Managing a Home When You Work Outside of It

So last month my friend Stacy over at Humorous Homemaking (formerly Stacy Makes Cents) interviewed me regarding managing a home when you work outside of it. If you are interested in listening to the recording, you can go here.  For a little background, I don’t work 40 hours a week outside of the home. In fact the only time my kids see me away from home to work is Monday mornings for a couple of hours. The rest of the week I’m gone when the kids are gone, and I come home with them or right before them. I teach part-time choir and music at two different schools, one public and one private school.

I stayed home full-time with my kids for 7 years. The entire time I taught piano lessons at home, about 7 hours spread throughout the week. Then for three years I worked out of the home 3-5 hours a week teaching choir at my kids’ school. I would work on the blog mostly when the family was asleep in my precious 11pm hour. The quiet hour. Ahhh…and then last year I went back to teaching 2 choir classes at the public school while still teaching those 2 choir classes at the kids’ school. Soooo altogether I teach about half time.

I do have to say that I think those years at home really equipped me for the phase I’m in now. Not only did I get to care for my children at home, but over that time my interest in good food was piqued. Food became a fascination, and I followed several blogs, constantly experimenting in the kitchen. I still experiment today. I tried all sorts of recipes and became obsessed with healthifying food. I’m still healthifying today. And I learned techniques that made it easy to put a dinner together in less than thirty minutes.

If you don’t want to listen to the interview, I’ve boiled down the main points (and added a little).

• I do a lot of work, BUT I don’t do all the work. Kids NEED to learn to work! It is good for them to do work. It helps build a strong work ethic and an appreciation for what they have. Soooo I delegate.
• At the end of the day I’ve gotta have a clean kitchen. It means I can make food easily. It means we save money by eating at home and eat better quality food. It means less stress.
• Next I’ve gotta have clean clothes. As soon as a hamper is busting, it is being laundered. And I fold it right in the dryer. Literally. On my knees.

So again, if you are interested in hearing me fumble all over myself, are curious about how my voice actually sounds, or you actually want to know what I do, you can go here to hear that interview.

If you are interested in hearing part 2 with Angela Coffman from the Grocery Shrink, go here.

What are your best tips and tricks for managing a home? I’d love to hear!