If you’ve seen the TV show Man vs Wild on the Discovery Channel, you’ve seen Bear Grylls, a former British special-forces-Everest summitter-turned-survival guide extraordinaire. He shows how to survive in the wild in all kinds of amazing places using only minimum tools and resources. Even better, as this season’s ad say, he shows you “not only how to survive, but how to be alive”.
This got me thinking – what if Bear’s next assignment was to survive and thrive as a working parent in a corporate world? What are the few tools and tips he’d need to make it through the workweek in one piece?
First priority: Food – feeding the family is often the main challenge for the working parent. You get home from a long day at work, kids are hungry, have to feed them. The tools Bear Grylls should take with him into the wild of the family meal?
- The 4-6 quart slow cooker / Crockpot – nothing better than getting home from work and dinner is done and ready to serve. Make enough to have leftovers for lunch the next day and you’ve got two meals all taken care of.
- Quick-scratch cooking instructions. Quick-scratch cooking is taking modern convenience food and turning it into something that’s closer to homemade. The best cookbook for this is “The Dinner Doctor” by Anne Byrn. Easy, fast, yummy recipes, many of them kid-friendly and worthy of serving to guests. Also very good, fast and healthy is “The Biggest Loser Family Cookbook”.
- Meal prep help – two great options here are Schwan’s and your local meal prep kitchen.
- Schwan’s is a home delivery service in the U.S. of restaurant-quality frozen food. It’s the same company that makes many of the brands of frozen foods in the supermarket. The great thing about them is that the Schwan’s truck shows up at your house on a regular basis and you can pre-order if you’re organized (www.schwans.com), or you can order right from the truck. Better still, a lot of the food can be cooked from frozen so you don’t have to be clairvoyant two days ahead of time about whether you’re able to make dinner or need to order out.
- Local meal prep kitchen. This is where you go and make or buy several prepared meals to have ready to go at home – favorites have been Main Dish Kitchen and Super Suppers. Bonus points for turning this into a parent’s/girl’s night out opportunity with other busy parents. Find your local version at Easy Meal Prep, select Locations. Mostly U.S., but there are a few other countries listed too.
Second priority: Time – the other resource working parents can’t seem to get enough of is time. How can Bear create more time as he navigates all the responsibilities working parents juggle? He’d need:
- A really good calendar – More Time Moms has a big calendar called the Family Organizer – it has a lot of writing space and activity stickers. Put this in a central place (i.e. kitchen) so the whole family can keep track of what’s going on each day, appointments, practices, special events, days off school, etc.
- Meeting invites – in addition to the family calendar, use your work calendar to track your home commitments. I block-off the kids’ appointments by setting a meeting and inviting my husband to the meeting – that way we can coordinate who is taking the kid the appointment, kid event, etc, and both of us have it on our integrated work/life calendars in case we need to set aside the evening or shift things around due to work priorities.
- Microsoft OneNote. Not enough people seem to know about OneNote – if they did, it’d be as common as email. Basically works like a computer version of your notepad and a file cabinet, and helps you keep random thoughts organized and in one place, so you don’t waste time looking for things.
- Tivo – not just any DVR will do, I’m talking brand-name Tivo for best user interface and best time savings. If you watch any TV and don’t have a Tivo, you’re wasting time. Perfect for all stages of parenthood, from midnight feedings, to the kids taking over the tv or just needing attention or having activities during the time your favorite show is on. Get a Tivo and never worry again about what time something is on. Busy parents don’t have much time for TV, but we all need a little down time now and then.
What tools and resources do you rely on to survive the workweek as a working parent? Use the comments to share.
Note: I have no affiliation with these companies or authors, I’m not representing or speaking for any of the mentioned brands. I’ve left out my favorite resources from my own company in the interest of staying objective. Please do the same if you suggest any of your favorites, or disclose your bias. Thanks!
{ 2 trackbacks }
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
This is funny – so my husband reads this post and he says, “what are you, a shill?” Uh, no. A shill gets something from the companies they’re promoting. I’m a fan. There’s a difference. I’m attempting to answer that age-old question working moms always ask each other — how do you do it? This is how I do it. I’d love to hear what other tools people are using – tell me in the comments!
Stephanie