As women, wives, and mothers, one of our major responsibilities is taking care of home. It is one that challenges women in various ways. Though I won’t say that taking care of home is a piece of cake, I will say that it doesn’t have to be complex. Though there are many things that have to be done, they all fall into just a few categories. Consider these 5 categories as a way to stay on top of your business at home.
Taking Care of Home: 5 Categories
Though everyone’s situation may vary slightly, here are 5 categories that you can consider:
- Spiritual
- Cleaning
- Organizing
- Business
- Quality Time
Relying on these 5 categories can help you break down your various tasks at home, as well determining how you will attack them and stay on top of them. One of the things that make taking care of home a challenge is that it is continuous. Never-ending. The job is never done.
Ladies, let’s just accept that. It is the reality. Accepting this will allow us to keep everything in proper perspective. A few years ago, while staying at home with our 2 youngest girls, the Lord allowed me to realize that I don’t mop for the floor to be CLEAN. I mop so the floor won’t be AS dirty. See the difference? The first mindset leads to stress when there is a mess. The latter one is more relaxed, not prone to a breakdown over spilled milk.
If there is life in your home, it will never be perfect.
Take that in and allow it to change your perspective. It should grant you a level of rest. As wives and mothers, we must stop aiming for perfection. Instead, focus on order. And don’t take that to the extreme! Let’s consider the 5 categories:
1. Spiritual
This is by far the most important area of taking care of home. The first thing you have to do is prioritize your spiritual health. Daily time with God is a must. This allows you to get yourself together and take in God’s Word, which prepares you to represent Christ to your family.
The most important part of taking care of home is taking care of everyone spiritually.
Are you prioritizing salvation and walking with Christ above all? Attending church and spending time in God’s Word at home is key. We are living in deceitful, evil times, which should motivate us even more so to pour God’s truth into our families. Don’t stretch yourself so thin to where you are neglecting the most important aspect of raising a family. God must be #1.
“And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”
– Deutoronomy 11:19
We must continually teach our children God’s Word. This requires intention, wisdom, and diligence. The world is constantly bombarding them with messages contrary to God’s Word. We mustn’t let our guard down and allow other seeds to take root. Our children are extremely impressionable.
2. Cleaning
We all know this is a big one as it’s probably the one that causes the most stress, though it should not. As it relates to keeping the house clean, remember that we are not aiming for perfection. We do, however, want to keep our home clean and tidy. There are several reasons for this. We can function better in a clean space and we want our space to support our lives.
Consider these tips to help with cleaning:
- Talk to your family. Discuss the importance of keeping the house clean. Ask the kids questions to get their buy-in, such as how they feel when they can’t find their shoes. Set the expectation of everyone cleaning up after themselves.
- Quick cleaning breaks. When everyone is at home, take quick cleaning breaks where everyone stops what they’re doing and starts cleaning. Designate areas and tasks and take just 15 minutes or so to get the house tidied.
- Designate responsibilities. Who’s responsible for certain tasks in the home? Review this periodically to see where adjustments can be made. Don’t try to do everything yourself. That will certainly lead to stress, and even resentment. Don’t do that. As the kids grow, adjust their responsibilities. I think we’ll be surprised at what they can do!
- Schedule cleaning time. With everyone cleaning after themselves, incorporating cleaning breaks, and working together keeping the house clean; you will be able to schedule time to do the bigger cleaning tasks. Decide a schedule that works for you. Consider late nights or early mornings to get the bigger jobs done.
3. Organizing
This is another aspect of taking care of home. It takes intention and a system to keep everything organized. Consider your current, or lack of, system of organizing. Consider pictures, important documents, clothes, shoes, toys, closets. It doesn’t matter how much space you have. You have to make your things fit your space.
Review your things, get rid of the excess, and organize what’s left.
4. Business
Staying on top of the business at home is another chore. Bills, important calls, mail, emails, etc. Don’t neglect this area. Consider it an aspect of taking care of home, and decide the best way for you to stay on top of the business.
Maybe you can commit to a few days out of the week to handle any business. Or, maybe Saturday morning works for you. There is not right or wrong way, we just can’t neglect the business. Decide the best time, write it down, and stick to it.
5. Quality Time
This is often the area that is easily overlooked. We spend so much time taking care of our families that we don’t have time for our families. Isn’t that real? We cannot accept that way of life.
We must make time for our families.
It’s imperative for us to adjust our perspective. All the things we do to take care of home is because we want the best for our family. We must enjoy what we’re working for. It takes intention to just spend quality time with the family. Quality time should be unique for your family. Do what you guys like to do! Just make it easy and enjoyable. This is where we’re reminded of the why behind all of our work.
Taking care of home does require work, but is is work well worth it.
When we consider the long-lasting impact of investing into our children and our homes, it will motivate us to keep at it. It is imperative for us to prioritize our own relationship with God, as there is no way that we can do it on our own. As we prioritize Him for ourselves, we’ll be surprised at how He will equip us for our tasks.
