It doesn’t matter if you are a stay-at-home mom, a dad working full-time, single parent navigating bills and housework, or a fur mama also working to provide for yourself, staying organized and on top of things is TOUGH and a challenge to your sanity. Parent or not, maintaining a clean living space, paying bills, keeping in contact with friends and loved ones, remembering a schedule, and all the other things life has for you can be overwhelming at times.
I have been a SAHM (stay-at-home mom) since having Oakley in May of 2024. This new job has come with lots of adjusting and figuring out what works for our family. Even emotionally I have had to continuously fight against guilt from not working a job that provides monetary rewards. Some people may look at stay-at-home parents as the ones who have it easy, and there are days where I feel like I do have it easy in comparison to my hard-working husband. However, it isn’t always smooth sailing. There are days and weeks where it feels like the house is a wreck, nothing gets done, overwhelmed with all the things, and my teeth don’t get brushed until well after lunch.
Even with the crazy days, I love being a SAHM. I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Even before having Oakley, I was an organized, clean freak, but with more free time to relax between loads of laundry. I have found some things that have helped me stay organized, keep a cleaner home, and be happier mentally without doing chores all day every day, especially now that I am a mom.
Keep a planner
Not long into our marriage, Dawson and I figured out that keeping a planner was essential. We accidently double booked two major events on the same day. OOPS! I use to be the type that would just take mental note of plans, appointments, or things we agreed to attend. But we see how that worked out for us. Occasionally I would use the calendar on my phone to keep from forgetting, but truthfully, I hate using the calendar app on smartphones. I know some find it convenient since we typically always have our cellphones on us, but I would rather keep a physical, pen and paper planner that I can see the entire week or month laid out neatly in front of me. Anytime I tried to keep an old school, pen and paper planner, it got annoyingly messy, overwhelming, or neglected. Until I found THIS PLANNER! Now, every year I get the newest dated one, and I have been consistent with it since. An added bonus is the words of encouragement and Bible verses placed throughout it.
Use a robot vacuum
We have 3 fur babies. Do I need to explain any further? LOL
As you can imagine, the pet hair is INSANE. Vacuuming or sweeping every day is not a realistic expectation for us, but a clean floor makes Dawson and I feel 100 times better mentally. It is particularly important to us that we keep the floors cleaned almost daily because Dawson’s seasonal allergies will knock him out if we don’t do what we can to minimize them. AND we are fast approaching the crawling stage with Oakley. Typically, we use this vacuum 1-2 times a week. We love it because we can turn off the lights in the house and use the LEDs attached to the front to easily show all of the hair, dirt, and junk on the floor so we don’t miss a spot. Like I said though, manually vacuuming every day is not feasible. So, we use THIS ROBOT VACUUM on the other days. We like that it has an app we use to control it, options to set up scheduled days and times for it to begin cleaning on its own, and more affordable than the fancy iRobot options.
Schedule chores strategically
In the past, we have utilized one day of the week to tackle all of the housework and cleaning. This worked before having Oakley. Now, if I attempted all of the housework in one day, I would either be mentally irritated and half do the work, have a fussy baby who wasn’t given attention, or be totally checked out by the time Dawson got home. Since being a SAHM, I have found that if I use the planner I mentioned earlier to break up the house work into smaller tasks spread throughout the week, it is more manageable and rewarding. It also frees up time in the day for me to bond with my daughter, give her tummy time, or go on walks.
Here is a small example of how I might split it up:
– Monday: vacuum, clean Oakley’s room
– Tuesday: clean bathrooms
– Wednesday: sanitize countertops, laundry
– and so on!
I have also found that if I sit down on Sunday afternoon and tentatively plan my week out ahead of time, I am mentally happier and feel more productive. Plus, the satisfaction of getting to cross each task off my list as it is done- LOVE it!
Meal plan ahead of time
I know some families who don’t even consider what is for dinner until an hour beforehand. Dawson has always been an over-planner when it comes to suppers. We plan out meals for the upcoming week and order our groceries for pickup on Sundays. Once we have all of our ingredients bought for x amount of suppers, we sit down and write out what each afternoon’s meal is. We use a guide similar to THIS and hang it on our fridge. With dinners planned out ahead of time, I don’t have to stress about what to fix. I just look at my guide and cook when it is time! This also helps us to ensure that we aren’t 20-mins into cooking and realize we are missing a key ingredient.
Bonus tip: don’t pick extravagant meals that require an hour of cooking and numerous ingredients for each afternoon. Split those bigger meals up over different weeks. Throw in some quick, cheap meal options to have on those days that are BLAH.
Have one-on-one time with God
If you haven’t yet, check out my post on quiet time essentials. I can tell a noticeable difference in my attitude, emotional state, and mental-self when I neglect spending time in the Word and prayer. Having this time with God will impact how you love and connect with your kids, spouse, friends, family, etc. Ideally, this time for me is in the mornings. It gives me a good start to the day. That doesn’t always happen though, and that is okay! Having it daily is what is important!
Drink coffee daily
I’m sure you knew I would include the importance of treating yourself to coffee each day. One of the first things I do in the morning is fix my cup of yummy goodness. Also, at least once a week I treat myself to an iced latte from my favorite coffee shop! Justified either as a pick-me-up, pat on the back for being productive, or a cup of motivation to get through what is to come. I’d be lying if I said I only have one cup of coffee a day. No judgement here!
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