Not doing it all is OK

I think the biggest thing a mom struggles with is "doing it all". I found a post at http://www.mamapedia.com/article/how-do-you-do-it-all-8430 which asked how do other moms "do it all" as a stay at home mom. She is struggling with balancing her time with her kids and doing the housework. I am a stay at home mom as well of a 2 1/4 year old and a 6 month old. It is busy. My 2 year old is incredibly active and we cannot stay at home in the morning. I have come up with a number of ways to find some time to get housework done.

Now, this may not work for everyone but one suggestion is to have someone else come in to clean 1 or 2 times a month. Depending on where you live the cost of this can be $45-$100 per day. I have someone come twice a month and she does the dusting and major cleaning of the house. With the economy as it is, we may have to cut down to once a month but this is a necessity in our household. Another option is to share the major cleans with your hubbie over the weekend and take turns with the kids.

Another thing that has helped me is that I have found a co-operative nursery school in our area that Ainsley goes to 3 days per week. The cost is approximately $200 per month but it gives me time to get stuff done while Juliet has her morning nap and I also get to spend one-on-one time with her. Again, this may not be an option for some but a suggestion would be to try and find another mom in your neighbourhood to share babysitting so that you could get housework done.

As for the daily grind ie. dishes, laundry etc....I do dishes while Ainsley has her lunch or snacks and during this time Juliet now can eat her Mum Mum crackers in the high chair and this gives me about 10-15 minutes to rush around and do as much tidying in the kitchen as I can get done. Laundry is never ending as every mother knows but we have worked out a system that my hubbie will put the laundry through and I fold at night while I watch TV.

With these little tips/suggestions that I use, I have lots of time with my children throughout the day. My house is not perfect and I am now ok with that. It took me awhile to get to this place but I have realized that playing with my kids is THE most important thing and that they will not remember that my house was messy. They will remember the fun things we do together. And as for having guests over, if they are other moms, I don't care because most of the time their houses are just as messy as mine.