PHOTOS BY JUDITH MARILYN
****GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED****
Two kids. One dog. No time. I need one less item on my to-do list. This seems to be a constant struggle.
I think about my mom a lot these days as I try to juggle being a mom, cleaning the house, getting my work done, and making time for my own self-care. My mom used to always lament that she was constantly picking up after us, and now…now I get why she was so frustrated. With a small home, we use our entire main level for every activity imaginable: playroom, snack area, art studio, dog park. It always, always needs some kind of cleaning or tidying. By far the messiest floor of our home, transitioning from mealtime to nap time to playtime often requires a full stop to clean up whatever fell on the ground. Because, you know…toddlers like to put EVERYTHING in their mouths. Messes cannot sit around or else!
And don’t get me started on Winnie’s hair. English labs? They shed more than you could possibly imagine. She is so worth the mess and I wouldn’t trade her for the world! But you do spend a lot more time cleaning up after her than a dog that doesn’t shed.
Case in point:
No joke, we took this photo after giving her ONE good snuggle. It’s shedding season, so it’s particularly bad. Shout-out to all the lab owners out there!
I’m happy to share we found a way to completely automate vacuuming that works so well with our busy lifestyle through the iRobot® Roomba® i7+ robot vacuum.
When we were living with my in-laws this summer during our renovation, we had the chance to witness how helpful having a floor cleaning robot can be for a family with dogs. My father-in-law—a VERY neat and orderly human—got so much joy from checking how much dirt and debris was collected while he was at the gym! And when we moved home, Joe and I talked about getting one of our own.
In a welcome twist of fate, we had the opportunity to not only bring an iRobot® Roomba® i7+ into our home, but receive a model that includes a Clean Base™ Automatic Dirt Disposal, which made it perfect for a family who has quite a bit of a mess to clean up after only a couple hours each day. We have been using it at 1 pm and 10 pm. Not only did the kids love welcoming their new, very clean “pet” (they named it Carl), we have enjoyed a life free of dog hair tumbleweeds. I had my doubts about its ability to combat the sheer amount of hair and debris that falls on our floors, but I’ve been absolutely thrilled with how clean our floors have been by running it twice a day.
More reasons I was sold on the Roomba® i7+:
It gets the dirt you see—and the dust you don’t.
This model has a High-Efficiency Filter that traps 99% of cat and dog allergens, a huge deal for pet owners.
It cleans up after itself.
Because we run ours often, it is super helpful that the Roomba® i7+ empties on its own. Literally, you don’t have to think about vacuuming for weeks at a time. The Clean Base™ Automatic Dirt Disposal holds 30 bins of dirt, dust, and hair.
It learns and adapts to your home over time.
I ran the Imprint™ Smart Mapping right away, which enables the robot to learn, map and adapt to your home. It only took a couple of sessions before I could control which rooms are cleaned and when, so I’m saving energy and not cleaning rooms that are perfectly clean.
The best part…
With the Roomba® i7+, I literally have to do NOTHING (except hit “CLEAN” on an app), and my floors are clean and free from the dirt and allergens from Winnie’s dander. I’m not exaggerating! One tip I have is to lift your chairs and stools off the ground during a nighttime cleaning so the robot can better get into all the nooks and crannies. It grabs crumbs that are usually trapped under my cabinets and honestly…it is just so nice to feel clean floors under our feet without having to do much of anything.
For a parent in this season of life, it is a little perk that makes a big impact.
Now for the best part! We have a SUPER awesome giveaway for you. I know there are a TON of parents out there (of fur babies and human babies) that battle the same issues on a daily basis so I’m SO EXCITED to be giving away an @iRobot Roomba i7+ robot vacuum.
To enter, leave a comment below on why a Roomba i7+ would improve your life. One (1) winner will be selected at random next WEDNESDAY (06/26/2019) at 12noon CST. Entrants limited to the continental U.S. only. No purchase necessary to enter.
AND, if you want to snag one of your own, there is a great deal going on at www.irobot.com with $150 off select floor cleaning robots now through June 29th. I’d check it out!
Ed Note: This post was sponsored by iRobot. The compensation received in exchange for placement on Wit & Delight is used to purchase props, hire a photographer, write/edit the blog post and support the larger team behind Wit & Delight.
While compensation was received in exchange for coverage, all thoughts and opinions are always my own. Sponsored posts like these allow for the development of additional dynamic content to be produced, unsponsored. Thank you for supporting our partners!
