Parenting Tango Part 1: The Household

Hey all you mommas out there!

We’ve been in quarantine for what feels like forever in the Shaw household and are finding the experience to be a wild, roller coaster ride of chaos. One of the biggest challenges we’ve faced during this time is learning to balance the needs of our household, the needs of our young children (both under the age of 5), and our own tenuous grasp on our sanity. It’s an intricate tango that involves maneuvering so many different pieces while managing to stay upright at the end of the day. And that’s no joke.

So, how do we manage? There are a few things that we have to juggle, but in this post, I’ll focus on how we’ve managed the household during these difficult times.

Before the pandemic, we worked to keep our house in order in multiple ways. I’m lucky in that both myself and my husband tackle a fairly equal share of the chores around here and between that and some outside help we get, we had our schedule on lock as the young folks say. I handle the laundry, cleaning the kitchen, light cooking, shopping, coordinating any outside help we brought in, and watching our baby girl, as she’s very attached to momma at the moment (more on that in another post). The hubby makes sure our lawn and pool are taken care of, takes out the trash, does a good deal of the cooking, and keeps the reins on our little boy. We used to have a service come in once a month to clean the bathrooms and the kitchen because…we have a little boy. If you know anything about little boys and their aim while going to the bathroom, you know why we splurged on that expense!

How are we managing now? Just barely it feels like. 

I stopped using the cleaning service the moment COVID-19 started spreading. I work to get a few loads of laundry done during the weekend, but if I’m not careful it ends up half done, unfolded and lounging in our dryer for days. We cook way more than we ever did before, and if I’m being totally honest, the only reason the kitchen is staying clean is because I use the dishwasher to clean our sippy cups so that keeps me motivated to stay on top of it. Right now, it’s a big mess, but we’re managing okay…due to having a nice, planned schedule on our sides.

What does our schedule look like?

Like I mentioned before, it’s an intricate tango of moves and countermoves that if not executed perfectly makes everything go to hell! And it looks a little something like this:

• The day begins with a cacophony of groans from our parentals. Momma tries to remember what it felt like to sleep through past 6am due to Baby Girl’s early morning wake up call. And Daddy wonders how he can possibly stomach the non-stop chatter of their kiddo when his introverted brain craves quiet.

• With the cute gurgle of Baby Girl and the shouted announcement of, “I’m awake!” from their little man through the monitor they are off to the races. Both kids get an early morning snack while the parentals try to get fully awake. Then it’s time for a bit of T.V. while the parentals huddle up to game plan.

• Today, Daddy wants to do some yard work. This requires an extra dose of analytical planning because instead of the man to man defense they normally use, Momma will have to work double time with the kiddos. They establish a timeframe of a few hours to give Daddy the time that he needs using a morning movie to hopefully hold the kid over.

• Momma buckles in for the 100th viewing of whatever Disney movie the little man is obsessed with this week, and Daddy jumps into action.

• Ground is tilled, grass is cut and edged, and fertilizer is set at a rapid pace, all while Daddy wonders if today is the day his lovely wife is pushed to the brink of insanity by the combined pressures of a toddler and boisterous pre-schooler. He rushes in to check on her from time to time – communicating in that secret eye code that only comes with the longevity and closeness that years of dating and marriage bring.

• Daddy cuts it to the wire, but he finishes his task just as the credits on the movie roll…and just like that, it’s time to switch!

• Mommy thrusts the just fed toddler at him as she dashes to the already sorted bins of dirty laundry. She’d learned early into having her first kid that having the laundry pre-sorted is key to success as she’s the furthest thing from an actual organized person. She rushes between the machines, switching out cleaned clothes for dirty ones, wet clothes for those that are dry, before folding and putting them away.

• When our parentals look up after their hours of drudging they see the day has gone. They feel the fatigue settling into their bones after the long day of work, but at least they have clean clothes to wear!

When it comes down to it, you have to understand the details of your duties and the demands on your time (like your children) so you can come up with a game plan that works for you. And when it comes to handling all of the household things that have to get done, this organization and information is key to success!

What have you all put in place to stay on top of your household? How have the children impacted the way you’ve navigated these duties?