How To Cope When You Decide To Do Without a Nanny

These days many mothers are choosing to do away with a nanny for their personal reasons. Their reasons are diverse and often ranges from fear, inability to afford the nanny fees, trust issues especially with regards to their husbands down to fear of the nanny maltreating or molesting their children. In some cases, some husbands do not subscribe to the idea of their wives hiring a nanny(especially a live-in nanny). Irrespective of the reasons why a mum decides to do away with a nanny or domestic staff, she will need to have a support system(s) so she doesn’t break down. In this article, we have shared 8 ways a mother who decides to do without a nanny can cope and adapt

Don’t Mix Major Housecleaning With Other Important Activities
In this part of the world, there is a general notion that cleaning is for Saturdays. We forget that Saturday is also a day for many other activities; weddings, birthday parties, hosting of guest, market errands, salon appointments, movie dates and so on. Why do we postpone our cleaning which can be shared throughout the course of the week to a day that is already crammed up with activities? We end up worn out and tired by noon and usually cannot get to other important tasks. By the time we come back from our places of worship the next day, all we want to do is sleep. This is one major reason why chores pile up until it gets to a point it starts to give you a panic attack.  This takes me to the next point.

7 ways to hire a good nanny

Schedule
Create a weekly/monthly routine for your cleaning that evenly distributes your cleaning all through the seven days of the week, such that no day is overly packed. If you are a working mum you can schedule chores that wont sap your energ for after work hours.

Timing; Wake up early
Not just waking up early but starting early while you are still full of energy. Start with an easy task like clearing a pile of clothes from a chair. If you are someone who is pumped by accomplishments, you find out that after accomplishing that, you are already set in the mood to move on to the next chore. Another advantage of waking up earlier than everybody else is that there are no distractions and nobody is demanding your attention to something else. At a point, I wake up by 4.00 am-5.00 am to clean the living room and kitchen. This could also work for you if you are working mum. All you need do is schedule some small tasks for the morning before you leave for work.

Rest Well Before You Start
For days you may go to work and have to still do a few chores when you get back, rest well before you venture to doing any task. That way you don’t do it haphazardly because you are just trying to fulfill all righteousness. Rest well so you can be present mind and body when working.

If You Have Kids, Fix a Play-date
Except you want to keep shouting while working. I have realized that children will always be children. They can’t be adults when we want them to. They have to grow to be able to reason deep enough to know that they shouldn’t scatter a place after mummy has just cleaned. I feel that sometimes, they are uncomfortable in very clean environments. Their minds tell them that there has to be at least a little chaos going on. If you are a mom, I know you sometimes wish for your single days, but since you can’t be single again, at least you can pretend for maybe 3 hours that you are. Find that one friend or friendly neighbor that would want to have your kids over and enjoy yourself.

Ask or Pay For Help
So instead of fetching water for yourself, pay someone to do it for you. Ask your neighbor’s maid who is going to the market to buy things for you also and give her a tip when she gets back. Pay your security man to wash your car if it is not part of his job description already or your neighbor’s security man. You have to realize you can’t do everything alone. Not having a maid shouldn’t hinder you from exploiting other readily available options.

35 things to consider before you hire that nanny

Fix on the Go
As soon as something spills, clean it. You can make a rule that everyone washes their plates after each meal rather than pile them up in the sink. All dirty clothes should go into the laundry box not the chair. Your jewellery, make-up and other accessories should go to their places after use. Find the source of smells quickly and handle it. Avoid pile-up at all costs.

Invest In Technology
Lastly, if you have the means, please invest in technology. It is a one-time cost that would benefit you. Go for a vacuum cleaner instead of a broom, washing machine rather than using your hands, dishwasher etc. It saves you a lot of time and you can focus on other important things. I call it an investment because anything that saves you time definitely is an investment.

Oreoluwa Sonola is a Household Manager. She ensures the systems in homes run smoothly with little or no supervision from the homeowners. She creates management and training resources, procedural manuals, work schedules and SOPs for Domestic staff within the home and chore schedules for kids where the domestic staff is absent. Some of her resources can be found on her website and Instagram and twitter @maidformee.