I often encounter what I call “chaos conundrums.” I work from home and I find it hard to concentrate when something goes wrong with my house, but you don’t have time to deep clean the house because I’m at work. I think parents also feel uncomfortable when they come in because the house is a mess. This is so frustrating (…she said, staring at the pairs of children’s socks scattered around the living room). But TikTok user @aesthetically_ally_, a therapist who uses her platform to offer advice on cleaning, organizing, and other “mom hacks,” has a solution, and frankly, it’s pretty clever.
“If you’re looking for a busy working mom who can keep you in a good mood during the day and workday and not feel completely overwhelmed and overstimulated when you walk in the door, then keep listening,” Ai Leigh began. “I can’t stand Have a dirty house or a messy house. For me, it’s my overstimulated nightmare. Let me introduce you to the cleaning truck.
The cart is a simple rolling cart with a few stacked drawers/shelves. During a 17-minute appointment with a client, Ally demonstrated rolling the cart around the house and placing anything on the cart that shouldn’t be there (discarded crafts, stray shoes, hats, documents, electronics, etc.) Then place neatly on the cart against a wall.
“The purpose of the cart, obviously we have to put these things away, but it’s best not to have these things cluttering all the flat surfaces in your house,” she explained. “It helps to relieve that overstimulated feeling you get when you come back from a crazy busy day and start taking care of everyone and everything.”
Ellie explained in the comments that as soon as everyone got home, they had to immediately retrieve their items from the shopping cart and put them away. “It’s much more effective than issuing a ‘clean up’ order,” she said.
Commenters were very pleased with the recommendations. Some people noted that they’ve had similar success with laundry baskets, although “Ellie” says the wheels have been a game-changer for her because they allow the shopping cart to be easily moved around the house without having to drag it. Others like the idea of putting each person’s cart in the house on a shelf/drawer so everything can be consolidated, which will allow them to easily put things away without having to sort the entire cart ( The original stroller requires a bit more work – a loader, sure, but maybe fine for younger kids or kids who need a little extra help performing functions). Some people worry about the shopping cart not being able to be unloaded and becoming another “ADHD pile of doom”, to be honest, I don’t have ADHD, but relevant.
So if you’re having trouble keeping your house in order, consider getting a stroller—it might just make working from home (or coming home from get off work) a lot easier.
