I need to make my life significantly easier -- "hacks" to make life, and parenting life, easier?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm 1st tri pregnant and just could do it all anymore. So I started going to bed at 8pm when I put the kids down. I'd read a bit and then fall asleep. I just wanted to say that everything seemed to get easier. I felt less overwhelmed because I was getting 11 hours of sleep. I just overlook the mess everywhere...

So OP maybe you just need a break. I feel like if there's anything I need right now, it's a vacation to a tropic island where I just lay in the sun all day. Clearly that's not happening, but sleeping lots can happen.

+1

[Anonymous]

Yeah I got home from work, breastfed the baby, let my older kids use devices and ordered cheesesteaks for dinner. Maybe I’ll do some dishes....maybe not. Feeling pretty chill.

If you do need more time, skipping DCUM saves quite a bit. I’ve also made a master grocery list by aisle that I print every week. That really helped.

But others have it right....the solution is to care less. I don’t clean very often. It’s fine. The house is totally acceptable as it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have a set two-week meal rotation, one grocery list for each week in an app. No need to think about meals or your grocery list.

Let your house be messy.

Don't fold laundry.

This post made my palms sweat. What do you do with your laundry if you don't fold it?!?

DP. You leave it in a laundry basket and pull stuff out as you want to wear it.

NP. I hang up all clothes that I wear. The rest just goes in their particular drawer not folded. Like the leggings drawer, the PJ drawer, the workout drawer, the underwear drawer, sock drawer. Laundry is super duper easy here. And hanging keeps everything looking nice.

Np, WOW. Impressed. Have lived the 'leave it in a basket' method but have not tried this one. Excited to try it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm 1st tri pregnant and just could do it all anymore. So I started going to bed at 8pm when I put the kids down. I'd read a bit and then fall asleep. I just wanted to say that everything seemed to get easier. I felt less overwhelmed because I was getting 11 hours of sleep. I just overlook the mess everywhere...

So OP maybe you just need a break. I feel like if there's anything I need right now, it's a vacation to a tropic island where I just lay in the sun all day. Clearly that's not happening, but sleeping lots can happen.

+1

This is a great idea.

Also, giving myself permission to serve my husband and kids Trader Joe’s frozen meals every day of the week was a game-changer. I now cook real food about five nights a week but that was a bad year and Trader Joe’s saved my sanity. And I didn’t actually spend more on food, somehow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure how old your kids are, but whatever the age, there are always things that they can be responsible for (unless they’re a 4yo toddler, in which case, I can’t even).

I have also designated a space in the fridge where satisfying snacks and easy lunch options go. My headspace is so much clearer when I don’t have to continually read off today’s specials to demanding diners; I can just tell them to go look in the drawer.

Ha! This is OP. She just turned 4, and I’m a single mom with no family to escape to. But I’m listening to all of the suggestions! And she does have a few hours of childcare each day, so I have that. But the rush between picking her up and dinner (when there are often still work meetings in there), and then bath and bed is just TOO MUCH lately. And then she’s in bed and I need to do dishes and laundry and shop for groceries. So you’re asking what’s too hard. None of it individually is hard or time consuming. I feel like I had it all pretty streamlined before covid. But now that work and childcare are so all-consuming (because they bleed into each other), there’s just zero time for the rest of it.

Four year olds can be slightly useful at some activities if they're doing them with you. For example, sorting clothes, or picking up toys. This also starts setting them up for actual practical labor as they start getting more capable with age.

[Anonymous]

OP, get her an iPad or better as it has more on it, a kids kindle fire when its on sale as it has free time and a warranty. You can set it she has to read specific amount before she gets the fun stuff...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have a set two-week meal rotation, one grocery list for each week in an app. No need to think about meals or your grocery list.

Let your house be messy.

Don't fold laundry.

Please share your meal planning list! Please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please don't use paper plates as a default. Such a waste. It's not hard to wash 4 plates when other things are going to go in the dishwasher.

water isn't cheap either.

