Parenting Hacks For Helping A Stressed Mother’s Sanity
Kristyn Meyer is on a journey to make herself the best human that she can be. These posts are a reflection of that. She welcomes your support via reading and through commissioned affiliate links within her posts! To stay up to date on all of her shenanigans, please subscribe to her email list! (psst…there’s a free gift involved)
Who doesn’t like to shave a few minutes off of their daily routines? Do you like finding new ways to accomplish peace in your home? Does saving money equal happiness for you? Me too! That’s why I LOVE parenting hacks!
So for those of you who are on a constant quest for parenting hacks like I am, I thought I would share my new findings.
1. Old snacks as new snacks.
Okay, this might actually just be classified as lazy parenting, but whatever it is – it works. My children tend to get bored with snacks over time, and definitely of cereal. We don’t actually buy a lot of cereal, partly for that reason. But I had a couple of partially or mostly empty boxes, so I decided one day to get creative. I took a giant bowl and poured all of them into it. Then I mixed them all together, put a few scoops into snack sized Ziploc bags and threw them into the snack area of the cupboard. The kids freaked out at the new and interesting snacks and have already eaten most of them. Happy kids and unwasted food = win/win!
2. Makeup
I don’t do my makeup at home in the mornings. So to the teachers at preschool and those I run into at work before I make it to the first-floor bathroom, I am sorry. However, doing my makeup at work takes about three minutes. Doing that same makeup at home with my children around is about ten minutes. This is because it’s filled with the children’s ever-changing needs and constant whining. Which annoys me immensely and puts a crappy start to the day. Even with scaring people in the early AM, it’s worth it to have a calmer morning at home.
3. Audiobooks
My husband has listened to audiobooks for years, but I haven’t been able to get into it. I’ve always found it hard to listen to stories, even when I was little. I always retained more by actually reading it. But while visiting my friend a while back, she told me about how her library has a program where you can check out audiobooks to listen to on your phone. I came home and found out that my library does the same. So now I have started listening to books while driving or at work. I actually feel more productive that I am accomplishing something during those “empty space” times. Better that than listening to the same 10 songs play over and over on the radio or taking in my coworkers footsteps and side conversations during the day.
In 2018 I had started some other parenting hacks that help:
- Scheduling my workouts each week on my calendar so I can guarantee time for them,
- Packing lunches for everyone on Sunday nights for the entire week and meal planning.
Also, in an effort to avoid arguments on weekday mornings…
I started putting a handful of outfits on hangers as I do laundry and hanging them in my daughter’s closet where she can reach them.
In the mornings, I just tell her to go pick out an outfit and she gets the one that she wants. I used to just set clothes out every night for her, but then of course, she didn’t want to wear it the next day. And what she did want to wear was either inappropriate for public display or didn’t match. Once it was a nightgown with jeans.
This way, she gets to pick it out and I am comforted knowing that it matches and won’t get a CPS call.
Do you have any Parenting Hacks that you can pass my way?
I’m always looking to simplify meal times and house cleaning, but haven’t mastered it yet. I would love to hear new ideas!
