With twice the cooking, laundry, and clean-up to do, staying on top of household tasks can be difficult. Here are some time-saving and sanity-saving tips for managing a household with young twins.

Cook on Saturday
...and don't cook any other day the rest of the week! On weekends, my husband is home to help watch the babies and keep them away from the stove. One of my most effective time-savers involves making large batches of food on the weekend, dividing it into family or individual-sized portions, and freezing it. Sometimes I use my vacuum food-saver bags, but most of the time I just use zipper freezer bags. This means that when the kids get hungry, the food just needs to be microwaved for a few minutes, eliminating much of the pre-meal fussing that stresses everyone out. For some of my favorite family-friendly recipes and a sample weekly menu, click here.

Streamline Meal-time Cleanup
There are several ways to cut down on after-meal clean-up. First, get a dog to eat the leftovers off the floor (just kidding). A "hokey" or a high-end mini-vacuum works well to clean up those floor messes, too. On particularly messy days, I just throw the high chair trays in the dishwasher for a "quick wash" to get them clean. Other ways to cut down on clean-up include using disposable plates, cups, bibs, and spoons. This can get expensive and isn't very eco-friendly, so we only do this on occasion. One of the best habits you can get into, though, is wiping down the kitchen and loading and running the dishwasher right before you go to bed. That way, you wake up to clean dishes and a sparkling kitchen, instead of more work to do.

Do Laundry Every Day
Unlike cooking, laundry seems like a much larger chore if saved up all for one day. I find it to be more effective to do two loads of laundry each day. In the morning, I gather the dirty clothes, towels, and bedding from everyone's room and do one load. When the babies nap, I put in the next load. Then I fold later on in the day and put everything away.

Place Baskets or Pop-up Hampers in Each Room
If each room has some sort of receptacle for toys and other clutter, it's easier to keep it picked up. The other advantage to having a basket or hamper in each room is that you can teach your twins to help you clean up. Try singing the "Clean up" song from the Barney show (a staple at most daycare centers) as you place toys into the bins. You can also experiment with instituting a "rule" that if the twins are going to leave a room, they must tidy it up first.

Pamper Yourself!
Working around the house just feels better if you feel clean and refreshed yourself. After the babies go to bed at night, take a long bath or shower. Give yourself a home face-mask treatment, a pedicure or a manicure, or just massage your feet with peppermint lotion. Take some time to reward yourself. You work hard, and you deserve it!