How to Streamline...Looking for tips

There is so much to do in a day and I find I am managing really well around everything except one thing. I need to streamline my day to day tasks. I would appreciate any insight into what I could do differently.

Basically we come in from outside around 10:45/11 and I have the older kids sit at the table and do quiet activities (colouring, puzzles) and the little ones are in their highchairs while I prep lunch. I give the little ones some fruit or cheese if I need to heat up lunch. Once lunch is ready for them I serve it to the babies on their trays and they eat while I send the big ones off to wash their hands and then they eat. While they are eating I am usually chopping more fruit etc for after lunch, helping the babies with yogurt if needed etc. After lunch I send the big kids to pick books for me to read and I quickly sweep up. Send the big kids to the potty while I change the babies. Have them read for a bit while I set up play pens, humidifiers etc. We read stories, I take out the cots (tried bringing them out earlier and they just become a hazard as the babies climb all over them etc) and they settle in. I bring my girls upstairs as the dck settle then check on them after my girls are down.

I am exhausted just reviewing this list and I haven't even done the lunch dishes yet! Today I did the dishes after they were in their cots and my girls were upstairs and this seemed to work really well (2 of my kids settle really well if I am in the basement with them for a few minutes but freak out once I leave)

What can I do different? Any ideas?

We comeback from outside between 11:00 to 11:15 AM. We do the following activities in this order: wash hands / fix lunch while kids have free play / Kids cleaning up play area / lunch / diaper change & potty / nap time upstairs / My cleaning when kids are sleeping / Have my lunch and break.

Unfortunately there isn't a lot you can do about that lunchtime to naptime phase as for sure it is the most exhausting part of the day. One of the reasons we deserve our break during naptime.

Can you have the kids clean up the play area before heading outside if they aren't playing in it once they come in. Then once in they do things in the kitchen while you make lunch. I tend to do diapers before lunch and then just a quick check before going down for nap as mostly they are fine which saves a ton of time and only the potty trained kids need to be dealt with.

I skip all foods that require me for anyone but the babies such as yogurt or spaghetti or applesauce. I serve mostly finger foods and can have some of the work predone such as cheese already cubed. Not having to deal with messy foods or feeding kids frees me up to deal with the kitchen. While they eat I unload the dishwasher from the night before and start reloading. But you might find you could actually get the pots and pans washed up and stuff from morning snack. Then once kids are down just have the lunch cups and plates to do or even leave them to do with supper but at least your pots and pans needed to cook supper will be clean.

I have to set up playpens/beds and take them down daily too since my playroom is also my sleep room. My day looks a lot like yours, very busy, except that I do all of my dishes in the evening. While the children sleep for 2 hours in the afternoon I surf the net or read, but I relax and that gives me a bit of down time which evergizes me to get through the rest of my long day. I wish I had a dishwasher to take that load off me.

I have children picked up between 3:40 and 4:40 in the afternoon so at about 4pm when there are only a couple of children left I get them to help in the toy cleanup and leave them with a few of their favourite things so I can start sweeping, run the dishwater for the dishes and get them soaking, start a load of laundry (everything is on one floor and within sight of the children) or I can start prepping food or crafts for the next day. But I'm letting the children freeplay for the last hour of the day so I can finish up that day's work and start the next day's work.

I was feeling burned out when I started and I realized it was ok to get a few things done during daycare hours while the children played or coloured. They are always happy no matter what they are doing and I'm less tired at the end of the day.

Before we do a "new" activity (going outside, having lunch/snack, reading books, coloring...) the toys are cleaned up. I teach the kids that cleaning is a part of playing. When we come back from outside the kids can play with the toys as I get lunch ready and need to have the toys put away before we wash our hands before lunch. We all eat together, I find the kids will tend to eat better if I am eating with them and eating what they are eating. This way I can also teach/model table manners by example.

The playpens stay set up in my room all week, this helps that I do not have to set up and take down everyday. The nappers are changed as I bring them up for a nap, the other will wait at the bottom of the stairs until I am ready. The older ones take themselves to the bathroom and grab a basket of books for quiet time. Clean up happens during quiet time....sometimes I will wait to put the dishes into the dishwasher until snack time.

Nap/quiet time start between 12:30 and 1. Some days things run smoother than others.

I agree with Momof4, I had the same problem. I was up way too late still getting my own housework done, until I gave myself permission to do something small such as fold a load of laundry while the kids had their free play.

That is always the crazy and exhausting time of day for sure! It's the marathon hour as I think of it...LOL. The only thing I do differently is that I am able to leave all the playpens set up permanently and then I just pull out the one cot which already has it's sheet on it and that takes seconds. I am also fortunate in that I have a kitchen in my basement, so now we have lunch early (between 11-11:30) and that gives me time to clean up all of the lunch mess while they freeplay after eating (I can see them). This also gives them time to digest their food and most of them also poop during this time, so I never have naptime poop issues...LOL. After I finish cleaning up, I change diapers for those that have pooped, but no those who haven't. I then read stories and then I change those who were not changed before storytime. I do it this way because 9 times out of ten, if I change everyone before story, a couple will poop after and I will have to rechange them...it's these little things that can wear you down at this time of day. Then I tuck them all in, in the same order each day and put out my noisy fan for white noise and then my daughter and I go upstairs and I read her a story in her room and tuck her in and then fainlly I get to relax. The nice thing is, I don't have to clean up lunch mess, so quiet time is mine :)

I agree with the above posters. I also try to "clean as I go" as much as possible. I try and tidy up when the babies are having free play. I get the playpens set up while they have breakfast and I wake my older children for school so that now all the bedrooms become available. I am also lucky they have a morning nap so I clean up, throw a load of laundry on, clean up breakfast dishes and start prepping and cooking lunch. I let them free play right as I get lunch ready and they all feed themselves, I only serve finger foods as well. After they eat before our walk they free play for 10 minutes while I clean off the highchairs, sweep and mop the floor and wipe my counters off. I agree with the diapers too, I wait a good half hour after meals for them to all poop. There have been one too many times I am loading up my stroller and wagon and one or a few have pooped. Also use your afternoon nap time for YOU time as much as possible. Give yourself at least an hour to do nothing. You need that time.