If someone told you that there are some hacks that you can use to make your life as a parent easier, would you be interested? I’m that person! I’m going to go over some simple parenting hacks that you can start to utilize today.
No More Kids Locked in Rooms
If you’ve ever had a child locked in the bathroom, you know how scary of an experience that can be. A clever trick to never let that happen again is to use a rubber band wrapped around each doorknob with the cross part of the rubber band covering the latch.
Have Your Children Wear Bracelets With Your Phone Number On It
Losing your child in a large crowd is never a fun experience. It is even scarier when you know that nobody knows who your child is, and has no way of contacting you. That’s where bracelets with your phone number are handy. Not only will they allow people to contact you when you lose your child, but the bracelets can also be very fashionable. To make your children love wearing the bracelets, you may want to include them on the crafting part. Have your children decide what color beads they want to use. The next time you’re in a large crowd, have your children wear their bracelets.
Cool Use For Outgrown Furniture
One thing about raising kids is that you will start to collect a lot of things. From stuffed animals to teethers, sooner or later you’ve collected a lot of stuff. For little things, you may feel ok with tossing it away or giving it to a friend with a younger child. But what do you do with all of the furniture that you start collecting from diaper changes to cribs? One clever and functional use for a crib is to transform it into a desk. Simply take off one side of the crib and add a chair or two to the open side.
Prevent Popsicles From Leaking By Using a Disposable Coffee Lid
If popsicles aren’t eaten fast enough, they can soon become a sticky mess. Not only will it drip on the floor, but it can also get on your child’s clothes and hair. Prevent this terrible nightmare from happening by sticking the end of the popsicle (the stick part) into the hole in a disposable coffee cup. That way if the popsicle does melt, it will only go as far as the coffee cup. This trick can also be used with ice cream bars.
Wear Matching Outfits When You Go Shopping
Don’t lose your kids next time you go shopping by having them wear matching outfits. This means simple shirts without too many designs on them. That way, people will be able to guess who your child belongs to. Try wearing bright colors, since most people will notice bright colors rather than pale, dull colors.
Use A Timer To Get Tasks Done
For me when I need to get some cleaning done, I time myself. Somehow it seems less intimidating to give myself 10 minutes of cleaning. It breaks up an overwhelming task when the house gets messy and calculates it down to a set time of work. Timing myself also makes me go a lot faster. This same trick can work well with kids too. Set a timer, and challenge them to get as much cleaning done as they can in a set amount of time. Keep the time short so that it doesn’t seem overwhelming. Try for 5 or 10 minutes of fast cleaning. You may even want to break it down into intervals of 1 minute of speed cleaning. Make it a game and offer a lot of encouragement. Then watch disasters disappear before your eyes.
Toilet Paper Saver
The bathroom is a problem area for many families. From dads and the little men of the family not putting the seat back down to toilet paper wasting, it can cause aggravation. Not to mention it can cost a lot to waste toilet paper. If too much is used at once, you may even need to call a plumber to fix a backed up sewage system. Here is a simple hack that will help your kids to know how much toilet paper to use. Put a sticker or paper taped below the roll of toilet paper that shows how much to use at each pit stop.
Put Half a Sticker In Each Shoe So They Know Which Is Left and Right
Has your family ever walked out the door, and you look to find that your child is wearing the wrong shoe on the wrong foot? Prevent wrong-shoes-on-wrong-feet by putting half a sticker on each shoe. That way your child can easily know which shoe is right and left. Bonus tip: Choose a sticker your child loves so that he enjoys getting his shoes on.
I hope that this can help you make parenting slightly more manageable. Share your favorite parenting hacks with us in the comments down below!