How to master Being a single parent
Being the father of two amazing children, I can see the challenges single parents face. You do not have to be a single parent to experience these struggles, because you might be the parent who does almost everything from taking care of the children, cook, clean, plan activities and much more. Being a single parent is super challenging, and I give you all the credit to manage daily tasks and not to go crazy.
For me, I do watch my kids around 3-4 full days per week due to my wife’s work schedule; however, I am very fortunate that together we are an outstanding team which adjusts to the different situation fast. As you know, you get so many challenging situations on a daily bases while raising your children. I can’t imagine that I would be doing everything on my own every single day. I might go a bit nuts.
By spending so much time with my kids, I become more efficient during the day and what has to be done to help out raising the kids. Here are some tips and tricks on how to become a more capable parent who is raising amazing kids.
Get Help
If you are only one person who takes care of the kids, you need to figure out a way to get some help. What I mean by that, tell significant other to help you out! They might not like it at first; however, they are the father or mother of young children for a short period. When they realize that it’s enjoyable to teach their kids new things and do different adventures, they might like it.
If you are a single parent or your significant other is not willing to help you out, you need to find a baby sitter, pre-school, Kindergarten to watch your kids for you. By getting help, you will be able to recharge and take care of things which matters to you, such as do some sports, read, be able to nap, eat — just basic things which are hard to do when you have a one-year-old running around.
Make them tired
Making your kids tired is easier said than done because you might get tired as while during the process. However, if you don’t get tired, you get entirely uninterrupted time just for your self. YES, just for your self while your kids are sleeping.
The key is to do the activity you as a parent enjoy. By enjoying the activity, you will be able to recharge and be present with your kids at the same time. It will create many great memories, and your children will gain new experience to help them to become a better human being.
My favorite Activities to make them tired
Hiking, Riding a bike, Exploring City, Sports, Events.
Hiking is one of the favorite activities, because I love outdoors activities, and the scenery in Hawaii is breathtaking. Plus, I can wear shorts all year long. Now that Dominik walks on his own, I do have to carry only Zoe, which is only 25 lb. By getting both of the kids outdoor, it creates so many opportunities for them to explore, learn, and efficiently burn energy.
The biggest challenge when you go hiking is that you might get tired too. The way you can take advantage of activity is to be fit. The more fit you are, the more free time you get when your kids are sleeping — basically survival of the fittest.
If you have older children, riding a bike or skating will be a great activity to help them burn a lot of energy, plus its fun to be able to watch them improving their skills.
If you do not like sports, you might enjoy exploring your city or various activities near you. I enjoy exploring the city. All I do is to look at Yelp or Google the “best place to visit Your City,” and you will be surprised how many activities are available for you and your kids. It’s also a fun thing to do for the whole family.
There are so many ways you can make your kids tired, and you need to find the activities you enjoy as well because that way it will be much more fun for you and them as well.
When can you work
This one is tricky because I am trying to grown my company, but sometimes the time is not on my side unless I am creative. Here are several options for you to be able to work while watching your kids.
Wake up Early or Sleep late
You can wake up before your kids do; in my case, I would need to wake up at 4 am because Zoe likes to wake up at 6 am. That option did not live for along because I have a super hard time to wake up early and my decisions making is junk when I have to watch the kids, and I woke up at 4 am. That did not work for me, but going sleep later around midnight and wake up 6 am does work better, because kids sleep around 9 am and I got 3 hours to be able to work.
Be ready to work
If you are like me and run your own company, you might be able to work from anywhere. In my case, the kids like to fall asleep in the car, when I see they are knockdown, I do park by Starbucks, or any other place where I can catch Wifi, if there is no wifi, I do use my Hotspot on the phone. You never know when an opportunity to work happens, and you need to be able to take advantage of it. Almost forgot, keep an energy drink by your side to be ready to kick in the higher gear when you got an opportunity to work.
Household challenges
Did you notice that your household is super neat and next moment is not? That’s the challenge of having kids. Dirty dishes, a stack of cloth which needs to be washed or fold, toys everywhere. I can’t imagine how challenging it is for single parents. Fortunately, for me, Lauren is a fantastic person who does a lot to keep the household in order; however, when she is at work, I need to jump in to help out.
Here is the list of things which helps you become more efficient at home, they cost money; however, they will save you time, which is priceless.
• Larger washer and drier
• Slow cooker or One-pot
• Cleaning Robot
• Air fryer
Large washer and Drier
Since you are not living alone anymore, you might have way more clothes to wash. We use to have a much smaller washer and drier, but by buying a large one, we have saved so much time. Instead of washing eight loads, we can do four. I am not great in math, but you get the point.
Slow Cooker or One-Pot
I love to cook because it’s my happy place where I can be creative and learning new things by watching YouTube. Cooking takes a lot of time from prepping the food, cooking, and cleaning after. By using Slowcooker or One-pot, you eliminate a lot of things at once. Cleaning is easy because you got only one pot to clean and you do not have to by right by the stove when cooking.
Cleaning Robot
One of the best Christmas present I could get from Lauren. She got me the cleaning robot, at first I was confused why, but after pressing the ON button, I realized what a great little machine it is. Yeah, My favorite household item is this robot because we do not have to vacuum on our own. We got our little robot to do it for us.
Air fryer
If you like fried food, this machine is impressive. Not that it cooks great food which tastes almost like real fried food, but it also saves time. For example, when I cook a whole chicken in the oven, it takes one hour at 400 degrees, Air Frier has it done in 45min. I love that little machine which saves time and its easy to clean.
Being a single parent is one of the hardest jobs you can have. I hope that some of the tips and personal experience will help you with your journey of being a parent. I am fortunate that I have a fantastic spouse who I share the responsibilities. I can see the impact we have on our children by spending so much time with them. I would not change this for anything because the time I was able to spend with them will not be replaced, and the memories stay with me forever.
Cheers, Honza