We all know how time-consuming household chores can be, and with kids at home, they get even more challenging. Picking up toys strewn around the house, dishing out three square meals on time for the family, providing fresh and clean clothes for everyone and ensuring the home is spic and span is a laborious process.
Along with the everyday chores, we also have to deal with spills on the kitchen floor, tough stains of ketchup, curry, sweat on kid’s clothes, demands of favourite dishes to be cooked, and much more.
However, over time, we have been able to come up with some tips that help make household chores a breeze. Try them now!
1. Get the Entire Family Involved
Sharing household chores with the entire family goes a long way in not only saving time, but also in helping a family function better as a unit. We tried assigning age-appropriate tasks to kids, and it worked like magic! The younger ones helped us in picking up toys, setting the table for meals, and sorting and folding the laundry. Older kids, on the other hand, were assigned tasks like feeding the pets, helping with meal preparation, watering the plants, etc. We saw that it worked wonderfully. They felt responsible for the tasks assigned to them and completed them sincerely.
As for the kids who were hesitant initially, we came up with a point system that gave them a certain number of points for each task completed. After accumulating a certain number of points, the kids would be eligible for a reward like a favourite dessert or chocolate. We noticed that this system made the kids more than willing to participate in the chores.
2. Invest in a Good Quality Laundry Detergent
With kids at home, the laundry basket tends to be overflowing with clothes. We often find it challenging to provide a steady supply of fresh clothes daily as they usually have tough stains like that of curry, chocolate, mud, ink, and grass. A lot of our time is wasted on soaking their dirty clothes for hours together and then scrubbing at these stains with a brush.
To simplify the process, we first made our kids responsible for putting all their dirty clothes in the laundry basket, so that we didn’t have to go around the house, picking them up. We also realised that the regular detergent we were using could not tackle such tough stains because it did not dissolve well to penetrate them.
So, we began looking for a more effective detergent that offered better dissolution along with other benefits to address our concerns. After some hunting, we came across Surf Excel Easy Wash Detergent Powder. Since the packaging mentioned that it could remove tough stains easily, we decided to give it a try and were quite happy with the results.
We noticed that Surf Excel Easy Wash Detergent had a finer texture and dissolved effortlessly in water. For removing tough stains, we pre-soaked the clothes in a Surf Excel Easy Wash Detergent Powder solution for 30 minutes. We then washed the clothes as usual.
We noticed that this product was able to remove stubborn stains with great ease. We also liked that there was no colour transfer when we washed both coloured and white clothes with Surf Excel Easy Wash Detergent Powder. This added benefit simplified our washing experience as we didn't have to rewash our clothes because of colour bleeding onto our favourite garments.
Our kids were a great help in drying the clothes under the sun after the washing process!
3. Simplify Your Kitchen Routine
We have seen that one does not have to whip up a variety of dishes for every meal to cater to the preferences of all family members. Most of us, including kids, are pretty content even with one pot meals which can be made at least twice a week.
Prepping these dishes also helps in reducing the number of utensils you need to wash after cooking. We also tried involving our kids in the process by assigning them small tasks like fetching veggies from the fridge, cleaning up the slab after the chopping, and so on. Together, we ended up making dishes like palak moong dal khichdi, bisi bele bath, etc. that are not only delicious, but high on nutrition too, making them perfect for kids!
To simplify things further, we also began using our gadgets to their full potential. Tasks like boiling potatoes were done in the microwave, which only took 5 to 7 minutes. Instead of chopping tomatoes and onions by hand, we used a blender to do the same! We also prefer listing down our meals for the week and stocking up in advance with all the supplies needed for their preparation.
4. Attack the Messy Kids Rooms from Top to Bottom
Kids' rooms can end up getting really messy. With toys lying everywhere and clothes strewn on the bed we realised that we needed a plan to tackle the mess. And, we also needed our kids. We first began by taking a basket and using it to collect all the items scattered in the room. This task was easy and thus specifically assigned to the kids.
As we were cleaning, we understood that there is no point in cleaning the study table first and then cleaning the window blinds in a room. This ultimately leads to the clean study table getting covered with a fresh layer of dust from the window blinds. Thus, we suggest cleaning from top to bottom instead of darting from one place to another.
Start from the top by dusting your ceiling fan, the top of bookshelves and then move your way to the items placed at the lower levels. The lower level items are easier for kids to reach, so leave that part to them. Clean the floor at the end after you have finished dusting all the surfaces.
5. Make Cleaning Fun and Use the Clean-On-The Go Approach!
The reason we all dread household chores is that they are tedious. But over a period of time, we have managed to make these tasks enjoyable by adding some fun elements to the cleaning process. For instance, we love putting on some music and dancing with our kids while cleaning their rooms. Similarly, we make cleaning dishes a storytelling session with our kids. While we wash the dishes, they wipe and put them in their place, and the story narration continues.
These practices considerably help in reducing the stress associated with cleaning. Putting on some music also makes it a fun activity for the kids.
We realized that making tweaks like keeping the washing machine cycle on while doing the dishes ensures that the clothes are ready to be dried as soon as the dishes are clean. We adopted the clean on the go approach and found it very useful. Asking the kids to rinse the sink after brushing their teeth or cleaning the shower area as and when you finish bathing are some ways in which we incorporated this method. So, take note and try these simple tips to make your household chores more manageable!
