Housecleaning for the Fat Lady

My house is FAR from being clean, at least as clean as I usually like it. I have lowered my standards drastically since having a) having Will, b) having a student husband, c) being pregnant, and d) working from home. But out of all those reasons, the hardest one to get around is definitely C. Man I'm sick of being pregnant!! This baby seems to have dropped really low weeks ago, so I've been feeling like I'm about to go into labor any day now...(not going to happen most likely.) In my lame attempt to keep house despite these obstacles, I have come up with a few little tricks that make life a lot easier.

1. Stay on top of the dishes. Nothing makes me happier than having a dishwasher that is half-full of dirty dishes. Why? Because that means each dish I dirty throughout the day can just be rinsed and put straight in the dishwasher. When there are clean dishes in there, it means you have to take the time to UNLOAD it, which of course you don't have, and so all dirty dishes sit in the sink until you do have time to unload. My philosophy is to keep on top of the dirty dishes because no dishes in the sink means less stress when preparing meals.

2. Plastic mats, cheap rugs under eating areas. Not that our carpet is so gorgeous and well-kept, but we live in a rental, meaning we have to explain every little stain that occurs. And who's idea was it to have carpet in the dining area anyway?! It's terrible if you have little kids. So we bought a cheap area rug and put one of those plastic office chair mats under Will's area. Easy to clean and needs cleaning a LOT.

3. Sanitized Cleaning Wipes. These may not be the most economical or 'green' way to go about cleaning, but these days I will trade that for the convenience these offer. Will makes a mess at breakfast? Wipe, wipe, all clean. My bathroom sink looks gross? Wipe, wipe, all clean. One product to use, wipe it up and throw it away. I rarely have the time and energy to do 'real' bathroom cleaning, so these wipes save me.

4. Forcing others to do work. Will is in charge of picking up his blocks, shoes, and clothes, as well as unloading laundry from the dryer. He is also a good helper with many other chores. Aaron's main job is to take out the garbages and do most of the stuff that requires lifting Will up. They have both helped me a lot, although they do contribute a lot to actual mess-making.

My tips end there today because I also have that 'pregnancy brain' thing and can't remember any of the other things I was going to say. None of these things are revolutionary of course, but they have been very helpful. But the most helpful thing, I have to say, is lowering my standards.