we have a short play time before bath and bed. As we have a strict bed time of 7pm, therefore we have a total of an hour and maybe a half to send a little bit of quality time together.
Therefore, I look for as many time saving opportunities I can. So the mundane tasks of life that can chew up your precious moments with your little one are out of the way fast.
The weekend is our special time, when I get to take Skylar on adventures, visit family and just be us. This is also the only time I have in the week to do proper housework. We don’t have a full time maid, on a Saturday we have our domestic helper that comes at 9am. So before then I need to make sure I have done all the washing, so it can be hung up – as she gets there. We all know how much washing a toddler produces…
These are some of my time saving tips for the weekend to ensure we spend more time as a family and less time fussing over things that really don’t need fussing!
1 – Convenience meals, these can be so helpful, from ordering premade meals from local suppliers, to shops that have some great healthy options too. When you don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen, these can be a blessing – especially when I don’t want my toddler near a hot stove.
2 – Wake up early! Yes sleep when you are dead (that’s what I keep on telling myself). But really… wake up early – I know most of you are saying – well of course we do our kids get up early, I mean… shower, get dressed and ready for the day, get things done, make sure you are up and ready to take on the world. Skylar naps between 12-2pm, so there goes any play time. But I do then get to quickly get any things done or sleep myself – making up for waking up early.
3 – Plan your adventures ahead of time, especially if you need to work around nap time. And I take Skylar with me everywhere, it’s not always ideal, but I feel guilty if I don’t.
4 – Keep your weekend chores to a minimum. I am not someone that lavishes cleaning and scrubbing, especially when adventures are to be had. Therefore, I buy the best detergents and cleaning products to get the job done, quickly and efficiently. Did you know that OMO Auto wash or powder can take out tough stains in one quick wash! That means more loads of washing in a shorter time. My mom always swore by OMO, and it’s become part of our shopping list too.
5 – Closer to home… look for places with a shorter driving distance, so you spend more time together than travelling. Or why not make an adventure outside. Plant a little garden together, paint outside, water play, or make a fort, throw a ball and let the kids get dirty (you have OMO to sort out those stains right J).
If you have any time saving tips – please share with me, I sure do need them, and would appreciate them. Comment below.
OMO Auto – Competition:
Runs: 11 September – 8 October
Submit a photo or video of you and your little ones enjoying their favourite OUTDOOR activity, and you could win a fun Family Day out to enjoy more time with them! Don’t forget to use the hashtag #JustAQuickWash
Winners – Each week a winner will be chosen (4 Weeks = 4 Winners) via lucky Draw.
Terms & Conditions and how to enter:
To enter, you need to submit a picture or video of you and your little ones enjoying their favourite OUTDOOR activity. Then Share it on the following:
a. The OMO South Africa Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/omosouthafrica/ with the hashtag
#JustAQuickWash
b. The comments section of any #JustAQuickWash competition post
published on OMO South Africa Facebook page
c. Twitter with the hashtag #JustAQuickWash and tag
d. Instagram with the hashtag #JustAQuickWash.and tag
Remember you profile needs to be set to public to be viewed on Instagram and Twitter.
Click here to see the full T&Cs of the competition
Choose a Row 