You are working for almost nine hours a day. The children are staying at home because of the pandemic. At times, you have to call in for reinforcements to help you with the kids and the household chores. Most of the time, you do well by yourself. You’re a superhero like that. But what happens when you get so overwhelmed by the things you need to do that you lose control of your household? What are the signs? The piling of dishes in the sink, the never-ending laundry, and the kids arguing over dinner… these are stressful situations. They often make you think if you’re doing things right.
Don’t fret. As long as your kids are not in danger of using the manual glass crusher you somehow have to pulverize all their toys, then you’re doing just fine. Breathe. Take a shower. You’ll feel infinitely better. Your number one priority is to make sure the kids are safe. If they are, then everything else can be tackled like the pro that you are.
Take the Kids to Their Grandparents
You can’t really start fixing your household if the kids are all over you. At least for today, bring them to their grandparents. This will give you a day to fix everything you need. Use this time to create a schedule and rules in the house, too. These household rules should be followed. There will be no exceptions. Give your older kids tasks to do. Make sure they know that as soon as their younger siblings are their age, you will give them duties around the house, too. Write these all down and post the list on the refrigerator.
Have a Place for Everything
The reason why your house feels cluttered is because it is. If you do not have a dedicated space for everything, things are bound to get messy. From the plates to the extra utensils to the surfboard to the bills to lunchboxes, everything should be in order. If your home doesn’t have that plenty of storage space, move the unnecessary things to the basement or garage. Better yet, start decluttering and sell or donate these things.
Avoid Over-sorting
So many parents feel the need to over-sort their kids’ toys. This won’t work with the kids. They’ll just mix everything up and it will be you who’ll sort these things again. It’s a waste of time because the kids don’t care. So, use two big boxes to sort everything. One box will be for smaller toys and the other for the bigger toys. Or, let the kids figure out where they want to put everything (as long as the toys are not lying around every surface of the house).
Make a Schedule of Meals
Your daily budget and schedule are often disrupted because of meal preparation. You wake up super early in the morning to make breakfast. You’re also rushing home by dinner time because the meals aren’t prepared yet. One way to tackle this problem is to make a schedule of meals. This will help you prepare for them and not waste time thinking about what to cook. Also, you may want to spend a couple of hours on weekends to prepare meals ahead of time. This will help you in managing your time during the busy work week.
Be Strict About Bedtime
Do you know how much better evenings will be if you don’t have to spend the midnight putting the kids to bed? Be very strict about their bedtime early on. This will discipline them to go to sleep at 9 PM or whatever time you see fit for them. That gives you a couple of more hours to take care of the house and yourself. Those two hours are going to be rejuvenating for your aching body and tired spirit.
Set Family Meetings
Why is this important? These meetings allow you to review rules, follow-up on tasks, and talk about each other’s schedules. It’s particularly important if you have a big project at work that week. You need your kids to cooperate, as well as your partner. At least for that week, the kids will need to do their homework themselves while your partner can make the meals.
Every family needs solid teamwork to function well. Open communication is everything because it allows everybody to be heard. The worst thing that a family can do is bottle up their feelings until they explode during dinner. Make sure everyone is in the same boat. Once they agree on certain ground rules and personal tasks, you’ll have more control of the household.
