The 59 jobs mums do on school daysApparently the average British mum carries out up to 59 different tasks every single school day.

It all starts at 6.38am when mums β€˜leap’ out of bed before the rest of the family wake in order to β€˜get ahead’ according to aΒ new study.

This involves β€˜nipping quietly downstairs’ to empty the dishwasher and fill water bottles for school before packing school bags,Β opening the curtains,Β making the beds and working out what to doΒ for dinner.

Unsurprisingly, theΒ poll of mums by Simply Beef & Lamb (which is plugging its mini roasts as an easy dinner) found we fall into bed exhausted at 10.23pm (ok, I added the exhausted bit).

I’m afraid to say I routinely carry out 48 of the 59 jobs mums doΒ on school days, which are:

1. Decide what to make for dinner
2. Cook and serve the evening meal
3. Tidy up the dishes
4. Wake the children
5. Open all the curtains
6. Wash up or pack the dishwasher
7. Tidy the house from top to bottom
8. Make and serve the breakfast
9. Make sure everyone is ready to leave the house on time
10. Do the children’s homework with them
11. Get the children ready for bed
12. Get yourself showered, washed and dressed
13. Check the children are wearing coats and have all their belongings
14. Get the children their morning milk/drink
15. Go to work
16. Do the morning school run
17. Do the afternoon school run
18. Make your own bed
19. Nag the children to do their teeth
20. Put a load of washing on
21. Lay out the school uniform/help children into the school uniform
22. Pack the children’s lunches for school
23. Tidy around
24. Play with the children
25. Fill up the water bottles
26. Nag the children to eat their dinner
27. Listen to the children read
28. Encourage the children to wash at the end of the day
29. Check the calendar for events the following day
30. Pack the children’s bags/P.E. kit for school
31. Do the children’s hair
32. Ferry the children to clubs and sports
33. Lay out all the bags and clothes for the following day
34. Read the bedtime story
35. Putting away the dishes
36. Make the children’s beds
37. Remember after school clubs
38. Pack your own work bag
39. Feed or walk the animals
40. Complete school paperwork/permission slips and remember to send in with the children
41. Pack the appropriate kits for afterschool clubs and sports
42. Put out the rubbish/recycling
43. Keep on top of the calendar for birthdays, school events, social events
44. Fill in the children’s reading records/homework books
45. Pack your own/your partner’s lunch for the day
46. Ensure the children go to the toilet before leaving the house
47. Unpack the dishwasher/put the dishes away
48. Remember school dinner money
49. Hang out the washing
50. Give the children their medicines for the day
51. Usher the children into the bath or shower before school
52. Help your children learn their spellings for the day
53. Put sun cream on before school/rain coats
54. Check you haven’t forgotten a mufti day/cakes for the school fair
55. Vacuum
56. Iron
57. Help the children practise their music/sport/words for the school play
58. Read with the children
59. Volunteer at the various clubs, school, and sports.

Now I’m assuming the 1,583 mums polled aren’t all single, otherwise the headline would have been ‘the 59 jobs single mums do every school day’. So I have just one question: where the f**k are the dads when all this is going on?

Linking up with…

New Mummy Blog
Life with Baby Kicks
The Secret Diary of Agent Spitback
A Cornish Mum