Organization – The Honest Housewife

A Realistic Daily Routine For Stay At Home Moms

“Are they twins?”

“Is that your nephew?”

“WOW. You’ve got your hands full.”

“It won’t always be this busy, you’ll see!”

When I was pregnant with my second son, I was constantly searching the internet for schedules. I’m a schedule person. I like organization. I wanted to know that I could get my two babies on an easy schedule to keep my sanity. I couldn’t find much to be honest so I figured I would share the schedules I created as the boys grew.

If you ask my husband I can be rigid when it comes to our routine but as the boys are getting older, I am learning to be a little more flexible. That being said, I don’t think we’ve ever skipped an afternoon nap to be somewhere or do something. It just ain’t worth it, ya’ll!

*Currently my boys are almost 2 and almost 3.

6-7 AM Wakeup, milk, change diapers/potty and make breakfast. Coffee for ME.

7:00-8AM Breakfast, get dressed. I will go wash my face, take a quick rinse off shower, utilize my capsule wardrobe and sometimes I’ll put some makeup on.

8-10AM TV/inside play time. My kids watch a lot of TV depending the day and I stopped feeling guilty about it a long time ago! I also utilize this time to do things like check my emails, write a grocery list, daily chores etc..

10-12 Free Play: this typically involves outside time, a snack, play dates, running errands etc. If we’re inside because of weather, I will fold laundry or clean while they play.

12PM Lunchtime (I let the kids watch a show in the living room while I prepare lunch.) This allows me to safely monitor them while getting lunch ready. Win win!

12:30-3:30 PM Nap Time! I’ve learned to protect this time of the day for myself and not feel guilty about it. I don’t do chores. I eat, sleep, read books, go on my computer, watch movies etc. Having this set time of day for myself has done wonders for my mental health!

3:30 PM Snack Time

4:00 PM Free Play

5:30-6:30 Prep Dinner/Dinner time

6:30 Bath time (twice a week)

7 PM Bedtime for the babies!

One of my goals every day is to have a tidy house by bedtime so that my husband and I can enjoy our small window of free time together. I don’t want to be wading through toys on the floor or scrubbing down a messy kitchen. I clean as I go and it works really well for me. I rarely sit down during the day except for when I’m eating or the kids are sleeping. I’m always thinking of the next small task I can be doing so that when I have free time, I’m not working. Multitasking is the path to more free time and a more simplified, clutter free home, I promise!

Our routine is always changing to fit our needs. I think the secret to a successful daily routine is being flexible and willing to adapt to your children’s needs as well as your own. Never underestimate the power of routine. I don’t deviate far from our routine because I’ve seen what my kids are like when we shorten naps or over schedule ourselves with outings. It ain’t pretty! I will always embrace some semblance of routine because it brings peace to my life.

What kind of person are you? Do you love routine? Do you live by the seat of your pants?

I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

7 Tips For A Tidy Home

The other day I caught my toddler walking around the house with a mouthful of chewed up cat kibble.

A few days after that, my cat decided to projectile vomit all over the dining room floor. When I was a little girl I didn’t imagine cleaning piles of cat puke and wrestling my toddler for kibble as my future. Nonetheless that is my life these days though not ALL the time.

I literally do not want to spend more than a half hour a day cleaning up. But I want a clean home. I also have two children under the age of two! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?

I’m here to tell you it is and share a few simple tips that can help you streamline a daily cleaning routine.

Have LESS Things. The less stuff you own, the less you have to clean up! It’s really that simple. I recently replaced our dishes with this simple, clean set from Correlle. I have more space in my cupboards and less things to clean. Win win!

Have One Main Cleaning Task Each Day. I put together a weekly cleaning list and every day I have one “big” task that I try to complete. For example, Mondays I clean the bathroom, Thursdays I mop the floors etc. By doing this, I don’t feel the pressure to clean my entire house from top to bottom. I stick to one main task per day and the upkeep of that makes everyday cleaning easier.

