Mother shares her 'closing duties' that help her future self manage chores better

The moment a woman becomes a mother, everything she knows about life is thrown out of the window. As children grow up, they bring in so much chaos that to manage it, mothers often lose sight of themselves. KC Davis—who goes by @domesticblisters on TikTok—believes that there is a way both children and parents can be prioritized. In her technique, "Closing duties," she encourages mothers to shape up their routines to put forward the needs of their future selves. It will not only make the upcoming day more manageable but also allow them to go to sleep with a calmed-down state of mind.

The video begins with Davis concisely explaining what "closing duties" entail, which is mostly used for serving industry. In restaurants, people who work during the night shift in the "closing" time do all the activities that will make things easier for the people on the morning shift and vice versa. Davis gives herself 25 minutes of "closing down" time. The process allows her to "clock out, relax, and yet keep things functional." While closing down and keeping the mood right, she puts on some great music and dons a cute apron. "I have five or six things on a list that I do every single night. Right as my kids are going to bed," the mother explained. "I don't worry about what the rest of the house looks like. I just try and make the kitchen functional for morning me."

In Davis' version of "closing down," the mother takes care of things that would help her get a jump start in the morning. It ensures she has a "peaceful" start to the next day. The activities that allow her to have that peace are "running that dishwasher- even if it's not full, wiping down the high chair for the baby in the morning, making cold brew coffee for us to drink, making space for myself on the countertop, empty the trash can and getting my daughter's lunch box out of the car."

To remain organized, the mother has a list of these tasks in front of her. The aim is to keep the proceedings as smooth as possible without stress. She also suggests people include self-care tasks like taking one's meds and brushing their teeth. The self-care tasks can uplift an individual's mood as they get ready to hit the sack. It puts a beautiful bow on the entire day, which mothers deserve.

The comment section found the method interesting. @mamakate34 found the idea appealing and wrote, "This is a great idea! I love that you don't do this right before you go to bed. It gives you permission to fully relax for a bit." @beebug55 commented how this method is great even for those who are not parents, "I'm not a parent, but I still find this really helpful! I'm in an intensely busy period at work, so finding ways to still care for myself/home is hard."

In a follow-up video, Davis again clarifies that the purpose of the video is to serve the interests of mothers. She replied to a comment by @tatortots19, who shared how she doesn't even have the energy to do these "closing down" tasks on some days. According to Davis, these tasks should make people's day better and not add to stress. Individuals should do what makes their soul happy and if that is sleeping, that's what they should do instead of doing tasks. It is supposed to positively contribute to one's mental health, not the opposite. She explained, "The power of closing duties is the power of permission. It's permission to take care of tomorrow you without having to make things perfect or up to other people's standards."