Keeping a clean house can be a challenge in the best of times, but throw a child into the mix and it might seem like you’re trying to scale a mountain with one arm tied behind your back. Obviously the easiest way to help is to hire a Cleveland maid service to help out.
But what if you aren’t comfortable with that or can’t afford it? What then? Well, we have scoured the internet to find four Cleveland bloggers who have some tips on how to survive parenthood while keeping a clean house.
These bloggers are some of the true superheroes in our world, balancing careers, family, being parents, and somehow still finding time to share it all with us. I’ve made sure to link to their websites or social media pages so that you can follow them and support the work they are doing (and maybe get a few more tips while you’re at it!).
Some of these tips might not seem like they are directly related to keeping a clean house, but it all is connected. Some of the tips are about taking care of yourself, while others are more directly cleaning-related. At the end of the day, if you don’t take care of yourself, how can anyone expect you to take care of your family to the best of your ability?
So without further ado…
Release the Pressure
“As single moms we work, take care of the home, take our kids to activities, review and help with homework, and do everything in between. At times we worry about putting food on the table, putting our kids in college, paying the bills, having something left for us.”
Aisha Taylor, Website, @FNPhenomenal
Right off the bat, Aisha nails one of the critical elements for how to survive parenthood in general. There are so many worries that parents shoulder that it’s a bit like a pressure cooker building up over time.
Finding an outlet for yourself is critical so that you are able to relax from time to time and get yourself in a better mental state. And that, in turn, will help you to be better equipped for handling all the things that life throws at you.
Some people find an outlet in the arts – painting or playing music, while others find that a more physical outlet is what they need – running, working out, or even something like kickboxing where they can let their stress and frustrations out. Whatever you choose, make sure that you have something that lets you blow off some steam once in a while so that you can better handle whatever life throws at you.
Trade Off Chores
“Before quarantine, each week I’d pride myself on planning our weekly meals, doing some meal prep over the weekend, and cooking dinner most nights of the week. Dinner would be ready by the time my husband got home, and we’d all sit down to a pre-planned meal Monday through Friday. Now? I’ve found that I just don’t have the energy to meal plan or prep by the time the weekend comes.”
Melissa Koski Carney, ICrashedTheWeb.com, @Koskim
Life comes at you fast and things can change in the blink of an eye. That’s what happened to local Cleveland blogger, Melissa Koski Carney, when the pandemic hit. Before, she handled everything and took a lot of pride in that.
Once the pandemic hit, however, things changed and she just didn’t have the energy that she had previously. When that happened, her husband stepped in to start taking on more of the meal prepping and more evenly splitting the chores that needed to be done (and learned that he actually liked it!).
When you split up the work that needs to be done then you free up more time to take care of other tasks that may need to be done, and your partner might even find some chores that they are happy to help out with!
Optimize the Time You Do Have
“Don’t Worry about the Housework — While it might be tempting to clean the house on what might seem a rare day you are home on a weekday — don’t. This is a day to use your time wisely, especially if you are still working on a big project or need to make a work call without kids screaming behind you. During quiet times, make your calls. During the noisy afternoon, do some work on the computer. If you fit in housework, too, you will end up feeling frustrated when you have to finish your work.”
Angela Gartner, NortheastOhioParent
Building your daily schedule around the times that you do have to yourself are key for feeling like you actually accomplished anything during the day. Whether you are a stay at home parent or working full time, this advice will be equally applicable. It is so easy to lose track of the day when you are running from fire to fire, only to discover at bedtime that nothing you needed to get done was accomplished.
Personally, I know that there will be a few times during the day that I can get some quiet, dedicated, work time, so I build my entire schedule around those windows. Running a business (in addition to trying to be a great family person) means that there are always people asking for my time, so making the most of those little windows is the only way for me to make any progress.
It’s Ok to Not Do It All
“You often feel like you’re expected to do it all. That’s not real life. I’m terrible at keeping up with laundry, I don’t get as much sleep as I know I need (or want) and I feel like I’ll never drop the baby weight that won’t seem to go away no matter how hard I try.”
Lindsay McCoy, @LindsayWFMJ
There are always to-do lists a mile long around my house, and sometimes it feels like some of those things will just never get done. So the first step to surviving is just admitting that it’s ok. We all want to be super heroes and do everything, but the reality is that there just aren’t enough hours in the day without help. For most people, acknowledging that is enough to take the mental pressure off.
President Eisenhower had a system for how he would determine what needed to get done and in what order that helped him to deal with this very situation. (And if you think you’re busy, try leading the US through WWII!) It became known as the Eisenhower Matrix and worked like this:
Make a two by two grid and label the top, from left to right, ‘urgent’ and ‘not urgent’. Then down the side label the rows from top to bottom ‘important’ and ‘not important’. Everything that comes up during the day, you put into one of these boxes: Urgent & Important, Urgent & Not Important, Not Urgent & Important, Not Urgent & Not Important.
Anything in the top left box you do first. If you have time during the day, you can then move on to the top right box. (Then bottom left and bottom right in that order) At the end of the day, you can evaluate anything left in the grid and start building your grid for the following day.
Anything that is in the lower right box for more than one day you can safely drop off your list – these things just aren’t important or urgent enough to be prioritized.
Running the top house cleaning company in Cleveland has certainly had its challenges. But to try and do that while also keeping my own house clean AND being a good member of my family? It’s taken some real strength and perseverance.
These tips that I’ve outlined above from some of the top Cleveland bloggers have really helped me figure out how to navigate everything, and to be ok with letting go of things that just aren’t important.
If you feel the same way, or you could use some help with house cleaning in Cleveland, hit the button below for an instant online quote (no email needed!).