Have ONGOING Daily Cleaning Tasks. Keep things simple like wiping down the kitchen and a quick sweep after meals so that grime doesn’t pile up. Decide how often you will pick up toys so that you don’t spend your entire day picking up toys. I tidy up toys and clutter about three times a day usually after mealtimes.

Simplify Your Cleaning Products. I love Norwex because their products make cleaning super simple and quick! They’re also non-toxic and good for the environment. I make a few of my own cleaning solutions which I share about here. We invested in a Dyson Animal stick vacuum. It’s perfect for a quick cleanup! I also love these microfibre cloths from Amazon. I use them for everything except the toilet. I don’t use any reusable cloths on the toilet, EVER. GROSS! I save paper towels for that and then compost the paper towels. If you have products that are messy and difficult to use, chances are you probably won’t use them. Make it easier on yourself and cut your cleaning time in half with products you actually want to use.

Live In A Smaller House. We just returned from a family vacation where we stayed in a massive 5 bedroom beach “cottage.” While it was beautiful and spacious the charm wore off pretty quickly. The bigger a house, the more you have to clean! You know how long it takes me to do a good clean of the house we rent? MAYBE an hour. We live in about 800/900 square feet on the main floor of a bungalow. Prior to that we lived in the basement of this bungalow which was about 600 square feet and even easier to clean! Seriously consider downsizing if it means less stress. It might also mean a smaller mortgage which is even better!

Involve Your Children In The Process. When my oldest was about a year old I started involving him in the clean up process. Now that he’s almost two he can put his toys away with supervision. If you have older children and you’re still cleaning up after them……why? Get those kids involved!

Have A Solid Laundry Routine. Make a routine and stick to it. I know when and how a person does their laundry varies from person to person. But keep it simple. I personally don’t want to be doing laundry every day, all day. And I have cloth diapers to wash but I still only wash those twice week. Tip: if you build a capsule wardrobe you will have LESS clothing to wash! I use Nellie’s because one tin will get you through 100 loads. It’s also non toxic and environmentally friendly!

My home is NOT sparkling clean all the time. It’s moderately tidy and somewhat clean most of the time. I don’t want to spend all day cleaning because I can think of a billion other things I’d like to be doing. I hope my tips save you some time and a bit of your sanity.

Cheers and happy cleaning! If you have any tips and tricks, please share in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you!

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. When you click on a link and purchase something (anything) on Amazon I make a small commission. Thank you for supporting all the hard work I do here at The Messy Housewife.

My Top 5 Must Haves With 2 Babies Under 2.

EDITED as of May 31, 2019.

Here we are, a few months postpartum after my second and I’m surviving having two babies who are 14 months apart. Yes, you read that correctly! I share here what our daily routine looks like and I talk about our transition into have 2 under 2 here with a few tips and tricks!

So here are my top MUST HAVES of baby gear to help life go a little smoother when you’ve got 2 babies really close together in age. Many of these things apply to the early weeks and months when life feels like a constant gong show. You need all the help you can get!

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. So when you click on a link and purchase something (anything) on Amazon, I make a small commission. Thank you for supporting all the hard work I do here At The Messy Housewife!

A GREAT camera monitor or two. We have the Levana and the Foscam R2C. Both were gifts that we asked for. We used the Levana with our first up until after we moved his baby brother into his own room. Then we set up the Foscam in big brother’s room. Let’s talk about the Levana. It retails for $129.99 CAD. It’s not cheap but for a baby monitor camera it does exactly what it’s supposed to. You can mount it to the wall and it comes with all the hardware for that. My parents bought us the Foscam RC2 off Amazon for around $60 USD. This camera does not come with a monitor but connects with your wireless internet and you download the APP onto your smartphone. You can then access all the camera’s features through the app.

A Swing, bouncy seat or MamaRoo type thing. I have found that my babies benefit from different types of gear. My first son loved the bouncy seat. Both boys also slept in this swing the first couple months of their lives. I scored a MamaRoo secondhand for a great price. Go for second hand or borrow baby gear if you can. The majority of our baby gear is second hand because if one of my kids hates it, I’m not out lots of money. I plan to resell ALL our baby gear when the time comes. Win win!

