What are your hacks for being an organized parent during the school year?

[Anonymous]

I have a 5 minute clean-up 2 times a day, when everyone picks up and put 15 things away within 5 minutes. I set a timer. It is easy and things get done. If my house is clean, it is easy to become focused and organized.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've mentioned this before, but with the onslaught of birthday parties for DD's 16 classmates, at the beginning of the year I take DD to Five Below and we pick out about 20 gifts that range from gender specific to gender neutral. We then go to Dollar Tree and buy 20 birthday cards at 2/$1, a few packs of tissue paper, and gift bags. We keep everything in a bin/tote in the closet. When a birthday party comes up, I send DD to the "gift bin" to pick out a gift for her friend, grab a card to sign, and we're good to go.
The whole year costs me about $125 for all of the kids and I save TONS of time shopping.

Brilliant idea!!!!

I first thought five below stuff would be crap, but just went to their website and they have cool stuff that little kids would enjoy:

https://www.fivebelow.com/play/craft-activity-kits.html?___store=default

My kid has received these types of kits as a party favor - recently got the Nickelodeon slime kit. These are not birthday gift quality unless you buy a few.

I agree. Every parent has been to 5 below and it’s crap. The PPs hack is basically being cheap and not caring.

PP here. You seem incredibly bothered and emotionally unstable. If you don't like the gifts my kid gives your kid for their incredibly useless and stupid birthday party, don't invite us. If you were only pretending to celebrate your child in an excuse for a gift grab, then send out a registry in your cheap ass evite. Get a grip Joanne.

New poster: I can't believe this is your answer to someone not agreeing with the gifts. Honestly, they are more favor type gifts. They aren't really the quality of items you would give as a gift for someone's birthday party. Again, I'm totally new to this thread, but just because I believe that, I'm not emotionally unstable, my kids don't have useless and stupid birthday parties, I don't think evite is cheap ass, and my parties aren't a gift grab. You could take away the card (write right on the gift or just regular paper), take away the tissue paper (not needed) and reuse gift bags or get cheap wrapping paper. You could give a few more dollars into each gift and give something a little nicer, especially if you shop ahead. If you buy from Amazon, there is virtually zero time you're spending shopping. Pull up app, type in science kid or spa kit or magic kit or Lego set or whatever, and you have your gift two days later.

No. I cared enough to get up on a weekend morning, forgo better ways to spend the day with my family, drive to whatever unimaginative Chuck E Cheese/Badlands birthday party location you came up with, listen to the exact same insipid conversations and gossip with airhead moms like you, watch my kid be served cardboard pizza and a supermarket cupcake, then fight with my kid on the ride home about throwing away your bullshit "goody bag" filled with whistles and sugary corn syrup candy. Because as sucky as this experience is for me, I love my child. DD has fun and can't wait for the other 15 parties, not including her own. You put in zero effort, but are this unhinged about a gift for a little kid? Because for you, it was really a gift grab after all.

You want more expensive gifts? Save the little bit of money you spent on your Ledo's pizza and buy it for your kid yourself.

You need to rsvp no to these parties.

[Anonymous]

I'll bite: what are social goals?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've mentioned this before, but with the onslaught of birthday parties for DD's 16 classmates, at the beginning of the year I take DD to Five Below and we pick out about 20 gifts that range from gender specific to gender neutral. We then go to Dollar Tree and buy 20 birthday cards at 2/$1, a few packs of tissue paper, and gift bags. We keep everything in a bin/tote in the closet. When a birthday party comes up, I send DD to the "gift bin" to pick out a gift for her friend, grab a card to sign, and we're good to go.
The whole year costs me about $125 for all of the kids and I save TONS of time shopping.

Brilliant idea!!!!

I first thought five below stuff would be crap, but just went to their website and they have cool stuff that little kids would enjoy:

https://www.fivebelow.com/play/craft-activity-kits.html?___store=default

My kid has received these types of kits as a party favor - recently got the Nickelodeon slime kit. These are not birthday gift quality unless you buy a few.

