Mamapedia City Voices highlights the inside scoop on your city by selected writers, from up-and-coming mom bloggers to well-known mom experts.
Not Doing it All is OK
I think the biggest thing a mom struggles with is ‘doing it all’. I found a post on Mamapedia which asked how do other moms ‘do it all’ as a stay at home mom. She is struggling with balancing her time with her kids and doing the housework. I am a stay at home mom as well of a 2 1/4 year old and a 6 month old. It is busy. My 2 year old is incredibly active and we cannot stay at home in the morning. I have come up with a number of ways to find some time to get housework done.
Now, this may not work for everyone but one suggestion is to have someone else come in to clean 1 or 2 times a month. Depending on where you live the cost of this can be $45-$100 per day. I have someone come twice a month and she does the dusting and major cleaning of the house. With the economy as it is, we may have to cut down to once a month but this is a necessity in our household. Another option is to share the major cleans with your hubby over the weekend and take turns with the kids.
Another thing that has helped me is that I have found a co-operative nursery school in our area that Ainsley goes to 3 days per week. The cost is approximately $200 per month but it gives me time to get stuff done while Juliet has her morning nap and I also get to spend one-on-one time with her. Again, this may not be an option for some but a suggestion would be to try and find another mom in your neighborhood to share babysitting so that you could get housework done.
As for the daily grind ie. dishes, laundry etc… I do dishes while Ainsley has her lunch or snacks and during this time Juliet now can eat her Mum Mum crackers in the high chair and this gives me about 10-15 minutes to rush around and do as much tidying in the kitchen as I can get done. Laundry is never ending as every mother knows but we have worked out a system that my hubby will put the laundry through and I fold at night while I watch TV.
With these little tips/suggestions that I use, I have lots of time with my children throughout the day. My house is not perfect and I am now ok with that. It took me awhile to get to this place but I have realized that playing with my kids is THE most important thing and that they will not remember that my house was messy. They will remember the fun things we do together. And as for having guests over, if they are other moms, I don’t care because most of the time their houses are just as messy as mine.
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Jeannine, July 21, 2009
Thank you for sharing. Everyone mom I know struggles with these issues. I am also a working mom, who is in school-too much I know, but when we weighed the options this was the best time for us to do this. As our children get older I need to be able to devote myself to their growth and activities. I appreciate the ideas, and just knowing that other moms go through the same problems makes me feel more competent!
Christine, July 22, 2009
I can't recommend flylady.net enough. It's free and all about basic, simple routines. THAT is what allows a mom to 'do it all'. Really. I have my ups and downs, but her system always gets me back on track.
Lynley Phillips, July 22, 2009
Such a great post! I really like the suggestion of hiring a housekeeper just twice a month. Paying $200 is well-worth one's sanity and time with kids.
Bonnie, July 22, 2009
When my kids were small I used to be a clean freak. I always worked myself to death trying to keep everything spotless. But then I had a friend come and tell me some advice that I have never forgotten to this day, and you just reinforced in your post and that is: your kids will never remember all the work you did to keep your house clean, they will only remember the time you spent with them. It took me a while to slow down on the cleaning...
