Strategies, Part I

Okay, you parents of toddlers/preschoolers. I have a few questions for you. Basically, they're "how do you do it?" questions. If you've got any wisdom, I certainly would appreciate it!

1. How many times a day to you clean up the toys, crayons, craft stuff, chaos? Most days, when Joe gets home, it looks like Tropical Storm Nathan swept through three or four times.
2. Those of you who work from home... How do you put aside the time to prepare? I am taking this semester off, but will be teaching in the summer. I'm completely developing my class, so I need to get started ASAP. What do you do to carve out the time needed? Do you just wait until your husbands are home?
3. Showering. I know this sounds so simple, but is it? I have this ridiculously thick hair, that is currently fairly long. If I shower at night, 1987 calls and asks for its hair back. Plus, I feel better if I shower in the morning. Unfortunately, if I showered before Nathan was up... well, I just can't predict when that will be. Do you guys trust your older children with your younger ones? I'd just bring the baby with me, but Nathan is definitely acting out to the point where I can't leave him alone for even a few moments.
4. Leaving the house. Were any of you intimidated by taking both children places? We didn't go many places for the first six weeks, because Daniel was born in the heart of cold and flu season. But now, I know I have to get out of the house. And more importantly, Nathan needs out of the house. Did any of you have that anxiety? If so, how did you cope?

I was going to try to round this out with 5 questions, but this is a good start.