New SAHM: What chores do you daily and weekly?

[rudytoot]

I am a first time mom, currently 24 weeks pregnant. My baby is due in late August and I have started SAHM life now. I’m hoping to adjust and begin a routine of daily and weekly chores that I can then adjust as needed when baby comes.

Routines and habits don’t come easily for me, as I have severe ADHD so I want to give myself time to get into a swing, rather than winging it like I do now, knowing that I will have to adjust when baby comes. Having a foundation of good housekeeping habits now will help me prepare for what’s to come.

So what chores / tasks do you take care of in your home daily vs weekly or even monthly? If you had 3 months to start fresh and prepare for a new addition to the family, what would you tackle now and keep in mind for later?

I’d love to hear what you all think!

 

[cleansoul]

@rudytoot It’s hard to have a routine with a newborn, but my two cents are that the number one thing you can do now to make cleaning easier when baby is here is declutter. Babies come with lots of stuff, and the housework will feel overwhelming at first. The less things you have when baby comes the easier it will be to keep the house up.

 

[justfortoday]

@cleansoul Totally agree!! Do it bigger than you think — clear out the basement/house in general and give stuff away or take stuff to goodwill. Get closer solutions, storage bins, even put a shed in the back so you can move or door stuff there instead or basement/garage. Don’t buy too much too quickly either because you don’t know exactly what you’ll need — baby might never use those bottles or Bassinet or pack and play. Then it becomes clutter

 

[kmar123]

@cleansoul Adding: join your local Buy Nothing group on Facebook!!!

Not only is it a great place to give away items that aren't acceptable to Goodwill, but there's great baby stuff on there as well!

 

[y6a3h9o7o]

@rudytoot Before becoming a SAHM, I wish I would’ve gotten rid of so much more crap! I’m trying to now but it is harder to purge stuff when you have little hands trying to help! I also wish I would’ve organized more and done a better job keeping up on our yard.

daily, I do 2-3 loads of laundry. Typically I do a load of clothes, a load of household stuff and then another that is mixed, if needed. I clean the kitchen in the morning and before dinner, and I typically vacuum daily.

Weekly I change sheets, clean the bathrooms, and I try to get one space cleaned every day. Typically Mondays I’m cleaning the laundry room, Tuesday is living room, Wednesday is dining, Thursday is our bedroom and Friday is a free for all clean.

 

[themadnessinme]

@y6a3h9o7o Your schedule is my goal. I could keep my house so clean with this schedule. Unfortunately with a 3 month old velcro baby in cloth diapers, I cannot keep up. My husband has to wash his own clothes and he has been helping me with groceries/cooking/dishes. And I've got some tasks that have fallen behind. I keep joking that its clean enough for guests but only if they don't look too hard. Like please don't look at my baseboards!

 

[y6a3h9o7o]

@themadnessinme My son is 15 months so he’s much much more independent! At 3 months idk if anyone’s clothes were clean lol. You got this momma!

 

[jlaw260]

@y6a3h9o7o I think you accomplish in one day what I do in a week How do you do it?!

 

[y6a3h9o7o]

@jlaw260 My son is 15 months so he can play independently pretty well! Honestly he loves just wandering the house and getting into stuff. My house is never put together, but at least it’s clean lol! He also loves to help with laundry!

 

[kapere]

@rudytoot First few months were just about everybody surviving. Doing a load of laundry and loading/unloading the dishwasher were bonuses. We are nearly 2 years in and honestly I still have to wing it a little. Some days are really productive and others are still just about survival. My only rule for myself is that I do as little as possible during nap time - that’s my time to take a break.

As far as prep for new baby goes, I’d try to have some freezer meals ready to go. Feeding ourselves was one of the hardest things to do in those early weeks/months. Maybe try to do a deep clean before baby arrives so you can come home to a relatively clean house. Also try to get as much laundry done as possible before baby arrives.

 

[nunezjg1969]

@kapere This is incredible advice. Mine is almost 2 as well and not killing myself to get things done while he naps these past few months has been exactly what my body and mind need.

 

[beauty1993]

@kapere this! I’m 2 months into SAHM with a new 2yr and 7mo old. Some days we are just surging and no chores get done. Other days, I’m thriving .

I try to load or unload the dishwasher in the morning and start a load of laundry, but dishes take priority.

My baby still contact naps so during their overlapping nap, I catch up on shows and that’s my break time.

 

[kmar123]

@kapere Really highlighting the freezer meals. I had enough for dinners and then leftovers for me for lunch for more than 2 mths. It was amazing. I was absolutely crushing it during the newborn stage haha

 

[patie]

@kapere Great advice!

 

[yaoshi]

@rudytoot The first year or so, I was a wreck. That being said, now I have a pretty set schedule!

Daily: meal prep, spot vacuuming, laundry as needed (usually every 2-3 days for laundry)
Weekly: bathrooms, dusting, entire house vacuumed
Bi-weekly: change sheets, steam mop tile floors

Errands: grocery shopping 1-2x per week, all other household items ordered online.

My husband handles the yard and garbage.

 

[llleopard]

@yaoshi This is very similar to mine. I don't have a set schedule, nothing would ever get done on its designated day anyway. I just do stuff that needs done. Laundry as the basket fills, dishes and kitchen daily, vacuum and mop as needed, windows when the handprints have multiplied. Husband helps do bathrooms, sheets, and outside chores.

The biggest task for me is we don't have a lot of stuff, so it makes it easier to stay on top of. And, we put stuff away when we are done. Toys, clothes, art supplies, etc, everything has a home and it alls goes home when its done.

 

[yaoshi]

@llleopard See for me, if I don’t have it written down and set for a specific day, then it definitely won’t get done.

We all have to do what works best for us!

 

[jmcd]

@yaoshi The way you've broken this down actually feels doable, I'm a first time mom and at home right now and I'm so overwhelmed

 

[yaoshi]

@jmcd It’s so hard. It took me a while to get a system in place! I write everything down, so I know down to the day what my tasks are (like packing the kids lunch, what we are doing for dinner, what cleaning I’m going to do, which errands, etc.) and that helps me a ton!!

I also do a lot at night after bedtime-I pack lunches, set my coffee for the morning with a timer, have backpacks and everything sitting out, or sometimes that’s when I’ll fold laundry while relaxing to a show.

 

[europeanlutheran]

@rudytoot I break it down by day. Monday: clean nursery, baby laundry. Tuesday: clean bedroom, our laundry. Wednesday: long walk in park, no cleaning. Thursday: clean bathroom, wash towels & sheets. Friday: spruce up whatever looks messy. That's it! We rent the upstairs of my in-law's house, so that's why I don't have kitchen & living room on there.