Do you run the dishwasher just for 4 plates? If you are going to run it then what's the big difference in adding the plates to it?

Using paper plates every day IS a wasteful hack. It's going to end in a landfill and do you think no water was used in the production and transportation of the plates?

People who use paper plates usually don’t cook either. So nothing needs to go in the dishwasher. Think NYC studio apartment lifestyle.

[Anonymous]

I've given my kids more responsibilities around the house since both DH and I WAHM full time and I have a chronic disease. 7yo helps empty dishwasher each day (with big sis), takes out recycling, folds his own laundry and puts dirty laundry in washing machine, transfers to dryer. Puts his own dishes in dishwasher, helps big sis clean bathroom, sets table.

I was a lazy child and didn't want my kids to follow in my footsteps. Also, after speaking with a friend from another country who cooked meals while her mom worked when she was 5 years old, I realized kids have the capacity to do more than we think they can do. My kids still have plenty of downtime even with those chores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have a set two-week meal rotation, one grocery list for each week in an app. No need to think about meals or your grocery list.

Let your house be messy.

Don't fold laundry.

This post made my palms sweat. What do you do with your laundry if you don't fold it?!?

DP. You leave it in a laundry basket and pull stuff out as you want to wear it.

NP. I hang up all clothes that I wear. The rest just goes in their particular drawer not folded. Like the leggings drawer, the PJ drawer, the workout drawer, the underwear drawer, sock drawer. Laundry is super duper easy here. And hanging keeps everything looking nice.

Np, WOW. Impressed. Have lived the 'leave it in a basket' method but have not tried this one. Excited to try it!

Pp here. I kept fighting my kids but then one day was like - WHY?!? Leggings don’t wrinkle and neither do jeans. Hanging the shirts and dresses means we all look presentable. Pj drawer is like whatever. Dhs workout shirts are all spandex too so it’s not like they wrinkle.

Oh and the best hack with this is that my 4 year old puts all the laundry in everyone’s drawers. All I have to do is hang.

[Anonymous]

Chucking at all the pearl-clutching about paper plates from people who probably used disposable diapers. There are other reasons people don't use cloth, I get it, but...

[Anonymous]

Why cook? You can have fruit, veggies, cheese and crackers, etc. your daughter will love you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why cook? You can have fruit, veggies, cheese and crackers, etc. your daughter will love you.

Do breakfast for dinner once a week. It's my kid's favorite. Another night we do soup and sandwiches.

[Anonymous]

I do most of my meal prep on Sunday. I cook soups, cut veggies, and grill chicken for weeknight dinners and it makes things so much easier and healthier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure how old your kids are, but whatever the age, there are always things that they can be responsible for (unless they’re a 4yo toddler, in which case, I can’t even).

I have also designated a space in the fridge where satisfying snacks and easy lunch options go. My headspace is so much clearer when I don’t have to continually read off today’s specials to demanding diners; I can just tell them to go look in the drawer.

Ha! This is OP. She just turned 4, and I’m a single mom with no family to escape to. But I’m listening to all of the suggestions! And she does have a few hours of childcare each day, so I have that. But the rush between picking her up and dinner (when there are often still work meetings in there), and then bath and bed is just TOO MUCH lately. And then she’s in bed and I need to do dishes and laundry and shop for groceries. So you’re asking what’s too hard. None of it individually is hard or time consuming. I feel like I had it all pretty streamlined before covid. But now that work and childcare are so all-consuming (because they bleed into each other), there’s just zero time for the rest of it.

When my kids were little and I had to pick them up from daycare, then come home and make dinner. . .I had a 14 year old neighbor come to my house an hour before I got home. She would fold my laundry, set the table and start the pasta water/preheat oven, etc. Then when I got home she played with the kids while I made dinner. She ate with us, helped with the dishes and went home. 2-3 hours at $12 an hour. She stayed 3 years and it was the best spent money!