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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]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. [/quote]

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. [/quote]

OP, in terms of dinner - can you streamline it? That means (1) making the same easy meals again and again, (2) picking meals that are mostly already cooked and need little prep, and (3) realizing that cereal is totally ok to eat for dinner! It will help make your grocery shopping and dinner prep easier and faster. It will also help with dishes so instead of having three pots and pans to clean after you put your daughter to bed you can just wipe the counters and wash one thing.

Does she need a bath every night? Now that it's colder outside and kids aren't sweating much, can you maybe at least skip hair some nights to make it easier? Or do a good face wash with a washcloth and hands and then call it a day?

Can you afford to out source laundry? I've never done it but I have friends who have and they swear by it!

Finally, one tip I have is to try to pick certain times to do things so they don't feel like they're hanging over your head all the time. For example, I feel like our mudroom is gross pretty much all the time. Everyone keeps their shoes in there and the dogs eat in there and it just always seems dirty. So, rather than trying to make it clean every day, I have decided that it gets clean on Tuesdays (there's a reason for this - my kids' dirtiest sport is played Friday-Monday). The rest of the week I can let the mess go because I know I'll get to it on Tuesday. Could you do that with things like laundry? Pick a day (or two, depending on how much you wash every week) and that have that be the time you think about laundry. The rest of the week, you can ignore it.[/quote]

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