My Parental Leave Experience

Weekly Schedule, Sadhbh Devlin

I am at the halfway point of my Parental Leave Experience now and time is flying! Lately, I am remembering a feeling I had when I reached the end of my maternity leave. As the time to go back to work drew nearer and nearer I kept thinking “How can I possibly fit a job into my life? I am so constantly busy, that I literally can’t see how I can add one more thing into my day, let alone a full-time job!”… and then, because I had to, I did fit it in. Obviously, because somehow you can do anything you set your mind to. Even things you don’t particularly want to do.

it’s been a summer of late nights and tired mornings. Lazy days at home and lazy days out and about. Domestic chaos. Piles of laundry – even when there’s been ‘great drying’ out. A general feeling of what should we do today? Ah sure, we can do that tomorrow.

I have been having a similar feeling recently. I am not worrying thinking about going back to work yet, I still have plenty of time for that, but something had happened that I didn’t foresee when I decided to take Parental Leave earlier this year. I think it was a combination of the holiday feeling I’ve had since I’ve finished work and the beautiful weather we’ve had this summer that just confirmed and exaggerated the holiday feeling.

You see, it’s been a summer of late nights and tired mornings. Lazy days at home and lazy days out and about. Domestic chaos. Piles of laundry – even when there’s been ‘great drying’ out. A general feeling of what should we do today? Ah sure, we can do that tomorrow. Let’s just take it easy. Where will we go today? Ah, sure we can go there tomorrow. Let’s just take it easy.

Basically, there has been very little structure in my life and after years of having a very definite structure in my life, I am realizing that I don’t cope spectacularly well without one. Well, without some structure at least. I just don’t get anything done without one and then I get stressed out about the accumulation of things I need to do and things I would like to do, so that even the fun stuff seems like too much hard work and it all turns into a vicious cycle.

Lunch Box Planner So, a couple of weeks ago, I decided I had had enough. I needed to get organised. I needed to somehow piece all of the things that need to be done and all the fun things I want to do together and to find time for them all. I wanted to allocate time to housework, paperwork, fitness goals, etc so that when it was time to have fun, I wouldn’t have to worry about any of it and I wouldn’t be distracted from just being with my girls.

Basically, there has been very little structure in my life and after years of having a very definite structure in my life, I am realizing that I don’t cope spectacularly well without one

I found a really simple way to organise myself and it’s been working well so far. It provides me with structure, but if I want to be spontaneous, that’s ok too, because I can just shift things around a bit or ignore it if the beach is calling! (Seriously, if the beach is calling in Ireland – the dishes can wait!)

A quick online search led me to this Mama blogger in Australia who designs great family oriented printables. I started using her ‘Weekly Schedule’ to plan out my weeks and it’s been a great way to keep track of myself. I print out a copy of the blank schedule on a Sunday evening and have a think about what I want to do that week. A visit to the library? A walk in the woods? A trip to the park? A date night? (It helps to fill in the fun stuff first!)

Then I think about the chores I’d like to get done. How many loads of laundry will I realistically do? Hoovering, mopping floors, cleaning bathrooms – you know – all that lovely stuff It all goes into the schedule, and suddenly, because there is time allocated to them, I’m not trying to cram it all into one afternoon whilst simultaneously losing patience with the children.

I think it’s good for my girls too. Having a good routine is a good precursor to them starting in preschool in a few weeks

I also like to schedule some time for myself, whether it’s for a run, or some time to write for my blog or even a night out, it’s great that I know I have things to look forward to.

I think it’s good for my girls too. Having a good routine is a good precursor to them starting in preschool in a few weeks. Though the schedule will change then, having a steady predictability to their lives beforehand can only make them feel more secure, which I hope will help them with this new transition.

There is also a section on the planner for a daily ‘menu’ but I have yet to get that far into scheduling. I know it would be a good idea for me to get more organised in that area and start meal planning. It will save me money in the long-run and make the 5pm fridge search/head scratch a bit less frantic, but I’m not there yet. (Obviously cooking doesn’t interest me as much as list-making!) There are tons of meal-planning tools out there and I do need to investigate further, maybe if I put it in my schedule I’ll find time to get that organised too!

Sadhbh Sadhbh Devlin has always been told she has a head for hats. This may be true, but in fact she only owns two actual hats, both woollen and shapeless. She does however, wear many metaphorical hats. She is mama to twin toddler girls, wife to a very tall husband, a full time employee in an Irish language organisation, a greeting card designer and small business owner, a photo snapper, a writer of words in tiny, secret notebooks, a crafter and an obsessive tryer of new things. She writes about most of these lovely hats at Where the Wishes Come From