How do you balance everything??

Question

My daughter is 6 months old and I've just returned to work full time. I'm struggling to figure out how to squeeze everything into my day while also being able to maximize the amount of time I get to spend with my baby. I'm trying to juggle:
---Making breakfast, lunch, and especially dinner for myself & husband (who also works full time)
---Making baby food from scratch for LO
---Exercising
---Keeping the house clean 
---Spending as much time as possible with baby  
How do you moms do it all??
EDIT: My husband helps with everything...I should have added that detail before. We still struggle to fit it all in. Thank you everyone for your suggestions so far!! Definitely going to try some of these tips.

Answer

Meal prep on Sundays bulk meals like pastas or casseroles. Then you just stick them in the oven when you get home from work and they also make for great leftovers. Also as others commented instant pot or hellofresh are great options too. Put your husband in charge of stuff too. Keep breakfast simple each day like yogurt with granola or peanut butter toast and fruit. Either switch off who makes dinners each night or have your husband on cleanup duty. If you cook, he does dishes. He should be doing half of that list so split it evenly.

Answer

First, stop thinking you need to do it all. Lets look at your list.  You could try Hello Fresh for dinners (eliminates so much grocery shopping and wasted time figuring out what to cook).  Buy organic premade baby food.  Hire cleaning service to clean house once a week or every two weeks. 
Also, novel concept, but your husband could split these chores with you. 🤔.

Answer

Meal prep is your best friend. 
Honestly we have the same thing for breakfast every day except weekends. So much easier. 
Lunch is usually leftovers. 
Dinner crockpot or instapot 
If you want to work out take a walk on your lunch break do something low commitment like yoga in your living room after baby is asleep or before baby wakes up. 
You just need a routine and you’ll be ok. Example put laundry in to was overnight wake up in the am put it in the dryer etc. 
Systems and routines are your friends.

Answer

Go day by day... I work 9-5. I get home at 5:30, make dinner, feed the baby and (sometimes) myself, clean up, bathe the baby, play time, bed time, then I shower and it’s 9:30 pm by then. It sucks.

Answer

....are your husband's hands broken or something? I'm confused. Why the hell is half this junk on YOUR list? Your husband is more than capable of cooking meals, prepping baby food (although giving your child actual solid food and letting them eat with you would cancel out this task completely), cleaning the house, etc. Those aren't your job. You're not their private chef and maid. Your husband needs to step it up. My husband and I both work full time as well. I actually work two full-time careers. From 7am to 2pm, I'm home with our toddler and running a 6-figure company. My husband is at work at this time from about 4am to noon or so. So I tackle breakfast and lunch for our toddler and myself. Our morning is pretty scheduled out in order to ensure I have time for work and time for playing with her. When my husband comes home from work, we have about an hour or two to spend time together and then I leave for work as a Behavioral Health Professional working with kids. I typically work about 2-8ish (times vary depending on the client and how our session is going). I also work this job on Sundays from 9am to 5pm. Since I'm at work through dinner, my husband tackles dinner, our daughter's bath, and bedtime (we set a 6:30pm bedtime for her in order to give us time to ourselves and with each other). He'll then straighten up the house a bit before settling in for the night. I usually hit the gym for 1-2 hours after work so I'm home between 9 and 10ish. We then settle into bed for the night with some Netflix before going to bed. Everything in our home is split. I can take on my day with zero issues because I have a husband who steps it up and actually parents. It's not my job to be a wife, mom, maid, and personal chef.

Answer

My husband makes our food (we eat a lot of cooking light 20 minute meals).  I give the baby what we eat cut up really small.  I keep workouts short - for now.  I lift for 10 mins in the morning and do cardio for 20 mins 3 nights a week.
You might not be able to do everything on your list, but you might be able to modify things so you can get them in, but maybe not as perfectly as you would...which is fine for now.

Answer

Breakfast I started buying the frozen stuff or quick thinks like cereal and bagels. Lunch was always left overs. Dinners were crockpot recipes or quick oven recipes. 
I would designate one day a week to cleaning the house and making baby food. I would make a ton of baby food but freeze it in ice cube form and put it in baggies and jt would last me 1-2 weeks. So that was always a huge help. 
And after I make dinner we have play time. It’s hard but it can be done. I gave up on exercising because I didn’t have time. You can also rotate days on who cooks with your husband.

Answer

We don't. We just try our hardest lol. Don't get too overwhelmed, our motto is "just get it in where you can fit it in." Also, if you aren't able to fit something in your schedule, it's ok because it's usually waiting for you the next day. Good luck and I'm sure you're doing great!

How do you balance everything??

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