Parenting short cuts - things you skip or do the bare minimum on

[Anonymous]

I'm 19:46. DS is now in high school. I have never once reviewed his homework or helped him with homework or looked at his homework. Like, I've never laid eyes on his homework in 12 years of school.

[Anonymous]

I only have 2 kids.

[Anonymous]

- All toys fit into a space that is 4ft x 1.5 ft x 3ft.. If it can't fit on the shelf in a cubby box it disappears.

- repurposed a free ikea furniture part into a cubby for kids coats.

- shoes by the door. no shoes in the house

[Anonymous]

First marriage for both DH and I, only kids are our own kids. I don't think I could hack the whole step-parent gig.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I only have 2 kids.

+1 But I only had one. Huge time saver!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a rotation of 4 meals that we cycle through.

It makes grocery shopping easy, straightforward and cooking is very fast. We buy fresh fruits in season and minor variations in vegetables but 90% of the time it’s broccoli or green beans. Once or twice a week we get take out for variety, but the 4 meal rotation has gone over well with the family.

My husband has food trauma as a result of his mom doing this as a kid.

[Anonymous]

I double-sheet all the beds. Meaning, our queen size bed and our preschooler and toddler have these layers on their beds:
Waterproof mattress protector, sheet, waterproof mattress protector, sheet.
It saves me space, so I do not need to store those extra sheets/protectors (but of course I have some additional extras stored).
It saves so much stress/time when, in the middle of the night, a child is sick, has vomited, had peed through pull-ups, etc. Just take off the one combo layer and there's a clean sheet!

I learned this trick from a potty training book but I am using for all of us, forever!

[Anonymous]

All young kids under 5.

1. Grocery delivery. I place the order in the evening and have it dropped off early in the morning. I haven’t been to a grocery store in ages.

2. Frozen pizza, pb&js, or a filling snack plate of meats, cheese, crackers etc for dinner sometimes

3. Electric toothbrushes for the older kids and teaching them to brush early. The electric toothbrush gets more done in less time

4. I don’t fold the kids’ clothes

5. I rotate toys so all toys aren’t out at all times and they can’t create a huge mess I have to help clean up

6. Very, very few classes, playgroups or planned activities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a rotation of 4 meals that we cycle through.

It makes grocery shopping easy, straightforward and cooking is very fast. We buy fresh fruits in season and minor variations in vegetables but 90% of the time it’s broccoli or green beans. Once or twice a week we get take out for variety, but the 4 meal rotation has gone over well with the family.

My husband has food trauma as a result of his mom doing this as a kid.

lol what is that? Like actual trauma or he doesn’t like lasagne because he ate it too much as a kid? NP

[Anonymous]

No sticker charts, bribes, punishments, time outs, enforcing taking turns, making kids share, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No sticker charts, bribes, punishments, time outs, enforcing taking turns, making kids share, etc.

How old are your kids and how do you get them to listen? I do a lot of bribing but would love an alternative that worked

[Anonymous]

Wow I’m oscillating between admiration and deep sadness for some of these kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I only have 2 kids.

+1 But I only had one. Huge time saver!

+1 one child plus two parents is a good ratio.

Plus DH & I specialize in a lot of tasks. Laundry piling up drives him crazy, so the only laundry I do is mine. I handle grocery shopping, school drop off, camps, long-term planning. He does school pick up, dishwasher emptying, bedtime.

[Anonymous]

I never do party favors. Like not once with three kids.

[Anonymous]

Not brushing baby teeth isn't a hack, it's totally foul. And some of those baby teeth are molars that hang around until age 10 or so.