I agree. Every parent has been to 5 below and it’s crap. The PPs hack is basically being cheap and not caring.

PP here. You seem incredibly bothered and emotionally unstable. If you don't like the gifts my kid gives your kid for their incredibly useless and stupid birthday party, don't invite us. If you were only pretending to celebrate your child in an excuse for a gift grab, then send out a registry in your cheap ass evite. Get a grip Joanne.

New poster: I can't believe this is your answer to someone not agreeing with the gifts. Honestly, they are more favor type gifts. They aren't really the quality of items you would give as a gift for someone's birthday party. Again, I'm totally new to this thread, but just because I believe that, I'm not emotionally unstable, my kids don't have useless and stupid birthday parties, I don't think evite is cheap ass, and my parties aren't a gift grab. You could take away the card (write right on the gift or just regular paper), take away the tissue paper (not needed) and reuse gift bags or get cheap wrapping paper. You could give a few more dollars into each gift and give something a little nicer, especially if you shop ahead. If you buy from Amazon, there is virtually zero time you're spending shopping. Pull up app, type in science kid or spa kit or magic kit or Lego set or whatever, and you have your gift two days later.

No. I cared enough to get up on a weekend morning, forgo better ways to spend the day with my family, drive to whatever unimaginative Chuck E Cheese/Badlands birthday party location you came up with, listen to the exact same insipid conversations and gossip with airhead moms like you, watch my kid be served cardboard pizza and a supermarket cupcake, then fight with my kid on the ride home about throwing away your bullshit "goody bag" filled with whistles and sugary corn syrup candy. Because as sucky as this experience is for me, I love my child. DD has fun and can't wait for the other 15 parties, not including her own. You put in zero effort, but are this unhinged about a gift for a little kid? Because for you, it was really a gift grab after all.

You want more expensive gifts? Save the little bit of money you spent on your Ledo's pizza and buy it for your kid yourself.

You need to rsvp no to these parties.

Seriously! This hack is the equivalent of saying that you figured out that you can save so much time if you just eat cereal for dinner every night all year long. It’s inexpensive and easy! Technically true... but my family and I want real food for dinner. And my kid wants to give real gifts to their friends and they look forward to birthday parties.

That said, I absolutely think it’s perfectly fine to RSVP no if birthday parties are causing this much anger and stress in your life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll bite: what are social goals?

This may not apply to everyone but one of our kids is on the autism spectrum and the other is pretty anxious so we have gone through rough patches with both where they felt like they had no friends. During those stages we would talk about setting a goal for inviting people to do things with them every week for example.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Seriously! This hack is the equivalent of saying that you figured out that you can save so much time if you just eat cereal for dinner every night all year long. It’s inexpensive and easy! Technically true... but my family and I want real food for dinner. And my kid wants to give real gifts to their friends and they look forward to birthday parties.

That said, I absolutely think it’s perfectly fine to RSVP no if birthday parties are causing this much anger and stress in your life.

You’re so dramatic and way too invested. You don’t like my hack? Move on and/or adjust it to fit your needs. Your gift grab is pathetic. You probably had a baby shower for each of your Larlas, didn’t you? If you’re that hard up for everyone to supply your kids with toys, go down to a toy drive at Christmas. You’ll make a killing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Seriously! This hack is the equivalent of saying that you figured out that you can save so much time if you just eat cereal for dinner every night all year long. It’s inexpensive and easy! Technically true... but my family and I want real food for dinner. And my kid wants to give real gifts to their friends and they look forward to birthday parties.

That said, I absolutely think it’s perfectly fine to RSVP no if birthday parties are causing this much anger and stress in your life.

You’re so dramatic and way too invested. You don’t like my hack? Move on and/or adjust it to fit your needs. Your gift grab is pathetic. You probably had a baby shower for each of your Larlas, didn’t you? If you’re that hard up for everyone to supply your kids with toys, go down to a toy drive at Christmas. You’ll make a killing.

Someone definitely is dramatic and too invested. Thats’s very true.

