When you’re caring for and raising a child, house maintenance and chores can often (understandably) take a back seat. Even if you do find yourself having more time than you thought for a good cleaning schedule, it can easily end up back at square one in no time at all when you’re contending with the mess of a child and a busy family life.
While being a parent by no means requires you to have a tidy home (mess is part of the family fun, after all!), it is important to have a good cleaning routine to keep your home healthy, happy, and hygienic.
Here are six ways you can keep your house clean as a busy parent.
1. Plan a Schedule
As it’s extremely easy to become distracted by other responsibilities as a parent, a schedule is a great way to keep on track and plan out when you actually might have time to clean and tidy. If you know there’s an afternoon when your child is otherwise occupied — perhaps being babysat or at pre-school — then this is an ideal time to schedule in some cleaning.
2. Take Advantage of When Your Child is Asleep
The first thing you should consider doing when your child is asleep is catch up on rest yourself. Nevertheless, this could be the perfect time to catch up with all-important chores and tidy up while they are out of the way. Try to use the time to your advantage, even if it’s only doing a few simple tasks or cleaning one room quickly.
3. Tidy As You Go
This might seem an impossible task, but it’s always worth a try. If you can clean up after you and your child as you go along, it will help to keep the huge cleaning jobs down to a minimum instead of allowing them to build up.
4. Invest in the Right Equipment
Cheap is always good if it means you can save money, but it’s not always the best if you’re looking for dependable tools — especially when it comes to cleaning. To ensure that you can clean effectively in as little time as possible, investing a bit more in better quality cleaning supplies is always preferable. Key items that will make a difference include more effective and stronger cleaning products and a thorough vacuum cleaner or mop for your home.
You can even save time by investing in automated cleaning products, like the best Roomba for your home.
5. Get Help
There’s no shame in requesting for help when you simply can’t do everything. If you have friends or family that are willing to help you clean up, or even if you employ a cleaning service to completely take away the responsibility, this will make all the difference.
6. Have Your Child Help You
If your child is old enough to be able to walk about and help, you could encourage them to assist with the tidying, such as asking them to pick up their toys and showing them where to put them away. It may not be the quickest or most effective way to clean and tidy, but every little helps!