Kate is the founder of Wit & Delight. She is currently learning how to play tennis and is forever testing the boundaries of her creative muscle. Follow her on Instagram at @witanddelight_.
BY Kate Arends - June 19, 2019
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Thank you for being here. For being open to enjoying life’s simple pleasures and looking inward to understand yourself, your neighbors, and your fellow humans! I’m looking forward to chatting with you.
Hi, I'm Kate. Welcome to my happy place.
I have a fluffy cat in my apartment and she usually sheds a lot on my 2 carpets. It’s exhausting to clean my apartment when I am hosting dinner parties because some of my friends are allergic to cat hair. Having a Roomba would give me more time cooking /prepping and less time worrying about cleaning.
Having my first child soon and can’t imagine a better helper to keep the house as clean as I can for baby!
I have wanted a Roomba for years! Please Roomba, clean up the dirt tracked in from our patio and the food crumbs from my 2 little kids!
We are in the process of buying our first house and going from cleaning a small apartment to a whole house is very daunting! The Roomba will be invaluable in conquering dust and dirt of all that added square footage.
As a parent of one child and three kitties (two long-haired), business owner, hater of vacuuming, and human, I need all the help I can get! This looks incredible. <3
We have an Alaskan Malamute and a sweet, cozy little house with no mudroom! It’s crazy how easily dirt gets tracked directly into the kitchen and spread throughout the house. Since a mudroom addition isn’t in the cards, having a little self-emptying robot cleaning up after us would be incredible!
We adopted our first cat last year and as a clean nerd, I went from vacuuming once a week to everyday!! that being said, irobot would really be a big help 🙂
What a great opportunity! As a working mom of two, with more animals in our house than children, I’d love to have a quick and easy way to keep our floors clean and our house cleaner and healthier.
1 kid and looking at getting a dog! This looks perfect
Yay for Roomba! Shedding season is right! Would love the Roomba to stay on top of the hair and dander.
I have a sweet pit mix who sheds tiny hairs allll over the house. So great to hear that this works wonderfully for pet hair!
i’d love to try the roomba, one less thing i have to think about to clean my apartment!
I’d use it for our Golden Retriever, Ragdoll cat, and 9-month-old daughter!
I have a little puggle and he’s shedding like a maniac. No one has time every day to vacuum so winning this would allow me to enjoy my life *hair free* and STILL have time to make that delicious cake.
With the crazy Boston traffic, I need to save time in any way I can because the commute is so long. I’d love a robot to help with chores!
The shed is real with our cat, Puff. And my daughter brings in her fair amount of dirt and sports equipment and manure from the barn as well! A Roomba would help *so* much!
We, too, have a very furry/sheddy dog, a 2-year old, and a 5-year old. One of these would improve our lives in basically every way (less time spent sweeping, less time thinking that we should sweep or vacuum looking at crumbs and hairballs drifting around our floors).
I have been lobbying my husband for a robot vacuum (seriously, any of them!) for over a year. Somehow he thinks we will change and become people who take the time to vacuum regularly (which would first require picking things up regularly), but I can’t even get him to put his dishes in the dishwasher (and we’ve been married for almost 13 years). With a young son, both of us working full time, family obligations, and wanting to carve out a little time for our health, cleaning always takes a back seat. I live with constant tumbleweed sized dust bunnies,… Read more »
This is such an amazing giveaway! We just moved into our first house and while we’re loving most moments, cleaning has proven to be a real hassle. Especially with two large fur babies of our own. Running this throughout the day would eliminate so much cleaning time that could be better spent running my business. Thanks so much for hosting this!
I think this robot would do wonders for my marriage 🙂
We have two big dogs who shed a TON and I feel like I’m always vacuuming. We’ve talked about getting a roomba for a while, but haven’t pulled the trigger just yet. To no have tumbleweeds of fur rolling around the floor because I didn’t have time to vacuum one day would be amazing!
This would be a perfect gift for my mom and dad as they are moving and renovating 🙂
Wow, do we need this! With a giant mountain dog, toddler, and baby on the way, you’ve convinced me that I could use a robot friend to help!
I have an Australian Sheppard named Koda, he’s the sweetest boy but man does he and my cat shed! I normally have to vacuum twice a week or more so not having to sweep and clean so much would give me additional time to work on my projects.
