Toy Train, Image courtesy of John Kasawa at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I’m sure you are all in the same boat. The kids are back at school, although pre-school it is still great, however only for 3 days. Due to a pupil free day this week it has been 2 days for the first week back. I have a house full of things to tidy, sort, remove, throw away and of course cleaning and yet more cleaning to do.

I managed on day 1 of being home alone without kids for a few hours to clean the kitchen, dining room, and do about 5 loads of laundry. This just made it harder to put things away due to the clean laundry that was in piles waiting to get sorted.

Day 2 of being home alone without kids, I went to the post office and collected the mail, checked out a shop for clothes for myself/kids and toys for birthday pressie ideas and of course things to maybe layby for Christmas. No luck as everyone has stockpiled all toys and goods as there has been no shops to purchase from since last November. I did manage to get some much needed singlets for the twins and found some time to try on some dresses that looked great on the coat hanger and not great on me! Probably for the best as I did not spend any money there, well except for the singlets that is.

Still on day 2, I went shopping for food and things for the house, went home and put it all away and then tidied up kitchen, put more laundry on, hung out laundry and then made lunch. After lunch folded clothes put them all away, then had to go out and pick up the girls from school. Then we went to the pool for the kids to start their swimming lessons. It has been a busy day.

Still more needs to be done in the house and at least I have 3 days next week to get stuck into it. This year I have thought that we get one bigger present and just pay a bit each. One family member managed to track down the desired toys and all is right with the world now, we will all just pay a little bit rather than one person paying a huge amount. Glad that is sorted, but now need to create room for the new things that will enter our lives.

Do you find that you have many things to do in your time without kids? I do try and get stuck into a room and give that a big clean up and move on from there, however I still need to organise the laundry, give the kitchen a once over and go to the shops every now and then. These time wasters do suck your free time. Maybe I should plan more ahead and do home delivery more often for the shopping. Today I just wanted more essentials, milk, bread, yoghurt, fruit and some vegetables. Nothing fancy, but it does eat into your day.

Do you have a plan to whiz through your house post school holidays? I must say this house needs to be more organised and that is my plan! Stay tuned for how I go with sorting the kid’s toys next week. I have many baby toys or things that are too young for them anymore. I am going to give to charity, other toys that are broken will be chucked.

I suppose every parent goes through the manic tidy up after school holidays end. I did find myself laughing that many of my friends were doing the same thing the last day or so. Send in your tips and tricks to work through the house with limited hours. What do you do?