Everyday for my sanity

A few months ago we had one of those days that make you want to scream, or leave. The house looked like a tornado, my toddler and I were both starving, I couldn’t walk without crunching a cheerio into dust or kicking a lego, I picked up what I thought was a clean towel only to find the superglue that is 3 day old mashed potatoes rolled up inside. What is this Hell and where did my little slice of happiness go? 

I knew I needed to make a change.

First things first, I got a babysitter so I could have a mental check in. A few hours of inspirational Hallmark movies and 1,000 tears and a good cry later, I was ready. Time to make a plan for how I could be proactive instead of reactive to this grimey and frustrating situation that was inevitably going to repeat itself every day for foreverrrrr.  I jotted down the things that drove me absolutely mad and then got them done and out of the way.... some small, some big. Either way, I was starting to get my sanity back.

So here they are - the 7 things I now do every day that are repetitive and boring, but my house (and my sanity) thanks me. Bonus bonus: I do most of them WITH my kid so I still get nap time free from daily obligations. 

1. Sweep. Help from the family dog is completely acceptable too!! Keep in mind, this is not a full house floor clean-up, although that would be nice. This is just getting the kitchen floor relatively crumb free so you don’t track the broken pasta pieces and crumbles of garlic bread crust throughout the entire house unknowingly. I try and just make a quick pile of the worst areas at every mealtime before I release the beast from his high chair cage. I really got inspired for this one when I saw Weston eat a raisin off the floor... we had grapes 2 weeks prior is my best guess as to where this raisin came from.
2. High Chair. Have you ever tried to clean up a 12 hour old PB&J mess with a toddler on your hip? Not fun. Lesson learned. Now the high chair gets a thorough wipe down after every meal and Weston loves to help. He usually puts the finishing touches on high chair clean up once I've gotten the major globs out of the way. Just toss the kiddo a wet wipe or freshly dampened towel and say “can you help mommy?” And 💥 toddler is happy to help!
3. Dishes. Clearing the sink may seem like an easy thing to do, but I hattttteeeeee dishes. Enough said. Yuck. Looking forward to kiddo (or maid service?) help on this one, but it’s usually done during mealtime or after bedtime. Hate it. Blah. 
4. Wipe counters. I make a BIG mess when cooking. It would literally save me 25 hours and probably $100 a week (thanks Target) if we just ate out every meal. Between grocery shopping (and Target browsing), putting groceries away, prepping food, cooking, and then clean up... yikes. But, I love to cook and I love my family and I have a sappy vision that I show them my love through my food. Thus, the very dirty counters. My little helper loves to "help" wipe the cabinets while I do counters. Tip, try and do this one before your last mini sweep of the day so you can grab any stray crumbs that fly from the counters.
5. Dirty Clothes. Simple - put dirty clothes in hamper! I don’t mind laundry, but we have too many clothes anyway so if we don’t do laundry all week, no harm done. However, clothes at least make it TO the laundry room. If I accidentally drop something during this journey around the house finding stray socks, I just ask my toddler shadow to pick it up and take it to the laundry room and he's typically pretty helpful. Toddlers LIKE to help. Help them help you by using simple words and phrases..."Take sock to laundry please." 
6. Toys. 🎶 Put the toys in the basket, in the basket. Put the toys in the basket, in the basket. Put the toys in the basket, put the toys in the basket, put the toys in the basket, in the basket. 🎶 This song is beautiful. We sing it every day at the end of the day as we put things away. Just for fun 😏, we sometimes switch it up and sub the word toys for books or instruments. We are just crazy like that. Regardless, all toys are put away. We have just started our adventure with cars so if we DON'T do this, its literally a safety hazard.
7. Food. This is not a chore, just a quick check in with the fridge. Simple: Make sure you have food for the next day. This can be as low-key as a waffle in the freezer or packets in the pantry. Just make sure your hungry kid can wake up to some sort of food that is easy to prep. Although you are being an awesome mom and caring for your helpless kiddo, it's also very much for YOU. I mean, who wants to wake up to an immediate melt down as soon as the sun rises because all you have is raw broccoli? Not me.

So keep a mental note of these 7 tasks and consider how it would improve your life by getting a daily handle on them. Hopefully you are already doing them and avoid the mental breakdown all together. It's time to enjoy your home. Enjoy your kids! Let’s get back into our little slices of happiness!

Quick rhyme to inspire you to get going on maintaining your sanity....
Wipe the counters, clean a dish... so mommy doesn't become a b*tch!

Bonus: This is a fun one!
8. Mail. Check the mail! This is a fun chore, but still needs to be mentioned in case you are making a checklist. 😉 I will expand in a post soon about how to extend simple tasks like trips to the mailbox or grocery store into fun, educational adventures.