Parenting hacks?

[dhfan]

@dp797 We have an ikea trofast unit with 6 drawers for each kid that holds the outfits of the week. I refill it every Sunday.

When I put clothes back in the closet, I put the freshly laundered clothes to the right. When I’m making an outfit I take from the left. I have trouble remembering when the last time someone wore some thing was, so this prevents them wearing the same thing every day.

Each kid has a color. This is the color of their plate, cup, towel, hangers etc. I also put a dot on their clothing tag in this color. They only get 1 cup, 1 plate, 1 bowl. They want something to eat and it’s dirty? It gets washed. Using new dishes every time was kiiiiilling me when it came time to do dishes.

A good, high capacity, washer and dishwasher are a must have in my house.

We don’t do baths everyday.

I have a backup bag in the van that has emergency snacks, backup clothes and diapers.

We have quiet time everyday to maintain my sanity. I don’t care if they are glued to a tablet, as long as they are using headphones.

As much outside time as possible. Less mess to clean up inside if they are never inside!

 

[oceansedge]

@dhfan Are you me? My kids are 8, 6, 4 & 6m. We do almost all these things. Every kid has a color - only 1 cup per day.

I pack outfits every Sunday for the week in their bin and they just have to pull them out. Their bins are in the kitchen so I can help them all get ready while also making breakfast, putting lunches in, making water bottles, prepping meds etc.

I also pre-pack back packs with a weeks worth of snacks and masks and anything special they need for the week goes in their bag on Sunday (I don’t care if the teacher emails me Monday saying to bring Oreos on Thursday - it isn’t happening if it wasn’t put in the bag Sunday).

Each kid has a max of three pairs of shoes and they have to keep track of them themselves.

I have two kinds of socks in the house. White crew tube socks and white crew tube socks with lace ruffles. They get bleached once a week and then matched up with like socks... at max, there can only be two mismatched socks at the end of each week.

Each kid has their own hook in the bathroom and they have to use the same towel for the whole week (when we started this it cut out two loads of laundry).

This is our evening routine. Dinner on the table 5:30. Done by 6, kids clear their own spots. 6 & 8 year olds take showers in my bathroom separately and the baby 4 y/0 takes a bath while I sit with them and dad does the dishes and cleans the table. 6:30 baby goes upstairs for night routine with dad. I finish cleaning up and make lunches, big kids have to pick up and put away 20 things (that number can go up if it’s more messy). 7pm family tv time and dessert. 7:45 brush teeth & final requests. 8 pm lights out.

The Ninja Foodi has made getting dinner done by 5:30 much more manageable. (I wasn’t sold on it when I first got it but now I can’t imagine being efficient with dinner without it).

 

[dp797]

@oceansedge Wow! I love the tube sock idea! We are pretty sold on getting a Ninja Foodie too, just waiting on the house for the counter space! Sounds like some pretty organized chaos! We really need to get some towel hooks for the kids too

 

[oceansedge]

@dp797 Our towel hooks are just heavy duty command strips and then I let the kids pick out a sticker to mark them as their own. They are at kid height so they can hang them themselves.

I don’t have the counter space for the ninja foodi either - it is waaaaaay larger than I anticipated. So I cleared out a cupboard and I literally get it out each time I use it because counter clutter = bad mental health for me. Which is ridiculous but I’m totally not a together person if my countertops are covered.

 

[dp797]

@dhfan Good ideas! Thanks! We also keep a literal box in the back of the car for extra clothes way better than trying to remember to pack them every time we try to get out of the house!

We are still in an apartment for a few more months but I can’t WAIT to send my kids outside!