Being a mom, wife, and adult in general can be completely exhausting. If you try to do it all, you will be found dead, basically beneath a pile of laundry. Moms have to figure out how to sufficiently cut corners.
These mom life hacks can help tame the chaos!
Get up early.
Even if its only ten minutes, getting up before you have to get up can give you the moment of peace you need before you start your day as a mom. However, if that’s not for you, stay up ten minutes later than normal. Lately I’ve been finding myself doing both. I may spend my time doing a workout video, drinking a cup of coffee, or just scrolling through my phone. It’s alone time that I need, and look forward to.
Mom Guilt Free Hacks
Buy disposable products.
I buy paper plates, use them often, and ignore the guilt of not taking care of the environment. On the bright side I am saving water, right? It really cuts down on how many dishes I have to do.
$5 Meal Plan.
More often than not, mom is the one in charge of dinner. Meal planning is great and all until you actually sit down to do it. Eventually you decide that you’ll just eat frozen pizza and hot dogs for the rest of your lives! My husband and I have given up on going out to dinner because: KIDS. Luckily, I have found a website that will actually meal plan for me. And bonus, its not bizarre recipes with ingredients I’ve never heard of, or concoctions my kids and husband are going to refuse to touch.
It’s realistic and delicious.
Each Friday I receive a printable email of my meal plan. The plan includes a menu and …wait for it…, an organized shopping list. Menus include 5 dinners (with sides) including one freezer friendly, one slow cooker, and one 20 minute meal. On top of that they include 1 lunch and one breakfast (Hello Sunday morning) plus a bonus like a dessert, beverage, or snack. I just want to put an exclamation mark at the end of every sentence. This plan has been a life saver in my household.
Laundry Today, or Naked Tomorrow
Do all the laundry in one day.
For years I’ve tried to develop systems which kept the laundry from piling up on me. Systems which had me doing a little bit of laundry each day, but HELLO?! Who wants to do the laundry everyday?! What was I thinking?! Now, I do all the washing, folding, and putting away in one day, and its done for the whole frickin week. I have found a much better way! Read about my laundry hack here!
Downy Wrinkle Spray will change your life.
Wrinkle Spray everything, I really should just get rid of my iron at this point. It works great, it smells great, and my husband no longer asks me to iron his clothes, GREAT! Often I spray cloths as I put them away. One bottle lasts us a good while too. Easy peasy for this mom.
Put your child’s clothes away as outfits.
I have to leave for work pretty early in the morning. Everyone is still asleep when I head out the door. The day I realized my husband would be responsible for dressing our kids I decided it’d be easier, on all parties involved, if outfits were already put together. When I fold clothes, I match tops and bottoms, iron them *wink, *wink, and fold them, together.
Pick your battles as the mom.
One battle I don’t fight, is meals with my toddler. He is a snacker, and I’m ok with that. If he wants to eat crackers all day, go for it. I made him a snack cabinet because he was having a hard time telling us what he wanted, which was leading to meltdowns. Now he can eat when he’s hungry, and tell me exactly what he wants. For example, if he wants me to make him some cheese grits he knows to get out a pack of grits, if he wants a yogurt from the refrigerator he shows me the (empty) box I put in his cabinet.
Invest in a Roomba.
I decided to get a Roomba when my baby started picking up things to put in his mouth. Its programmable so I just run it while we are away at work, and everyday it looks like someone just vacuumed. #winning
Adopt a dog.
Get a dog, not a puppy, we found ours on the side of the road. His name is Buddy. He actually had to be sedated so the vet could cut all of his matted fur off. Buddy really helps with the messes, especially the ones under the high chair!
Create a toy system.
I recently conquered the toys in our house and it has been amazing. My kids are actually playing with their toys, and there’s no huge mess at the end of the day.
I’m not lazy, I’m busy…busy as a mom.
Online grocery pick up and Amazon Prime.
If it cant be delivered to my house or picked up without me getting out of the car, we don’t need it. I’m not lazy, I’m busy.
Schedule dinners.
We have weekly dinners with my family on Tuesday nights and my husbands family on Wednesday nights, thats two nights a week that I don’t have to worry about what’s for dinner.
Meal Services.
In my hometown there is a woman that creates a weekly menu of dinners. You comment on her Facebook post what you would like to order. And every Wednesday you go to her home, Venmo her, and pick up your meals. When I have worked all day, and then hit the gym or dance class etc, it is so nice to already have something “real” that I only have to heat up. Facebook is a great way to find services like this close to your home.
Fake BM’s.
Every once in a while, or twice a day, you have to fake a BM and retreat to the bathroom. Just to take a break, decompress, and recharge your sanity. Bonus, if you take a snack with you, you don’t have to share.
Every once in a while, you have to fake a BM.
Keep baby wipes on the counter.
I randomly found myself with an extra baby wipe container, and decided to keep it in the kitchen. Wet wipes are great for messy mouths and hands, sticky counters, and runny noses. It helps me keep the kitchen, and my kids clean.
Pick it up now or pick it up later.
Sorry not sorry, but you’ve got to face the fact that your fairy god mother isn’t showing up to do that heap of dishes in the sink. Sometimes I just give myself a little pep talk because in reality, all the little tasks in the house like doing the dishes or cleaning up toys doesn’t even take 5 whole minutes to do.
Thank you so much for reading my post.
Do you have any mom life hacks?
Leave a Reply