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Pregnancy - from 28 weeks to 42 weeks pregnant

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Activity - Creating Helpful Household Lists

By Rachel Lacourciere, edHelperBaby

The Value Of "The List"

Another activity to consider in your third trimester is creating a series of helpful household lists that family, friends, or even your partner can refer to once the baby arrives.   Making your household run smoothly is not easy and obviously becomes that much more challenging once a new baby is added to it.  However, lists are an easy way to organize how your household "runs" and gives valuable insight to others gracious enough to offer their assistance during the chaos that will likely ensue when your baby first comes homes.  For example, a list of schedules and activities of other children in your household is helpful for those who will be helping out with pick-up and drop-off times, or even something as straightforward as a grocery list will be helpful if you normally do the grocery shopping and someone else offers to take over this task for you.  Taking the time now to create well thought-out key task lists should help to alleviate some of the frustration and stress for you when others want to help but do not necessarily know what is of most importance to you.

Things To Consider Beforehand

The idea is to think through a typical day and compile various task lists you often do on your own and others would not necessarily know.  It is also valuable to take the time to prioritize your task lists.  Ask yourself which tasks will assist you the most once the baby arrives, allowing you the time to focus on him or her while also providing you time for the necessary sleep your body will need to get through the first few weeks.

Task List Suggestions

Use the suggestions below to start thinking about task lists you can create that will be beneficial to you (and more importantly to those willing to help out!) once the baby arrives: Cleaning tasks for inside the house (i.e. vacuuming, scrubbing the toilets, dusting) Maintenance tasks for outside the house (i.e. mowing the lawn, collecting leaves, shoveling driveway) Sibling schedules and activities (i.e. sport practice times, after school activities, necessary carpool information) Grocery list (think through your typical meals from breakfast to dinner and don't forget snacks and beverages)

My Own Experience

In my own experience I found creating basic task lists was very beneficial to my family and husband in the first few weeks I was home from the hospital.  I had c-sections with both of my children, limiting my abilities to get much of anything done beyond feeding, diapering, and holding my newborns.  Below I am including a sample of one of the task lists I had put together for anyone who assisted with cleaning my house.  As you will see, I created very basic tasks and didn't worry about the details, as to me it was more important that the task was done to some capacity and not necessarily to the detail I might normally give it (i.e. "vacuum" versus "vacuum the bedrooms, closets, and stairs").  Additionally, I prioritized every list with the most helpful task listed at the top.               Household Cleaning Tasks Unload/load dishwasher Wipe down kitchen counter Do laundry Empty garbage pails around the house Vacuum Sweep floor Dry mop floor Clean bathrooms Pick up toy room Change sheets Dust Clean glass Wipe down kitchen chairs

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