Whether you’re a parent or a nanny, household chores often get in the way of having fun with your
family. If you’ve just come home from work or running errands, the last thing you want to do is
housework – especially when you could be spending those precious hours bonding with your children or
playing games with them. Thankfully, there are many online resources that provide easy housekeeping
tips, so you can worry less about the house. Here are just a few tips we’ve found around the web to help
you economise your time and resources, allowing you to balance housekeeping with childcare.
Clean a little bit every day – Rather than let all the housekeeping tasks build up, tidy as you go along.
Every time you take off the children’s clothes, re-hang them right away, or put them in the laundry
basket. Once a meal is finished, stack the dishes in the dishwasher immediately. Gather up dirty clothes
when you see them and put them in the laundry basket.
Break down the housekeeping into 10 and 20-minute tasks – Make a list of 10 and 20-minute cleaning
tasks for your house. 10 minutes could be spent sweeping the kitchen floor, dusting the furniture,
or tidying the lounge. In 20 minutes, you can wash the bathroom mirrors, vacuum the lounge and
corridors, or gather the household laundry. These tasks seem much easier once you know you’ll only
need 10 or 20 minutes to get them done! Aim to do a couple of these tasks a day, and suddenly your
approach to housework will be much more time-efficient.
Plan chores for when the children are busy – Once you know what tasks can be accomplished within
certain blocks of time, you’ll be able to plan what to do when the children are napping, watching their
favourite television show, or doing their homework for a half-hour.
Remember your weekly clean – But even when you fit housework around gaps in your childcare, you’ll
still need to set aside time on a weekly basis for essential tasks like laundry, vacuuming the house,
cleaning the sinks and toilets, and even clearing out expired food items from the fridge. Make sure to
schedule time for this weekly clean. Ideally, you should include the rest of the family, so that it becomes
a team effort.
Get the kids involved – What better way to combine childcare and housework than to involve the
kids in keeping a clean home? Teach the children to pick up after themselves, put away their toys and
snacks, and collect their dirty laundry. It’ll make your life easier and will also teach them to be tidy and
responsible. Better yet, include the kids in fun cleaning sessions: blast some upbeat music, create timed
cleaning challenges, or award prizes for the tidiest room!
These days, time is our most precious commodity. But with the above suggestions, you can make your
household chores go swiftly, giving you more time to devote to what matters most: your children.