Hi lovelies,
Wow, ok. So this is my very first blog post. I won't go to much into my personal introduction in this post (will save that for another day) but I will say that I love to write and don't get an opportunity to do much of it in my career of choice so you guys are my lucky victims.
Here it goes.
I feel like I'm always playing catch up. I have spent my entire career as a mom feeling like I'm behind. Does that sentence make sense? My career isn't being a mom, although that in itself is an AMAZING career choice. What I meant is that for as long as I've had both a career and children, I've been in a state of overwhelm. If the kitchen is clean, the laundry is piling up. If the bedrooms are tidy, the bathrooms are dirty.
What I meant is that for as long as I've had both a career and children, I've been in a state of overwhelm. I wouldn't say I'm a clean freak but having some order in my home helps me feel at peace. It makes me feel like I'm in control and it always influences the way I interact with my husband, children and staff at work.
I'm not going to pretend like I have figured it out. I definitely have not. However, I have found some things that help and I will share those with you. I think the biggest thing is to find what works for you and commit to that. The following things have helped me so much but for some reason I end up slacking and going back into the old ways. Maybe together we can do this.
1. Plan your meals for a week in advance
I don't think this is a mind-blowing tip. Most people probably know about it but I promise, if you can commit to it, it will make your life a thousand times easier. That sounds like exaggeration but I don't think it is. I honestly think this is the most important tip for any working mom.
When you come home at 5Pm and you don't know what you will be making for dinner and your kids are hungry, you will either be having Mac n Cheese or order in. I can only do that so many times before I feel convicted about the nutritional value of the food I'm feeding the kids or the money I'm spending on eating out.
So what I try to do every Sunday is plan out the dinners for the entire week and get the groceries ready that day for each recipe I will be making. Some Sundays I even start the meals by pre cooking the meat or cutting up the vegetables for meals that week.
Planning the meals ahead of time ensures our family eats healthy and delicious meals and it doesn't cost us our sanity.
2. Do one load of laundry every day
I think this one speaks for itself. Oh and I don't mean just throwing the laundry into the washer. Dry, fold and put away one load of laundry every day. Anyone can find 10 minutes in a day to fold a load of laundry. The bigger the pile gets, the more motivation is needed to tackle the task. There was a point recently where I folded FIVE loads of laundry one evening. I mean that is just straight outrageous.
My plan is to start throwing a load of laundry in at night and then transferring it to the dryer first thing when I wake up. By the time the kids and I have had breakfast, it will be ready to fold. Who doesn't want a side of laundry with their morning coffee? Don't hold me to this, I don't know if it will work for me. I've been trying to wake up earlier in the mornings so hopefully I can get a few things around the house before getting ready for work.
If I don't every have to fold more than one or two loads of laundry in one sitting, I would be fine with that.
3. Clean the kitchen right after dinner
This one might seem weird to you guys. I think most people probably do this already but this is a real challenge for me. I like to relax after eating but if I get up from the table and make my way to a couch or bed, I will not want to get "uncomfy" to clean the kitchen.
I then promise myself that I will do it in the morning before work and you guessed it, it doesn't happen. So then when I get home from work after a long day, I not only have to cook but also clean extra dishes. It then snowballs into this huge task that overwhelms me and steals time that I could have had to play with my kids. Plus settling in for the evening when the kitchen is clean just feels better.
I have to add a quick disclaimer here. My husband has been getting home from work before me for the last few months so he's done the heavy lifting when it comes to cleaning the kitchen and getting dinners started. It has been real life-saver. If you can get yourself one of these cleaning/cooking husbands, that's definitely a plus. I would highly recommend it.
If you can get yourself one of these cleaning/cooking husbands, that's definitely a plus.4. Use the interval cleaning technique
I read about this a few years ago, or maybe I watched it in a YouTube video. It doesn't matter, the point is that I didn't come up with the idea. I'm sure none of you thought that anyways.
If you have half an hour to tidy the house, divide the time into number of rooms and get started. So if you have thirty minutes and 3 rooms to clean, set your timer for 10 minutes and start on the first room. Clean as fast as you can without taking a break until the timer runs out. The immediately move to the next room and so on. It's amazing what you can do when you are essentially racing yourself. TRY IT!
Sometimes I just get so overwhelmed by the amount of cleaning/tidying that needs to get done when the kids have made their way through the house. It's so rewarding when you see how much you can get done in a short amount of time.
5. Lower your expectations
Sometimes I expect too much of myself, my husband and my kids. Unrealistic expectations are the biggest cause for disappointment and frustration. I had to realize that my house will not be as clean, organized, tidy or decorated as some of my friends' houses and that is ok. I could go into a whole other topic about how toxic comparison can be but we don't do that today.
6. Prioritize your time
This one is comes easier than the rest for me. I know that in order for me to feel good about things, my kitchen, living room and bedroom have to be clean. Things that are not as important to me are closets, boot room, laundry room, pantry and the kids' rooms. So I don't stress as much about those rooms. It's not that I don't ever clean them, it just doesn't get done on a daily (or even weekly) basis.
So, I prioritize my time to the areas that I know are important to me and highly visible and I try to keep those as tidy as possible. That way when I get home from work it looks like my house is in order. The rest of the areas of my house get attention when I have the time and energy,
I came to the conclusion a long time ago that any mom, especially working mom, who's house is entirely spotless all the time must never sit down and put her feet up. I don't want to be that mom. I need to have time to play with the kids and relax too. I don't want to work all day and then come home and work all night. That's simply not how I want to live my life and that's no way to have a good marriage or a good relationship with your kids.
Well that's it for this blog post. I hope you can take at least one useful thing from it and apply it to your own life. If you liked it, please share it with your friends. I appreciate it. I've loved to write for as long as I can remember but just never take the time to do it.
Love,
Elly
