Parenting is a tough job. It keeps you on your toes all the time and catches you off guard in the most inappropriate situations.
There are numerous books and studies that claim to hit the nail on the head as far as the art of parenting is concerned. You will, however, have to agree that there’s never a foolproof method that can promise you a stress-free parenting journey. That being said, there are always certain parenting tips and hacks that can simplify things for you. They can help you focus on the greater dilemmas that come along with being a parent (for example, tactfully handling a situation where your little one calls a lady on the street “fat”).
Here are seven parenting hacks that’ll (hopefully) make your life easier:
Plan, Plan And Plan
This may come across as a no-brainer, but there’s truly nothing that can ease your parenting burden other than good planning. Planning your schedule the first thing in the morning is the best way to ensure that your day goes smooth, leaving you with enough time for every activity that requires your attention, including spending quality time with family. This practice can also make you a lot calmer and happier than before.
Use Old Phones To Keep Your Kid Entertained
Kids these days are major technology aficionados. They enjoy playing with gadgets more than they fancy outdoor play. That also means that your phones and tabs are hardly yours anymore, and you often have to run to the service centre to get them fixed. To avoid this, you can give your child your old phone that he can use to keep himself engaged with music, pictures and games, without causing repeated damage to your phone.
Turn Clean Up Into A Game
Getting your child to help you clean up can be a herculean task, but what if you turned it into a fun game? Hand your child a large bag, a broom and mark a territory with scotch tape, asking him to collect all the junk in that area within a stipulated time (say, 10 minutes). Once he’s done collecting all the junk, reward him with a little treat.
Rub Vicks On Your Kid’s Socks To Prevent Night-time Coughs
Does your child experience night-time coughs and suffer a disturbed sleep? You can give him some relief by making him wear socks with Vicks rubbed on them. Doing this is sure to give him sound sleep (and you too!)
Make Healthy Foods “Look” Appetizing With Sprinkles
Worried that in pursuit of satisfying your fussy eater’s tastebuds, you’re compromising on his wholesome nutrition? You can finally ditch your concerns by investing in a pack of sprinkles. Add sprinkles to your child’s food, may it be a bowl of green salad, a smoothie or fruits, and watch him polish it off like it’s his favourite thing to eat!
Keep The Car Stashed With Activity Books
Long car journeys are never pleasant when you’re travelling with your child. Kids tend to get impatient too quickly and in the bargain, end up testing your patience with their constant rants about how bored they are. You can, however, reduce the frequency of your child’s complaints by making sure you equip your car with many activity books including puzzles, colouring pages, interactive reading, etc. You can also encourage your child to follow the practice of documenting the details of your travel in a journal and decorate it with stickers, drawings and pictures.
Prevent Medicine Tantrums With A Lollipop
Kids always create a fuss whenever they need to take their medicines, and look for various tactics to avoid the drill. With this hack, you won’t have to scuttle around the house, behind your child with a spoonful of medicine. All you need to do is keep dipping a lollipop in the medicine and ask your kid to continue sucking on it until the dosage is over. Easy-peasy!
Some of these hacks may already be on your cheat-sheet, and some of them, totally new to you. If you have more fun ways to ease your parenting stress, do share them with us in the comments!
- 7 Parenting Hacks To Make Your Life Easier - September 24, 2015