When they’re newborns, its the laundry. Then it’s you. Your hair is unwashed, your dishes are piled up. As months pass by, it becomes the food, the toys, the random spoons they can’t seem to part with until you find them forgotten all throughout the house. And of course – more laundry. Babies are messy. But that doesn’t mean you have to be. Keeping organized and tidy with little munchkins can be challenging, but these tips can help you stay on track!

1. Declutter. It’s hard to stay organized when you have too much stuff. Do yourself a favour and go through your possessions every couple of months and purge anything you’re not using. Store away or donate/sell your babies’ outgrown clothes, discard of anything broken beyond repair, and of course all the things you said you’ll get around to using but never do. The less stuff you have, the easier it is to keep it organized.
2. Have a place for everything. Now that your house is free of excess clutter, find a place for it! Make sure it’s functional for your day to day activities. Don’t be afraid to re-purpose things to fit your lifestyle. Yusra loves hanging out with us in the living room, which is why our TV stand contains her toys. We do not own any gaming systems, DVDs (does anyone, anymore?), or anything else one might normally put in their TV stand. Have baskets for items that you can throw in and put away at the end of the day.
3. Clean as you go. Yusra usually watches while her room is tidied up before each nap and then again before bed. I think of it as a reset for when she wakes up and is on the road to destruction playing again. Like us, children also think and perform better in a clutterless and organized environment. But don’t forget about yourself too! Take dishes from your bedroom on the way to the kitchen. Throw clothes into your laundry hamper before hopping into the shower instead of on the bathroom floor. It makes life much easier rather than having to do a huge clean-up session at the end of the day.
4. Divvy up. If you’re fortunate enough to have help at home with you, use it. Whether it’s your spouse or a grandparent, give them tasks while you complete your own. Dinner time is always crazy in our household. So while one of us cleans the dining area and kitchen, the other wipes down and bathes the baby. The last thing you want to do while wrestling your baby in the tub and putting them to bed is to come out of the nursery to a pile of dishes and rejected food on the floor.
5. Don’t obsess! Life is hard with a gremlin. Some days, you won’t have energy to clean. Dishes will remain in the dishwasher, clothes won’t be folded, and you will step on a wooden block on your way to the bathroom. And that’s okay! Its important to have off-the-clock days to take a breather. As long as your system is set in place, let go once in awhile!

As parents to growing babies, we need something we feel in control of. Because let’s face it, as much as we want to – we can’t control when babies sleep or how long they sleep. We can’t control how they’ll eat or how much they’ll eat. So the least we can do to hold on to our sanity is stay in control of our things. We got this mamas!