It seems as your family grows, the ways to keep up with housework become less and less reasonable:
- Ignore children completely
- Hire help with imaginary money
- Operate at super speed
- Grow more limbs
- Burn house down
Right?
Now, before you go off to light matches, I’d like to share what has helped me immensely in this area. If I leave you uninspired, then by all means, do some research on becoming an octopus.
Here’s my secret that’s not actually a secret:
Baby-wearing!
This is the best way I’ve found to regain the use of BOTH OF MY HANDS and keep the baby happy. Babies love to be close to their mamas (after all, they were inside of us!), and they become so peaceful when they’re allowed to be. They can enjoy your rhythm and natural warmth, and you can more easily be in tune with their early cues telling you what they need. THAT means less crying and happier babies.
When my daughter was a younger baby, I would wear her around the house almost all day – doing laundry, preparing dinner, and any other necessary housework – while her brothers entertained each other. She would even sleep on me, which meant I could take my boys out to the park anytime – whether younger sister was napping or not. We were mobile most of the day and could escape to an outdoor space whenever things were getting crazy!
When baby is super little, I use a ring sling. Most of the ones out there are great and you can even make your own. When baby gets a little bigger, I love the Beco Gemini. This carrier is very versatile and I use it until baby wants more independence (when they start crawling or walking, essentially).
Babywearing has made my life less complicated. I can still be there for my older kids, and I’ve been able to keep up with housework. The Beco Gemini is by far my most useful tool in my mom arsenal.
Cue montage proving how versatile and useful baby-wearing is!
How does Marabou support women?
We live in culture where “bouncing back” is more valued than proper rest. As admirable as it may be for a sports star to get back on the field, the same rules don’t apply to postpartum recovery. The traditional resting period has been stolen from women through pressure to get back to their job or simply through lack of presence.
Grandmas, sisters and best friends who otherwise would have been there to help a woman transition into motherhood often live too far away to be of any help. Household chores and caring for older children inevitably fall on the mom. But she just delivered a new life! She needs rest.
Marabou Services is a unique gift registry which provides services instead of stuff. Most mom’s get too many onesies, too many baby blankets and not enough helping hands. Break out of a destructive cultural norm and start a Marabou registry today.
With a Marabou registry you can sing up for any service which will benefit you or someone you know during the postpartum recovery period.
Postpartum doulas for a first time mom
House cleanings for moms of multiples
Childcare for moms with older children!
Once your registry is created, add it to any other registry or post it to your Facebook and ask friends and family contribute to your postpartum service, rather than buying you more stuff.
More and more moms find they have to figure out postpartum alone. Is it any wonder why PMDs are on the rise? Or women are embittered by the journey of motherhood? We can change that by giving the gift of peace.
