This Mother’s Day, forget the flowers. Instead, give the special mom in your life more free time for herself by making her life easier. Consider that the average mom spends over 23 hours each month on cleaning and housework.* Now imagine what she could do with some of that time back to spend on herself. Spa day, shopping spree, brunch with the besties, or even just some alone time on the couch with a good paperback — now that’s a gift any mom will appreciate.

If you’re wondering how to give Mom more her-time, here are some simple yet extremely helpful things you can do around the home to lighten the load (laundry and otherwise). Get the whole family in on the action.

Put Your Stuff Away

Teenagers aren’t the only ones guilty of leaving piles of stuff around for Mom to pick up and put away. So when you come through the door, make sure you put your coat, bag, shoes, socks, umbrella, books, and anything else you shed in its proper place and out of sight. Mom and her back will thank you for it.

Pick Up After Yourself (and Others)

By nightfall, living spaces tend to get cluttered with the everyday items of life: dirty dishes and half-empty water glasses, books, magazines, mail, sweaters, toys, devices, board games, and more find themselves strewn about in various rooms. So do Mom a solid and go through each room, collecting stray items and returning them where they belong. Instead of doing the daily decluttering, Mom can spend her evening binging her favorite show.

Do the Laundry

With everything mothers do during the day, laundry can tend to pile up — taking hours to eventually get washed. Surprise her by doing the laundry for her, paying extra attention to clothing labels and colors. Once the items are washed and dried, fold them and put them away so she has at least one laundry-free week to enjoy.

Run Her Errands

Ask Mom to hand over her daily list of errands, then conquer and divide with the rest of the family. Pick up the dry cleaning, drop off the dog at the groomer’s, do the grocery shopping (and then put away the groceries), take little Susie to her ballet class, get the car’s oil changed — the more things you can check off Mom’s to-do-list, the more time she’ll have to sit back with a box on bon bons.

Cook Dinner and Clean Up After

Moms always appreciate breakfast in bed or a Mother’s Day dinner made with love by her family. What she doesn’t appreciate is having to clean up afterwards. So, in addition to cooking and serving the meal, make sure you wash and put away all the pots, pans and dishes, clean the countertops, sweep the floor, and leave the kitchen even cleaner than you found it.

Organize the Messy Spaces

Over time, closets, junk drawers, and pantries can get jumbled with the stuff you just don’t know where else to put. Organizing these spaces tends to get pushed to the bottom of the to-do list. For Mother’s Day, get the organizing done for her. Go through that junk drawer, toss out all the old rubber bands, and recycle the dead batteries. Rearrange the pantry, and add shelves to hallway closet to help with space management. A little organizing can go a long way toward making Mom’s life easier.

Do What She Doesn’t Have Time For

Busy moms don’t always have time to clean every nook and cranny of the house. For Mother’s Day, focus on those areas and spaces that often go neglected. Dust and clean the blinds and windows, for example. Or take the area rugs outside and give them a good shaking. Vacuum the furniture and do something about those dubious stains on the couch. Clean the hardwood floors or the concrete patio. If you don’t have the time or know-how to do it yourself, hire a professional cleaning service to come in and deep clean all your home’s surfaces in time for Mother’s Day.

Clean the Tub

Scrubbing the bathtub to get it sparkling clean takes time and elbow grease. Why not take this task on for yourself, and get the tub looking like new so that Mom can enjoy a relaxing, candle-lit bubble bath on her special day. While you’re there, spend some extra time cleaning the whole bathroom so it’s a pleasant space for your Mom to pamper herself. 

Give the Home a Makeover

What Mom wouldn’t want new kitchen countertops, carpets, floors, window treatments, or furniture? Get her the next best thing, and bring in the COIT Pros. Our certified technicians use advanced solutions and methods to deep clean natural stone surfaces like granite counter tops, hardwood floors, carpets, area rugs, upholstery, window treatments, and upholstery so they look like new.

We’ll remove stubborn dirt and grease, restore the original sparkle and shine for your home’s surfaces, and protect against future staining, wear and tear. It’s like giving Mom a home makeover, while being smart with your money. Plus, we guarantee satisfaction — not to mention a big smile on Mom’s face.

To all the incredible, busy, hard-working moms out there: Happy Mother’s Day on behalf of the COIT family. You deserve a home as beautiful as you are, and we’re here to help you enjoy it.

* https://nypost.com/2020/08/04/average-american-spends-this-much-time-doing-housework-a-month-and-this-task-takes-the-longest/