Stay-at-home moms are well respected these days, and most accept that theirs is a worthwhile job that can greatly benefit the entire family. They take care of the children (or child) and engage them in fun and interesting activities, prepare healthy meals for them, and generally try to raise them in a loving environment. It may be that the partner goes out to work full time, or the mom may be raising her kids alone.
More now than ever before though, stay-at-home moms are coming under growing pressure from society about how they should spend their time, and how clean they should keep their homes. Some say that children can only be truly happy and well cared for in clean, sterile environments, while others state that the child’s welfare should not be measured on how clean their home environment is, but on how well they are being raised.
Is it possible to keep a clean home while raising small children?
Some will say that it is possible, while others will argue that it depends on the individuals’ definition of ‘clean’. As any stay-at-home mom will know, kids are generally active between naps and have no concept of the words ‘clean’ or ‘tidy’; they pick things up, throw them down in another spot, objects go straight into their mouths, and a lot of mess gets wiped on clothes, carpets and furniture. Kids just want to have fun and for them, that sure as hell doesn’t involve putting things back where they found them or wiping up grubby hand prints on walls.
Many moms have adopted the attitude of ‘what isn’t going to harm them, doesn’t have to be dealt with right away’, and that provided they keep reachable surfaces clean and sterile, and the little ones can’t injure themselves on junk left lying around, their precious darlings should be just fine.
You could of course, spend your entire day in between feeding and entertaining duties, cleaning as much of your home as you possibly can, but then when do you get to rest? A stressed out and all round pooped mom, is no good to anyone, and so perhaps it’s more about achieving a balance between cleaning and caring for your kids?
How do you strike a balance between childcare and cleaning?
A lot will of course depend on your child or children, and how active they are during the day. For those stay-at-home moms with very small babies, then the importance of rest for mom while baby is sleeping, cannot be stressed enough. Cleaning might have to be something that you try to keep up with if your baby takes a particularly long nap, or someone else may have to step in and help you out.
If your kids are a little older, then it may be possible to catch up with some cleaning tasks while they’re watching their favourite TV programme or playing quietly with their toys, but I’m sure that most realistic moms will be keen to spend quality time with their kids, rather than cleaning. Kids are also notorious for acting up when they know their mom is trying to do something that doesn’t involve them, so for the sake of a happy household, you might find that cleaning takes a back seat while you focus on raising happy, healthy children.