When you have a baby, everything changes. Surely, more than a couple of people told you that before you gave birth, but now that your little one is actually here, you're realizing how true it is. Your house, for example, used to be spotless — but now there are diaper bags, toys, and blankets scattered everywhere, and you haven't washed dishes in a week! How are you ever supposed to keep up with the house cleaning as a parent? First, you accept that a little mess is okay and is just a fact of life. Second, you follow these tips.
1. Hire a house cleaner.
Your budget is probably a bit tight considering you just added to the family, so paying a full-time house cleaner, or even a once-a-week house cleaner, might be out of the question. That's okay. You really just need a little assistance. Hire someone to come in once a month and do the big jobs — the ones you never seem to get to. Thoroughly vacuuming under the furniture, cleaning out the fridge, and washing the laundry room floor are tasks that you can let go of and let someone else handle. You'll then have more time to focus on the little, day-to-day things.
2. Have a morning cleanup routine.
Make cleaning one of the first things you do in the morning. Have a 10- or 15-minute routine that you do every day, perhaps while your coffee is brewing or while you're waiting for a bottle to warm. This routine should include tasks that don't take long but that make your home instantly a lot cleaner. Examples include the following:
- Putting dirty dishes in the dishwasher or sink
- Wiping down counters
- Tossing toys into the toy bin
- Folding blankets over the backs of couches
Personalize this list for yourself, and work through it every day in the same order so that it becomes routine. If life happens and you don't get to it in the morning, do it later — before lunch or when your baby is napping.
3. Get some overflow bins.
A lot of the mess, once you have a baby, is just items that get left out because they don't really have a spot in your home. Just when everything gets a place, you get something new — like some new toys or a playset. To keep your home more tidy, invest in a couple of simple, plastic totes. Put one in each room, and once or twice a day, toss all those extra things into the totes. Once a week or so, you can go through the items in the tote and actually put them away.
Keeping a home clean as a parent can feel like a challenge at first, but with the tips above, you can do it.
To learn more about house cleaning, contact a house cleaning company.