Before having children, I didn’t even consider what needs to be done with maintaining a home.
God, just writing that phrase makes me shiver into a 1950s housewife stereotype!
Sadly though if you are now a stay at home mum who’s primary job is to look after her children, maintaining the home is what needs to be done.
When I was working or studying, I was more than capable of running a hoover round, heating up some food and washing my clothes.
Suddenly though when children turn up it is imperative that things are cleaned (not just vaugely tided), food should be of nutritional value and that sides are dusted!
To be honest though, I didn’t dust for 3 years after my first child was born! The haze after your life gets turned upside down with your first child doesn’t make a lot of room for dusting and most other household tasks. Keeping from having a nervous breakdown was one of my personal achievements!
Over the next few years I spent my days taking Molly to a baby/toddler group each morning, trying (and usually failing!) to get her to take a nap in the afternoon and tackle some kind of domestic task from the long list of stuff that needs to be done.
I felt rather overwhelmed by cleaning and tidying a whole flat. So didn’t even really bother.
After a few years into the first child’s life I came across The Organised Mum Method. This discovery was a complete revelation!!
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Suddenly I found a way of keeping on top of the chores and all it took was 30 mins a day
I know, I sound like I’m working for Team TOMM but honestly it made everything fall into place!
So the rules are:
Level 1 – Do every day
Do a load of washing each day
Hoover main traffic area
Give bathrooms a quick clean
Level 2
Clean a room a day according to plan
(see the Friday Focus plan for Friday jobs)
AND YOU GET THE WEEKEND OFF!
Before starting the routine you might need to do a couple of weeks decluttering (I’ll do a separate blog about this) and this may seem like a lot of work but it is SO worth it!
I’ll also do another blog about storage and organising – another of my new passions!
Having an easy cleaning routine has meant that I’m no longer overwhelmed and over tired and this makes a huge difference to both my physical and mental health.
The Kids, Me and MS 