There are so many occasions where I choose the most difficult way to do things. Not because I want to. It’s simply because I just don’t know how else to do it. Here are some hacks to make those difficult tasks/parenting issues harder.
Label all your child’s clothes
When you have little ones that are close in size, or are ins daycare/school, labeling laundry is going to be your new favourite trick. Schools/daycares can’t possibly keep track of 15 kids wardrobes, and when kids are close in size it’s easy to mix up clothes, the smart thing to do is to simply initial the tags of everyone’s clothes. You no longer will go through laundry wondering whose child’s clothes these are or which child it belongs to!
Cleaning Toys
Okay, so you know those Legos and action figures that pretty much either live on the floor or in your kid’s mouth? Putting them all in the sink and washing them sometimes just doesn’t get the job done. Here’s a super easy way to get it done: take a mesh laundry/bra bag and place the toys inside. Pop that bag inside your washing machine.
You can also throw toys in your dishwasher if you have one!
Bins for EVERYTHING
I love bins so much I literally had a dream about them last night, HAHA! No matter how old your kids are, they always seem to have a lot of stuff. And that stuff can get really, really messy really, really quickly. Assign everyone in your family his/her own basket or storage container (these can be kept in the mud room, entry way, homework room, laundry room, wherever). As you clean this is where you can put all the miscellaneous items laying around that your children/husband/you can put away at the end of the night.
Keeping bins around to keep your children’s toys in as well makes cleanup fast and easy.
Cheerio Necklaces
My friend who is actually an ECE suggested this to me! This is for mamas of little ones, especially teething ones, or ones that LOVE sensory activities and food. Take a string/piece of dental floss and string Cheerios on it to make a necklace. When your baby gets fussy, pick him or her up and let your baby snack while you get your errands/chores/work done. And just a reminder: do NOT place the necklace around your baby’s neck and leave them alone, make sure you are right beside them or just hand it to them without it around their neck.
Mark your kids shoes
As you kids are getting more independent, they are probably wanting to put their shoes on themselves. They don’t often ask “is this the right shoe?” until they realize its uncomfortable when they start walking. To make things so much easier and avoid temper tantrums and blisters , simply grab a Sharpie and write a small but easy to read “L” and “R” on the soles of your kids’ shoes.
Bathroom Deoderizer
Keep your bathroom smelling clean and fresh by adding a few drops of essential oil to the inside of your toilet paper roll – the cardboard bit. This sends a fresh smell into the room every time someone spins the toilet roll.
Popsicle Catcher
Stop a popsicle drip with a cupcake liner. Cut a small hole in the centre of a paper cupcake liner, and slip it up over the stick to the bottom of the popsicle. The cupcake liner will catch any the drips and keep clothes clean.
Save buttons
Stop buttons from falling off and keep threads from running by simply painting a bit of clear nail polish or top coat over the threads.
Stop doors slamming
Cut a pool noodle in half and slide it on the side of the door (Only needs to be like a foot long!) to prevent the door from slamming on small fingers.
IN THE IVY 