Oh, gosh! 3 kids, 3 dogs, and a cat. I can’t keep up with all the hair and crumbs! This would be such a huge blessing !
I have two dogs and it doesn’t matter how often I vacuum there is always hair! Being able to just hit a button to start cleaning the floors instead of lugging out the vacuum would be a dream!
Both my partner and I work from home so things get messy. We have a cute little bengal cat that drags dirt from her outdoor adventures and we dogsit my neighbor’s rescue who also likes to bring us “presents” from the outdoors. The Roomba i7+ would be a huge time saver for myself, and a huge clean treat for the whole family.
No more stray dog hairs!!!
This would be amazing – I work two jobs and rarely have enough time leftover in the week to clean, let alone sweep or vacuum.
This little guy would take care of my apartment so nicely!
My family and I live in a 1920s apartment in Los Angeles – I do my best to keep the beautiful, vintage hardwood floors clean. This means every few days, lugging out my vacuum and spending hours of my day laboring over every nook and cranny. I have wanted a smarter solution to this task for years – this would free up so much time to focus on other important things and even give me some much needed ME time!
I moved into my old St. Paul apartment last August and had never had hardwoods before! Old building dust + LINT to the max + both my husband and I’s long blonde hair. It sneaks up on us! A Roomba would be a game changer!
We have a yellow lab that leaves a wig full of hair on the floor every two minutes. It would be great to use trade vacuuming for more time to love on her and the wild toddler that seems to accessorize said wigs with her own messes…
I would love one of these! I am a party planner extraordinaire and it is always a chore cleaning up after people leave. I would love one of these to make hosting a breeze.
1. I hate vacuuming
2. Since our dog died two years ago we have had our second child and I never realized how messy a one year old is! Of course our dog cleaned up all of the crumbs with the first 😊
3. We don’t have a dishwasher sooooo it would make my life a little less messy and free up some time considering I spend the evening cleaning 🙄
4. I have been wanting one for ages!!!
How would a robot that cleans change my life???? Omg. We have a baby who is about to crawl and two very hairy cats. We like to eat in the living room. We live in a dusty city near a busy road. There is so much dirt in my life and it could all be gone gone gone! Please please let it be gone.
Oh my goodness. We have a shedder, too, and I sweep several times a day. This would be a godsend!
Between a dog and kids, my house always seems to be a wreck. A roomba would be an amazing addition to my life! I dream of having a clean home!
I’ve been wanting a roomba to make cleaning my apt less daunting.
With our dog shedding, and the carpet that gets dusty, I would LOVE to win this Roomba! I get tired easily and it would be great to have the Roomba do most of the work.
I would love to have a roomba! I have two border collies that blow their coats twice a year and I usually have a foster dog in the house as well. It would be great to not have to do the floors constantly!
oh i’d use it for my messy little ones, kitty and husband – so i can spend more quality time with each of them!
Oh, wow, would this be nice for two reasons. 1 – our vizsla sheds. Not a ton, but enough that running a roomba would be helpful. And 2 – our current vacuum is terrible!
About to move into my first home! Have never been able to keep up with dogs hair even in my apartment so I’m in desperate need 🙂
Oh man. Let me count the ways!
I have two cats that I’m allergic to and this would cut so much cleaning time! What a DREAM!
With two dogs in an apartment, a roomba would be a life saver, especially when the vacuum randomly breaks down.
This would improve my life by helping keep the floors clean with a toddler and baby on the way it will be a lifesaver! Thanks for the chance!
My husband is a military pilot who basically uses our house as a crash pad. I have two dogs and live in a 100 year old home and work full time at a hospital. The dust! The dog hair! The husband!
This is the best giveaway! We really need a Roomba. We have a dog, and my husband is a wheelchair-user…forever tracking stuff on his tires into the house. There just isn’t an easy way for him to clean his wheelchair tires before he comes inside!
This would be wonderful! With two kids, a dog, and a cat, I feel like the hair, dirt, and crumbs are never-ending! A friend with three dogs swears by her Roomba and I would love to have one in my home.
We have a cat that sheds like crazy, despite giving her daily brushes. We also have a 9 x 12 wool rug that still sheds giant wool balls after two years. I read reviews from owners that said it would stop after a few months! Our entire downstairs is an open floor plan of laminate wood so you can see all the fur and wool balls!