I think any parent knows, that every task becomes unimaginably harder when you have a little one. Whether that be one, two, three, or 65 little ones. Lifes little chores just well, don't get done? No that can't work, and it certainly doesn't. I'm not a clean freak by any stretch of the imagination (and if my Mum is reading this she'll be thinking pah - damn right) but I like my house tidy and clutter free - ah yes clutter free, is that possible with children? Who knows, but I've got some tips I've learned along the way now, of how to basically, get shit done.
- The Vacuum is your friend, utilise it. When I'm trying to get a mass of cleaning done, the vacuum is either one of two things, A) My go-to when the baby is getting grumpy and fed up of me rushing around, the white noise usually calms him and he forgets he was so cross by the time it's finished. or B) My encouragement for the toddler to tidy his toys away and jump on the sofa as quite frankly, he doesn't like the vacuum one little bit.
- Let them join in, from the age of around 10 months, Noah loved nothing more than grabbing a cloth or sweeping brush and pretending to help out, obviously he wasn't actually helping, but he was distracted which meant more cleaning (yay!)
- Baby wear, I know doing chores can be sweaty business, especially with a baby strapped to your chest, but you're at home, wear you're bra and pants and go crazy. Nobody will care but it bides you time, and hey, they might even fall asleep. Sleep yes, remember that?
- Distract, distract, distract. Noah would love to play with things he really shouldn't, some fridge magnets on a baking tray, threading spaghetti through a colander, or banging on pots and pans. You name it, he's probably been sat at the table doing it whilst I've blitzed the kitchen.
- Finally, use your time wisely. Don't waste precious time lugging different items to their homes, up and down the stairs. Instead I make a basket, and put everything that needs to go away upstairs in it, that way when I next go up, I can just whizz them up quickly in one go.
Hope you've enjoyed my little tips, do let me know if you have any as I love a good life hack.
I so second the one about the basket, it's so much easier than trying to carry everything. I've had to learn to stress less over it all though since having my daughter - and not to complain about my partner not doing it to 'standard' while I'm at work! :) #marvmondays
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of a basket of stuff that needs to go upstairs. I must climb the stairs a million times a day!!
ReplyDelete#MarvMondays
Great tips - I did many of these myself. Along with cleaning little and often. My daughter also likes to 'help'. Giving her a wet wipe to clean the floor would keep her busy for a good 10 mins. Now she's 20 months she'll unload shopping bags for me and put things in the bin :D Thanks for sharing #MarvMondays
ReplyDeleteWhat a good idea about the basket! There's me running up and down the stairs a 100 times a day! I think also we have to just try and stress less I used to get so worked up with to do lists and keeping the house spotless. Now Iv learnt that Actually, tidy rather than spotless is more realistic now. #MarvMondays
ReplyDeleteI love the basket idea - I totally do this, but completely unintentionally - I swear I'm just lazy!!
ReplyDeleteRachel // http://illustratedteacup.com
I do the same with the basket as well! Make so much more sense xx
ReplyDeleteI do the same with the basket as well! Make so much more sense xx
ReplyDeleteI do the same with the basket as well! Make so much more sense xx
ReplyDeleteLove, love, love the basket tip! I am so going to give that a go. I read something similar that another blogger did a few months ago and forgot, but this will save so much time as I am constantly up and down our stairs and it drives me mad! Thanks for sharing this on #MarvMondays, fab tips. Emily
ReplyDelete