[Anonymous]

Teach them to do their own laundry and basics of cooking

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband and I share apps on our phones. We have a shared PW manager that we keep all our passwords in so we can both add money to MySchoolBucks or other kid related stuff. We use ToDoist to track household projects and to-do lists. We have our own lists and shared lists. I use OurGroceries app to keep lists for Costco, Target, Trader Joe’s, Grocery and gift ideas. We have a shared Google Drive with scans of important documents.

Having a spouse who can seamlessly take on part of the mental load of dealing with kid stuff is a huge help.

+ 1

I could have written this post because I use these apps too.

We have recently started to use Amazon Prime to get groceries from Whole Foods too. Very convenient and you get your groceries within an hour.

I’m the app lover. And I use Fresh20 for my weekly meal plan, I use Harris Teeter Fast Lane for groceries. I buy all BD presents on Amazon - with a gift receipt. I have the kid pick the gift out of an Amazon list I update a few times a year. I make a Todoist action item to order it Mon or Tues before the party so that the family has time to return it if needed.

I just made a picture calendar for our kids that shows us what day is gym, Spanish, library, soccer, etc. I am usually able to keep on top of this stuff, but I forgot to pack library books in my kindergartener’s backpack 2 weeks in a row and needed a visual reminder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've mentioned this before, but with the onslaught of birthday parties for DD's 16 classmates, at the beginning of the year I take DD to Five Below and we pick out about 20 gifts that range from gender specific to gender neutral. We then go to Dollar Tree and buy 20 birthday cards at 2/$1, a few packs of tissue paper, and gift bags. We keep everything in a bin/tote in the closet. When a birthday party comes up, I send DD to the "gift bin" to pick out a gift for her friend, grab a card to sign, and we're good to go.
The whole year costs me about $125 for all of the kids and I save TONS of time shopping.

What kind of gifts are under 5.00?

op


She’s buying junk at five below

Wow, why are you so bitchy?

This is really, really cheap unless you are at a Title I school.

No way! The kids don't want junk gifts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Seriously! This hack is the equivalent of saying that you figured out that you can save so much time if you just eat cereal for dinner every night all year long. It’s inexpensive and easy! Technically true... but my family and I want real food for dinner. And my kid wants to give real gifts to their friends and they look forward to birthday parties.

That said, I absolutely think it’s perfectly fine to RSVP no if birthday parties are causing this much anger and stress in your life.

You’re so dramatic and way too invested. You don’t like my hack? Move on and/or adjust it to fit your needs. Your gift grab is pathetic. You probably had a baby shower for each of your Larlas, didn’t you? If you’re that hard up for everyone to supply your kids with toys, go down to a toy drive at Christmas. You’ll make a killing.

The hack - which, essentially, is buying bday gifts ahead of time in bulk, is fine. The critique was the quality of the gifts. That doesn’t make it a gift grab.

Example:
- to a holiday dinner at someone’s house, i show up with one Heineken
- to a friend in the hospital, I bring a fake flower from the dollar store
- to a bday party, I bring a gift that’s pretty cheap and likely not wanted

Just because the gift is kinda meh, doesn’t mean we don’t want your kid there. We do. It isn’t a gift grab. It’s just a little strange that you’re so derogatory the minute someone disagrees with you. Gift is kinda cheap - results in you insulting the venue, adult guests, reason the party was held, etc. let’s say you’re right - your gift is still chintzy. I remember once my daughter got a tub of hair items from five below as a gift. There might have been 20 in there. Every single one broke or frayed within minutes of the gift being opened. They were not useable.

You’ve never said money is an issue so why not open your ears a little, out your defenses down, and hear what people are saying?

[Anonymous]

My preschooler has nightly homework to help with a speech delay. We have a designated spot to do it, plus a special pencil box with pens, stamps, and stickers to get it done. Seems overly simple but before the box, I was always going from room to room looking for these items.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Seriously! This hack is the equivalent of saying that you figured out that you can save so much time if you just eat cereal for dinner every night all year long. It’s inexpensive and easy! Technically true... but my family and I want real food for dinner. And my kid wants to give real gifts to their friends and they look forward to birthday parties.

