8 Great Tips to Manage Household (with Kids Onboard) When Your Maid Is On Leave

Does your maid live out Singapore and choose to return home to be with their families for a while? Well, this can be shocking since the departure of the household assistant can be a challenge in itself! Not to mention if you have little kids running around on top of having to manage their own house and household chores.

Maintaining a high level of cleanliness becomes an unattainable goal when you have young children, especially if you have more than one. The lack of sleep leads to a lack of motivation to clean, and not cleaning for days can quickly result in a heap of laundry covered in spit-up and toys scattered throughout the house!

While it’s undoubtedly challenging to keep a tidy home while raising children without extra help, you can follow these useful tips to manage the chaos without a household assistant on your back!

1.  Avoid postponing tasks

Instead of saying you’ll clean up tomorrow, take action and pick up as you go. Wash dishes after each meal and put away bath toys when the little ones are done. Establish a rule with your kids that they must clean up their messes before making new ones. Staying on top of daily cleaning tasks prevents things from piling up and becoming unmanageable.

2.  Establish a routine schedule

Get organized and create a list of household chores, determining their frequency. Include weekly, monthly, and even yearly tasks like cleaning smudges off the walls or decluttering the basement. This will help you manage your time more efficiently and ensure that all household chores are taken care of.

While creating a schedule, focus on the most important tasks and those that require immediate attention. This will help you keep your home clean and tidy without being too burdensome.

3.  Adopt a minimalist mindset

Reduce the number of items you acquire to decrease clutter. Regularly assess your home and identify things that can be discarded. Keep donation bins in a corner of your house for clothing and other items you want to donate.

4.  Master the art of organizing

With kids around, maintaining a tidy home requires organizational skills. Determine where everything belongs and make an effort to keep it there. Utilize empty spaces like the area under the bed for storage. This helps keep your house less cluttered.

5.  Use screen time wisely

While excessive screen time is not ideal, it can be used strategically to accomplish cleaning tasks. Occasionally, allow your children some screen time to keep them occupied while you work on maintaining a clean house. This can help alleviate stress and allow you to focus on cleaning tasks.

6.  Teach kids to help

From an early age, you can also involve your children in helping out on household chores. For your little one  you can assign simple tasks like putting clothes or toys in a basket. While on the older children, they can learn to make their beds, fold towels and laundry, and perform other age-appropriate chores.

Children are actually eager to help out, they want to be involved in helping mommy out. If you teach them this from early on, it won’t only be beneficial for you today, but can also give added value for your child while they’re growing up.

7.  Choose safe cleaning products

Opt for products that are safe for use around babies or kids. Look for recommendations for organic cleaning products online. Remember to keep them in a secure place, out of reach of children. Stock up on your preferred cleaning products and keep them easily accessible in the rooms where they are used

8.  Don’t be too hard on yourself

If your house still appears messy despite your efforts, remember that messy is different from dirty. Messiness is often unavoidable, especially with kids around. Don’t take everything too seriously and do what you can, one task at a time. Give yourself a break occasionally by asking your closest family to help watch the kids when you are out and do simple self care routine. You can visit the spa, salon, or have time to shop without needing to run around chasing your kids.

Being a mom is indeed very challenging, and treating yourself to such services can contribute to your mental well-being.