Are you struggling with keeping your house clean? I can understand. Keeping a clean home can be daunting when you already have a lot to do. After working all day as a nurse taking care of your patient’s health other areas of your life may suffer. This is the reality of being a working mom. Your house won’t be completely clutter-free and nor the windows be free of fingerprints. But you should be okay with that, as kids grow quickly and help you in picking some household chores. Below are some clever cleaning tips that will keep your home clean enough even when little ones are around: 1. Make a schedule/ Never make the mistake of cleaning the entire house in one day. There is a possibility that something might come up and you need to put your cleaning task aside. Therefore, spread your cleaning tasks out over the week. In this way, it won’t be a big deal if you miss one day here and there. It could be something like: Monday - Plan the week’s meals, clean out the fridge Tuesday - Clean the floor and dusting Wednesday - Laundry Thursday - Bathroom floor and windows Friday - Kitchen Saturday - Vacuuming the house 2. Involve your family! If your kids are big, then start delegating work tasks to them to do. If you are vacuuming, have them tidy your house, if you are cooking, tell your kids to empty the dishwasher and put the dishes in their place. And if your kids are small, they can still help in tidying things here and there. This way you won’t feel that the entire housekeeping responsibility is only on your shoulder and will make your life easy. 3. Put it away, don’t put it down. How often do we take out things and leave them out? Many times in a day. Try using the one-touch rule to keep your house more clean and organized. If you took a book out to read or a hairbrush to comb your hair. Put it away the moment you’re done using it. Also, fix a ten-minute tidy time each day. Take a walk through each room with a laundry bag and pick up all those that don’t belong and put them away. 4. Make your bed My bedroom is my favorite place to relax. As this is the only place where there are no toys and no fingerprints. So, I make sure to make my bed first thing in the morning. I can recollect the U.S. Navy Adm. William H. McCraven’s advice to graduates of the University of Texas, “If you want to change the world, start by making your bed.” But, it’s true, making my bed gives a feeling of accomplishment right from the very start of the day. Give it a shot! Trying won’t hurt. 5. Clean your kitchen before you sleep. Just how making your bed each morning makes you feel like a winner, opposite to that is seeing a messy kitchen early in the morning. You feel defeated even before you begin with your day. So make sure you clean up your sink, empty the dishwasher, and put your dishes in their place before you sleep. And if you have kids who are old enough, then this is a great way to let them help you. 6. Don’t wait for perfection. This is especially important. I believe completing the task is better than perfection. If you only focus on perfection you will never get anything done. You should not stress if your kitchen and windows are not spotlessly clean. If you are done with the major cleaning of counters, floors, and dishes, you’re doing good. So do what you can and if you fail there is no need to be hard on yourself. 7. Cleaning can be fun! Don’t you believe enjoying the process is more important than merely doing it for the sake of doing it? I get that cleaning seems to be a tedious job, but there are ways you can make it more interesting. When my boys were younger and their toys were lying all over the floor, I would play a game. I would count till 30 and they rush to pick up their toys, and whoever cleans their room quickly wins. And I reward them with a small treat. 8. Do what you can and let go of the rest. In making a better living we often forget to live. So, don’t be one of those moms. Remember you only get one life. Try to breathe, relax, and, most importantly, live life to the fullest. Your kids will not be little forever, and you don’t want to miss out on these precious moments. So, enjoy these days while they last.