A baby carrier you like. I have 3 different types of baby carriers because it’s nice to try out different ones. I have the boba wrap, the baby bjorn and the Ergo Baby. Neither of my boys seemed to like the wrap style carrier. I’ve found the Bjorn and Ergo to be the easiest ones for me to use.

A GOOD double stroller. We’ve gone through 3 strollers to get to the right one. I wanted to reuse the infant carseat we’d had with Hudson as it hadn’t expired yet. I ended up with Phil&Ted’s Sport double for awhile. It’s tandem but stacked. The double kit allows you to put baby on top or bottom/toddler on top or bottom. You also have the option of buying a universal adaptor so that your carseat will click in which was a big draw for me. I scored a used one that came with everything and while I loved this troller my boys eventually did NOT. They didn’t seem to like the tandem aspect of the stroller. I also didn’t like that the brake system on the P&. It was a handbrake like a bike. It hurt my hands and eventually got a little wonky. I just purchased a Contours Options brand new. It’s not as well made or streamline BUT my boys are super happy in it. It gets the job done and I don’t stress.

Baby Gates. I have 3 of these simple, wooden baby gates. They are handy to have! Get some gates, you will thank yourself.

You will figure out what works for you but I know that when I was pregnant with my 2nd son, I was scouring the internet for tips on what made life easier with 2 under 2. I hope some of this helps!

What are some of your must haves with multiple kids in the house? How did you survive those early days? I’d love to hear from you!

Cloth Diaper Styles, Inserts and Brands.

Currently on my living room floor is a pile of clean cloth diapers, covers and inserts. They’ve been clean for 3 days………

Let us jump right into the different types of cloth diapers and how they work. I’m not an expert and I haven’t used every kind out there. I’m still learning but I have found what I like and don’t like. Let’s start with the basics. Liners are what are inserted into cloth diapers. There are many different kinds of liners but the most common is microfiber. This can’t be directly against baby’s skin because it will cause irritation and/or rash. Microfiber will always be stuffed inside a pocket diaper. I currently have in order from left to right in the photo below:Charcoal, Microfiber and Bamboo.

Excluding pre-folds (think really old school cloth diapers that many use as burp cloths) cloth diapers today use a snap or velcro system. Or a hybrid snap/velcro system. This diaper would also have side velcro tabs. There are One Size diapers are typically all snaps/velcro and snap combo.

All-In-One’s: These are exactly what they say. The liner is sewn into the cover. There is the option of stuffing an extra liner for max absorbance.

Pocket diapers are probably the most commonly used type of cloth diaper and the style I prefer. You can see the little pocket where you would stuff the liner. You can double and triple up but be wary of gaping near the legs. Boys will always leak near the belly button where I’ve heard that girls tend to have more back leaks.

Lastly are covers which I find have the least if any leaks. It takes practice with these because they are not pockets. So, you kinda have to finagle that liner into the cover while you are also putting it on baby or the liner will just fall out. Make sense? You can not use microfiber inserts with these because the liner would go directly against baby’s skin. I use Charcoal or Bamboo.

That’s it as far as the types of cloth I have used. Almost all the diapers I have in my possession are able to grow with baby. I do experience leaks and I try to change baby boy every 2 to 2.5 hours. I know for those 100% committed to cloth diapering have hacks for getting their babies through the night but I’ve found that my little guy does not like the feeling of being wet in cloth (which is said to be why children tend to toilet train faster when in cloth). He’d stay in a disposable ALL day and night. To get a good night’s sleep we stick with disposables.

I did not purchase any of my diapers brand new. I saw way too many adds online where moms plunked down $500 or more on a bundle of brand new cloth diapers only to find they didn’t like it. They were trying to sell off said diapers but I think most took a loss money-wise. I couldn’t justify spending that amount of money only to find out I didn’t like something. Also-I don’t have that kind of money to spend. All together including diapers, liners, diaper sprayer, and wet bags I have spent around $180. The great thing about buying used is you get the chance to try many different brands and styles without breaking the bank. I will mention that if you buy used make sure you strip your diapers before using them on your baby. This is a process I will share on another time.

