Do you ever feel more like Cinderella than Super Mom?
You climb into bed at the end of the day and when you reflect on the day you can list off all of the chores you did, but you struggle to remember any quality time you spent with your kiddo.
But the thing is you have made so many sacrifices to be a stay-at-home MOM, not a stay-at-home housekeeper. And sure, taking care of the house is part of that, but you’re sick of it being a bigger part than the mom stuff.
And let me just tell you:
it’s ok if you’re feeling overwhelmed with the housework, and sick of it taking away time with your kids.
And it’s absolutely ok if you don’t know where to start.
I’ve been where you are….heck, I’m still there. Finding ways to balance housework and quality time with your family isn’t easy, but it is possible.
And I’m going to help you by sharing my top five tips for balancing housework and kids.
get rid off half of your stuff
What is the first step to less overwhelm and more time with your kids?
Get rid of half of your stuff.
Ok, maybe not half of your stuff, but a lot of it.
The real reason you have a never-ending to do list isn’t because you’re unorganized and you can’t get your act together.
And it’s certainly not because your husband doesn’t help enough or because your kids are too young to help. (those are all lies you’re telling yourself, but you need to give yourself waaaay more credit).
You’re drowning in housework simply because you have too much stuff.
And the very first step you need to take is to declutter and get rid of half of your stuff.
Sell it, toss it, donate it, give it to friends….it doesn’t matter. Just get it out of your house. Because the sooner it’s gone the sooner you’ll have more time to go to the park with your kid.
Click here to learn more about how to declutter when you have kids in the house. Yes, it’s possible, even if your kids are young and the baby won’t nap and your husband works crazy hours. If I did it, you can do it!
stay at home one day each week
What if I told you the key to your success was staying home?
Stay-at-home moms are always looking for a reason to leave the house. And who can blame us, staying home and doing the same thing day after day gets old. Fast.
But the key to balancing housework and kids is planning at least one day a week where you stay at home to do chores. (And it saves money too, but that’s another article).
I started implementing a stay-at-home day years ago, and it’s been one of the biggest keys to my success as a stay-at-home mom.
Every Monday (or most Mondays anyway) we stay home and I prep food for the week, clean the house, do extra laundry (like sheets & towels) and get the house put together for the week.
The kids stay in their jammies and play, watch cartoons, and lounge around. And by lunch the house is cleaned and ready for the week.
And the rest of the week we’re free to schedule play dates, run errands, or just have fun without worrying about housework.
Click here to learn how to actually do chores when you have little kids in the house – it’s not as hard as you think it will be!
conquer the dishes & laundry
Have dishes and laundry become monsters in your house?
They are the never-ceasing monsters that don’t go away when you turn out the lights and only get worse when you ignore them.
Soooo many moms complain about how often they have to do laundry and dishes, but never see an empty sink or the bottom of the laundry basket.
And yet, not many women offer up a simple solution.
What is my solution?
Do one load of dishes and one load of laundry, start to finish, every day.
That means load the dishes in the dishwasher, wash them, and put them away.
Wash and dry the laundry, fold it (yes, that’s the hardest part) and put it all away.
Just once, every. single, day.
Eventually you will get into a routine that makes dishes and laundry feel much more manageable.
tackling the toy tornado
Does your house look like a toy-tornado just went through it?
Believe it or not, toys are my biggest frustration.
Sure, dishes & laundry are usually on the forefront of my mind, but the toy situation drives me nuts. Because I have four kids who manage to spread their toy mess all. over. the entire house within about 2.7 seconds of waking.
Yesterday I almost burned myself on the stove because I tripped over one of their cars in the kitchen.
So how do you conquer the toy-tornado?
Here are my best toy-managing tips:
1. Keep toys to a minimum (click here to read how I minimized my kids’ toys)
2. Hide half of the toys, I try to keep about half of their toys hidden so they only have a small amount to play with at any given time. (click here to read more about keeping your kids interested in their toys)
3. Keep toys separated into buckets – cars in one bucket, trains in another, etc. If you keep on big toy box it encourages them to dump out everything when they’re looking for one toy, which creates a mess.
4. Clean up once a day – don’t go to bed with the toy-tornado still out, clean up at the end of the day.
5. No toys in the kitchen – **see above “almost got burned” story for reference**
Balancing housework and kids is arguably the stay-at-home mom’s greatest struggle. And yet, it is possible to strike a balance and love your life with littles!
Have you implemented any of these tips yet? Drop a comment and let me know what’s working for you!
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