The whole “hack” phenomena kind of passed me by.
I am not sure how or when it originated.
I think the first time I came across the idea was when I found some “IKEA hacks” on Pinterest.
Anyway, I like the idea.
Who doesn’t love make their life easier? Better?
Here are some hacks that I have used along the way.
I like to think of them as moments of parental brilliance.
1. Go ahead and feed your baby messy food in the tub.
We have an extendable hose thing in the tub so pop the baby in the bumbo, put the bumbo in the tub, after feeding hose the baby and the seat down…a full and clean baby…time to nap!
2. A crib sheet over your port-o-cot can help provide a bit of shade and keep bugs away if your baby is outside or on a verandah.
2. Use a pizza cutter to cut your toddler’s toast into triangles squares, hexagons, seven pieces…whatever the order of the day is.
A pizza cutter makes it easy and doesn’t squish the bread the way a knife does.
Although you probably still won’t do it right and your toddler will demand a re do.
3. There are millions of uses for pool noodles.
Cut a segment and put them around a door so the door can’t shut.
Use them to baby proof the corners of your coffee table.
You can tuck them in around the outside of a big boy bed to prevent your little one from falling out.
Zip ties are also handy.
Two that I haven’t tried but wish I had and fully plan to.
1. Using a glue gun to plug up the holes in bath toys so water can’t get in and get all mouldy. This is a huge problem in our house as we live in QLD where everything grows mould and as my child likes to drink bathwater.
2. When working on night time potty training, layer some dog training pads, a fitted sheet, some dog training pads, a fitted sheet so Heather Spohr from The Spohrs Are Multiplying placed wee wee pads underneath her child’s fitted sheet to protect the mattress from accidents. She actually double layers them — one layer of wee wee pads, one fitted sheet, one layer of wee wee pads, another fitted sheet — so that she could remove the top layer after bed-wetting without having to re-fit the bed. A serious time and sleep saver during a challenging time.
Save half eaten bananas, freeze them…wham bam smoothies!
Set an iPhone alarm for everything!
Pack lunch the night before!