The brands I currently have in my possession are Alva Baby, Bummis, Hip Huggers, Happy Flute, Preston’s Pants (esty and not selling anymore right now), Jamtots, Kawaii Baby and AppleCheeks. Hipper Huggers is great for double gussets.

UPdate as of January 2019: I have been the happiest with Kawaii Baby’s diapers which I will review in another blog post!

Don’t forget to check out my intro in to cloth diapers and my set up!

What are you favourite brands and styles of cloth diapers? Share in the comments below what you love! I can’t wait to hear from you =)

SaveSave

6 Tips For Buying Second-Hand Clothing.

I LOVE SHOPPING. It’s therapeutic for me! Some of my earliest memories are of me and my mom shopping. She took me everywhere with her for the first 5 years of my life until I went to school.

I did not wear second-hand clothing growing up unless it was my sister’s things. It took me 2 years to grow into her clothing because she was much taller than me. We received new clothing each school year. We didn’t have lots of extra money but this was something my parents saved for. Thank you, Mom and Dad!

When I moved here to Canada the wardrobe that I brought with me was very impractical. I had been living in Southern California for 10 years. The only practical thing I purchased for this climate were my winter boots. I wasn’t very prepared, to say the least.

Here are a few things I’ve learned along the way when it comes to buying clothing second-hand:

You can find great quality clothing when you buy secondhand but it takes a lot of time searching the racks. You have to be willing to invest your time to build a great secondhand wardrobe. If you don’t want to sift through racks and racks of clothing then it might not be for you.
If you find a GREAT piece that you love, buy it. This might seem to contradictory to my first point. If it’s functional and practical for your wardrobe, then buy it. In most secondhand stores there is usually only one of each thing so if you wait to buy it, someone else may scoop it up.
Know your brands. It’s so important to know what is quality and what is not. There are some popular brands out there that aren’t great quality. Don’t buy something because it’s brand name. Know what is worth it and what is not.
Go for quality-not quantity. I had to get rid of most of my summery clothing. I still own some key summer pieces but I would say the bulk of my wardrobe is sweaters, warm leggings and jeans. This is because our longest seasons are cool to freezing. Even our summers can be cool and damp. I do not like being COLD. One winter we lived in a place with electric heat ($$$$ to run) so I lived in 5 layers of clothing. Also, I’m currently a stay at home mom and plan to be for a while so my wardrobe reflects this relaxed style.

Have a good laundry routine. I do 95% of our laundry because I am particular. I still cringe when I consider how I used to wash things in college. I would throw everything in together and hope for the best. Then I would dry everything on high. Used or brand new-these are quick ways to wear down and ruin your clothing. Now I have a very specific laundry routine. I actually read the tags on clothing now and follow instructions.
Not everything is worth buying second-hand. I am learning the truth of quality over quantity. Some things are worth saving up for considering the quality and how long they will last you.

I will admit that clothing is the area in which I have always struggled with overspending. You need a plan going in or you will end up with things you don’t need. I’m still working on a minimalist/capsule type of wardrobe. I haven’t achieved this yet but it’s on my to do list. I also wanted to share something that changed the way I buy clothing now. While I still buy new clothing it is rarely and it isn’t without some guilt. Fast fashion (think Forever 21, H&M, Zara’s etc.) has a deadly impact on our environment and people.

There is an excellent documentary called The True Cost .

It exposes the consequences fast fashion is having on our world today. The fact that people are actually dying while producing the clothing that we wear is horrifying. I highly recommend this film. It’s sobering and thought-provoking. It has pushed me to consider the ethics behind the brands I buy from.

So there are my best tips for buying second hand clothing! Do you buy second hand? What are some things you’ve learned along the way?

SaveSave