That said, I absolutely think it’s perfectly fine to RSVP no if birthday parties are causing this much anger and stress in your life.

You’re so dramatic and way too invested. You don’t like my hack? Move on and/or adjust it to fit your needs. Your gift grab is pathetic. You probably had a baby shower for each of your Larlas, didn’t you? If you’re that hard up for everyone to supply your kids with toys, go down to a toy drive at Christmas. You’ll make a killing.

The hack - which, essentially, is buying bday gifts ahead of time in bulk, is fine. The critique was the quality of the gifts. That doesn’t make it a gift grab.

Example:
- to a holiday dinner at someone’s house, i show up with one Heineken
- to a friend in the hospital, I bring a fake flower from the dollar store
- to a bday party, I bring a gift that’s pretty cheap and likely not wanted

Just because the gift is kinda meh, doesn’t mean we don’t want your kid there. We do. It isn’t a gift grab. It’s just a little strange that you’re so derogatory the minute someone disagrees with you. Gift is kinda cheap - results in you insulting the venue, adult guests, reason the party was held, etc. let’s say you’re right - your gift is still chintzy. I remember once my daughter got a tub of hair items from five below as a gift. There might have been 20 in there. Every single one broke or frayed within minutes of the gift being opened. They were not useable.

You’ve never said money is an issue so why not open your ears a little, out your defenses down, and hear what people are saying?

So my comparing you lack of effort in throwing the party to my lack of effort in choosing something expensive for your Larla is derogatory? You're free to disagree on where I shop for your kid's gifts and you're free to not accept them. But what's actually strange is the fact that you know that I'm spot on with the description of these kids parties (hence the lack of a rebuttal) and your inability to move on. Since you can't - I will.
See you Saturday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who's not a SAHM of only one kid have anything to share? HUGE eye roll

huh?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Seriously! This hack is the equivalent of saying that you figured out that you can save so much time if you just eat cereal for dinner every night all year long. It’s inexpensive and easy! Technically true... but my family and I want real food for dinner. And my kid wants to give real gifts to their friends and they look forward to birthday parties.

That said, I absolutely think it’s perfectly fine to RSVP no if birthday parties are causing this much anger and stress in your life.

You’re so dramatic and way too invested. You don’t like my hack? Move on and/or adjust it to fit your needs. Your gift grab is pathetic. You probably had a baby shower for each of your Larlas, didn’t you? If you’re that hard up for everyone to supply your kids with toys, go down to a toy drive at Christmas. You’ll make a killing.

The hack - which, essentially, is buying bday gifts ahead of time in bulk, is fine. The critique was the quality of the gifts. That doesn’t make it a gift grab.

Example:
- to a holiday dinner at someone’s house, i show up with one Heineken
- to a friend in the hospital, I bring a fake flower from the dollar store
- to a bday party, I bring a gift that’s pretty cheap and likely not wanted

Just because the gift is kinda meh, doesn’t mean we don’t want your kid there. We do. It isn’t a gift grab. It’s just a little strange that you’re so derogatory the minute someone disagrees with you. Gift is kinda cheap - results in you insulting the venue, adult guests, reason the party was held, etc. let’s say you’re right - your gift is still chintzy. I remember once my daughter got a tub of hair items from five below as a gift. There might have been 20 in there. Every single one broke or frayed within minutes of the gift being opened. They were not useable.

You’ve never said money is an issue so why not open your ears a little, out your defenses down, and hear what people are saying?

So my comparing you lack of effort in throwing the party to my lack of effort in choosing something expensive for your Larla is derogatory? You're free to disagree on where I shop for your kid's gifts and you're free to not accept them. But what's actually strange is the fact that you know that I'm spot on with the description of these kids parties (hence the lack of a rebuttal) and your inability to move on. Since you can't - I will.
See you Saturday.

There is actually quite a bit of effort in having a Chuck E. Cheese Party. You wouldn’t know because you probably never have. Are you the one who hosts boring home parties with nothing to do but musical chairs and running around? Those are my worst nightmare! Kids want a fun activity!