Rooted Mama Podcast

Episode 2: Keeping up with the Constant Mess

Episode #2: Keeping Up with the Constant Mess

No matter the size of your household, keeping up with the daily chores can be exhausting; you clean up one mess only to turn around and find another. I definitely had to adapt after my second toddler was much messier than my first–I had to change my mindset around the standard “clean” that I was used to. In this episode, we will tackle the stress of mess, from reevaluating our expectations, to making a plan to enact a cleaning pattern that works for us.

What is the purpose of your house? [1:30]

When I was reevaluating my standard for a “clean house”, I began to consider what the purpose of my home is. I realized that the purpose of my home is to be an environment of growth, play, and health. I found that prioritizing a house that is warm and inviting was more in alignment with my value of having a loving, lived-in space than was having an immaculately clean house.

Yes, there will be mess. How do we manage it? [2:50]

Finding the balance of embracing a lived-in space while not allowing our homes to get to the point of complete clutter and stress can be tricky. The key is organizing our main spaces. I prioritize keeping my bedroom clean, so it can be a space of relaxation. Just as important, I keep the areas I do the most work in as clean as is reasonable. For me, these spaces are the kitchen, laundry room, and my office. I don’t want the spaces that I am in the most to work against me, they need to work for me. I focus less on the other rooms of the house that I consider to be my children’s main play areas; my kids are learning how to clean up, and in the meantime, I let the “play rooms” be just that.

Schedule a time to declutter and deep clean [6:45]

Find a time that works for your schedule and use it specifically to donate items you no longer use and deep clean rooms you haven’t gotten to in awhile. Think of it as a reset. My favorite resources for these tasks are the KonMari Method, the Home Edit Method, and this book by Emily Ley.

Create a weekly routine and get everybody involved [8:28]

I like to use a weekly chore routine in place of a daily chore routine because with kids, you just never know how your day is going to go. Keeping a weekly chore list helps me stay on top of the tasks that need to be done in order to maintain a calm household, such as laundry, meal planning/prepping, and so on. I like to get my kids involved by doing the ten minute pick-up a couple times a week. This is just what it sounds like: everybody picks up as much as they can as quickly as they can in the span of 10 or so minutes. To make it fun, I play music my kids like and we all get to work. Whatever age-appropriate chores you can assign to your kids, consider doing so.

 Keeping our household tidy is just one of the many responsibilities we have as moms; by lowering our expectations, focusing on main areas, scheduling times for deep cleaning, and getting our kids on board with weekly maintenance, we can relax knowing that our homes don’t have to be spotless to be enjoyable. To get all the details of this episode, listen to it on your favorite streaming platform below, and if you haven’t already, subscribe to my email list to stay up-to-date on all future podcast episodes!