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Making Time: With Veggie Mama

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November 6, 2012
Be Happy, Be Organized
12 Comments

 

This post was written by Veggie Mama:

I’m a mama. And I also have to be in a tutorial room at 8am once a week to cram knowledge in the heads of impressionable student journalists. Which means before that, I’ve run the morning marathon of getting very small children organised at ungodly hours so I’m in class on time and I don’t start my day with my brain somewhere back near my letterbox while my head is trying to teach.

And I like my sleep. Lots and lots of sleep.

So after that first time juggling new baby and an 8am start, where I was almost late and I nearly forgot to leave the baby’s bag and I was disorganised and ridiculous, I devised a plan.  Not only would I pack lunches and get belongings sorted the night before, I would also dress the baby in the outfit she would be wearing for day care the following day. Provided there was no bodily-function mishaps during the night, I could let her sleep as long as she wanted in the morning while I tended to my face and hair and breakfast. All would be ready to go by the time she woke up so all I’d have to do would be feed her quickly and we would be on our way.

Now, even though I’d rather be in bed with a chamomile and a good book, I spend a few minutes collating the bits and bobs I need and sorting them into the relevant bags before I go to bed. Lunches are made, shoe pairs are found, water bottles filled and classwork prepped. And the littlest one in some kind of suit that will see her through the following day.

With the time I save I can read the news over breakfast, a luxury that only existed Before Children. I can also have a whole hot cup of tea in one sitting. Maybe even craft a little. I have time to actually do my hair properly, not straighten half of it then give up in a panic and throw it into a pony-tail. I get to chat to the day care ladies, order and receive a cup of tea at the cafeteria, check my pigeonhole. And I can beat even the most eager of students to the classroom, so I’m not frantically opening files and organising papers and making small talk and pretending I’m on top of it when the clock has ticked past 8am.

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This post is part of the Time Shavers story, brought to you by Schick Intuition.

Veggie Mama is a vegetarian, mama, crochet lover, vintage collector, and a tea enthusiast. 

  • http://www.sociallysorted.com.au Donna Moritz

    Love it! My youngest is now 3 but I have been known to do this on an early flight even with older kids – comfy clothes to sleep in. Brilliant. It is the little tricks like this that allow us to pull our brains from the letterbox. lol…

    • http://www.theveggiemama.com Veggie Mama

      Haha once I told people I was surprised at how many others do it too! Didn’t feel so bad, haha x

      • http://www.sociallysorted.com.au Donna Moritz

        So totally true…though it did backfire on us one year when Miss 3 was only about 1…she did a No3 in the aiport carparking service and the time taken to change said No3 (because we contemplated getting her to the airport like that in the shuttle bus, we surely did, because time was of the essence) but realised it was not possible given the volume of mess that needed cleaning up…..and it meant we missed our flight! I tried to convince the guy that we needed him to drop off at domestic before international for that reason but he didn’t listen. lol….the story goes on, but it gets a whole lot worse and that’s for another time ha ha. Let’s just say it was a very very long day, and involved flight via Melbourne from Brisbane to Adelaide, and a long drive to the country at the wrong time of day with kids! But I am still a believer in the sleep-clothes ha ha!

        • http://www.theveggiemama.com Veggie Mama

          Oh man. That sounds complicated and exhausting! I probably would have out her on that bus, to be honest. I won’t win any mother of the year prizes!

          • http://www.sociallysorted.com.au Donna Moritz

            Oh definitely..if it wasn’t an unfathomable mess I totally would have jumped on the bus child and all ha ha. My hubby and I still laugh about how bad it was. Ah kids.

  • Max

    This puts me in mind of my sister who loathed getting out of bed for school when she was a kid. A reward system was devised and to iur astonishment she got to school on time for four days in a row. On the 5th she slept on and was sprung-shed been dressing in her (full) school uniform instead of pjs for bed!

    • http://www.theveggiemama.com Veggie Mama

      What a genius! That is epic.

  • Maxabella

    I always did the ‘dress the baby in tomorrow’s outfit’ thing. It saves so much time and I liked to tell myself it was good for the environment to not have extra jammies to wash. I talk to myself about the environment a lot, actually. Hand me downs, wearing clothes more than once, skipping a bath – all for a good cause! x

    • http://www.theveggiemama.com Veggie Mama

      If anyone hassles me, I’ll direct them to you! I like the way you think. And I like the environment.

  • http://www.facebook.com/cate.lawrence Cate Lawrence

    Such a good idea! I don’t have kids myself but am often time poor (and not much of a morning person). Definitely good for the environment too ;)

  • http://www.figandcherry.com/ Christie Connelly

    You are all kinds of clever lady! :0)

  • http://www.blogperennial.blogspot.com/ Carol @perennial

    I have kids who wake at 6. every day. When they were little I