Ideas for how to make cleaning up at home more fun and rewarding for weary moms.
Cleaning can feel like such a chore for moms. I have to admit it’s probably my least favorite thing on my constant to-do list. But because it’s how I spend a lot of my time, I’ve put some thought into ways to make it feel less like a grind, and I’ve discovered some simple, surprising cleaning tips you’ll love:
- Make it social and fun. Swap help with a friend or group of friends, for instance, and make it a social get-together. Each month, tackle one friend’s home or one area of her home. Put on some fun music, order takeout, and maybe share a bottle of wine while you catch up and help each other sort, organize, clean, and de-clutter. You’ll have fun and be productive, and you’ll look forward to these days! Plus, you can get so much done with a couple of extra hands!
- Find charities that are meaningful to you where you can donate your extra stuff. There are charities that help struggling women get back on their feet where you can donate your professional clothes and accessories, for example. Or consider organizations that recycle phones and electronics for women and kids at risk or living in shelters. A quick Internet search will give you many possible leads to choose from. You’ll de-clutter and do good, and you’ll feel great about it when you’re done.
- Set an effective cleaning schedule. Cleaning can seem like an endless, all-consuming, daily chore. But don’t let it be! Make a point to clean, for example, either 20 minutes each evening or one hour for two or three mornings a week — and leave it at that! Like every other kind of work, this should not take over your life, and it won’t if you just schedule a time for it and stick to that.
- Change your attitude. Sure, cleaning is annoying. But you can also look at it as meditative, healthy, and timesaving, in many ways. For instance, you can dance while you vacuum or sing while you do anything. It’s much more physical than sitting at a desk, and therefore better for you! The result of a clean home brings peace and calm and offers you and your family more room to rest, play, and breathe, so be sure to enjoy that feeling and the results of your chores, too. And, when you clean up, you put things where you can find them faster when you need them, so you are saving everyone time and frustration. Think of all those benefits, and don’t just focus on the annoyance of cleaning.
- Reward yourself. Let’s face it: Moms are rarely thanked for cleaning. But cleaning is work and hard work deserves a reward, I think. So after you’ve scrubbed and dusted and washed and folded and sorted and stacked, go take a nice long walk, have lunch with a friend, see a great movie, or take a good nap. You earned it!
