Every family is different, which means there are millions of people with different methods, and millions of genius parenting hacks you need to know. Here are 15 hacks you may have not heard of!
15 Genius Parenting Hacks That Will Make Life Easier
1. Label compartments in your refrigerator
Make compartments for dairy, beverages, produce, ingredients, cooked meals, etc. This will keep your whole family organized and meal time easier. You can make labels using writable stickers and a sharpie, or an old fashioned label maker.
2. Keep hangers near the laundry machine
Instead of bringing the entire load in a wrinkled bundle, hang each piece of clothing immediately after taking it out of the washing machine! You can even include your children in this process by asking them to hand you hangers or putting clothes on them.
3. Memorabilia box
Keep souvenirs and meaningful items in a small box for each person in the family. Containing items in a small box creates a habit of picking and choosing articles that really matter to your family. It will help teach everyone to get rid of items that clutter and stress everybody out. Make it fun by buying and decorating boxes from the store, or just use simple shoeboxes. Only choose items that you truly make you happy (or spark joy as Marie Kondo puts it). Make sure the box isn’t too full because you want to leave space for future items!
4. Label shoes with stickers
Children can have trouble differentiating between left and right, therefore it may be helpful to put “L” and “R” stickers in the soles of their shoes. This will save some time when leaving the house!
5. Pick clothes out the night before
Choosing an outfit before an event or school can be stressful for both parents and children. Have the whole family deal with this the night before so that it saves time and ensures that everyone leaves the house in style.
6. DIY non-slip socks
If you have solid floors at home, your children might be prone to slipping with their socks on. Fabric paint creates friction with the floor so you can use it to draw cute designs on your children’s socks and let them dry to make non-slip socks.
7. Solve bed-wetting with dog potty pads
If your child still wets the bed then insert a dog potty pad between the mattress and the bedsheets to reduce cleanup. Animal potty pads are likely sold at your local pet store!
8. Carabiner for hairties
Tired of finding your children’s hair ties in every corner of the house? Keep them all in one place by using a basic carabiner! Here are some basic carabiners that will keep together hundreds of ties!
9. Make a “train track” using tape
Don’t want to purchase and set up an entire train track set? Use brightly colored tape to create a unique train track shape so your children can use a toy with it. Why bother looking for missing train track pieces when you can just replace pieces of tape? This isn’t just a time and money saver, but it also expands your children’s imagination!
10. Train your children to eat slowly
Eating quickly is a habit that will bring about many problems. It can cause stomach issues, messes on the table, and overconsumption. In order to prevent these, encourage your children to eat slowly. It helps to give them smaller drink portions during their meals as well. Instead of washing down food quickly with a lot of liquid, children will have to eat things slowly.
11. Scavenger hunt for lost items
If your family has some missing items, create a scavenger hunt game for your children to look for them. This will keep them company while you recover some items you’ve been looking for a while. You can also hide some items yourself if there aren’t enough items that went missing. Also throw in rewards and prizes for each item they find to spice up the game!
12. Use a mesh bag to wash all toys at once
Use a mesh bag to wash all your children toys in a laundry machine. Instead of hand washing toys one by one, do it all at the same time in one load! Just put all washable toys in the mesh bag and put it in the washing machine with detergent or soap for a few minutes.
13. Online meal delivery services
Rule out buying ingredients from the grocery store and prepping. In fact, forget cooking even. There are so many meal delivery services available for parents who don’t want to put in as much energy to cook. Here are a list of great meal delivery services that will deliver prepped ingredients or fully cooked meals to your home.
14. Keep valuable items in a diaper
No one will suspect that a wrapped diaper will contain your phone and wallet. If you’re going to the beach or want to leave something valuable in the car, take advantage or your children’s diapers this way.
15. Throw more stuff away
Don’t be afraid to throw away unnecessary toys, clothes, games, technology, etc. The most useful tip to un-complicating parenting is to not need so many genius hacks, and getting rid of items in the house is an easy way to reduce problems. Incorporating some minimalism into your life can improve the quality of your life tenfold as it reduces stress and decreases anxiety.
What are some genius parenting hacks of yours? Let us know what they are below!
