Ways to streamline motherhood and free up time for yourself
As mums, we are constantly looking for ways to make our hectic lives easier in order to cut down on our fatigue. We might not always get as much help as we need, and at times that village that we always hear about doesn’t seem to exist. This is where mum hacks come in, you know those awesome little snippets of advice that can only come from living the life. We have put just a few of our favourites together for you.
Help your child put their shoes on by themselves
You are running late for the school run and your child has just put their shoes on the wrong foot, the solution? Cut a big sticker in half and place one half in each shoe. When your child puts your shoes on they will know which shoe goes on the right foot, providing of course they are paying the slightest bit of attention!
Summer bubbles
Who doesn’t love bubbles? What can go wrong, other than sticky hands, or tears when they drop their bottle and all the contents are emptied onto the floor. Well here’s the perfect mum hack for bubble playtime! Tape the big bottles around a pole, a tree, or even a table leg, that way there is no running around with the bottle and no risk of falling.
Snack pots
Make life easier on the go with our kids silicone snack pots.
What makes them different? If your child drops their snackpot the food will stay contained thanks to the cleverly designed top which allows your child to easily dip their hand in for a treat. They really do make snacks on the go so much more convenient, and what’s more, they even collapse for easier storage in your baby bag.
Toy storage Mum hacks
Our houses are overflowing with toys, here there, and everywhere! It doesn’t matter if it’s the living room, the kitchen, the bedroom, kids seem to have no boundaries when it comes to dispersing their toys throughout the house! Let’s look at some toy storage hacks that might help.
Playdough – Why not use a spike rack to hold small tubs of playdough. Your kids will have fun spinning it around and it will also teach them to be a little bit more organised.
Dolls & Barbies – Who knew bookshelves could have so many uses? If you are good at DIY you can create your own made-to-measure shelves to house and organise your child’s doll collection. If DIY isn’t your thing you can find some cheap options at the likes of IKEA.
If you’re not feeling so creative or simply don’t have the time then there is also the option of repurposing a hanging shoe organiser.
Playroom storage mum hacks
We in the middle of creating a playroom for our girls, and actively looking into all the mum hacks related to storage we can find to make cleaning up as easy as possible.
IKEA have some great storage ideas at affordable prices, such as this unit with draws:
Each sliding storage box can be labelled to show what toys are inside, once again teaching your child organisational skills. The great thing about modular shelving such as this is the flexibility they give you. The ability to mix things around means they can be used in almost any room in a number of different ways. With the option of vertical and horizontal units, you can mix and match to your hearts content. The containers themselves are available in a variety of colours. We are choosing white as we like more neutral tones, but if you want to brighten up the room a bit then the sky’s the limit.
Puzzle storage hacks
Big puzzles or board games in boxes can take up so much valuable space, and the boxes invariable become damaged anyway, so check out this hack. In the example below, Lesie from Lamberts Lately used filing bags, but you could also use pencil cases, or for a super cheap option, ziplock bags. Don’t forget to cut the label off the box, or gather the instructions and put it in the bag.
Sports mum hacks
@mrsemilynorris made a TikTok video that clocked up over 600k views. If you have a child who plays sports, particularly football, then this will be all too familiar to you. It’s a wet miserable day but you’re out anyway, supporting your child from the sidelines and watching them getting caked in mud from head to foot, and all you can think of is the state your car will be in at the end. The simple solution, put a cleaning caddy in the footwell of your car and make your child keep their feet in it until you get home! This is about as useful as mum hacks can get!
Ice lolly hack
With the nice weather on it’s way, this mum hack will come in useful when your childs eating a lollypop or ice cream. Simply cut a small hole in a paper cup cake case and push the lollypop stick or end of the cont through the hole. Hey presto, now everything that melts will be collected in the cup cake case leaving your child’s hands as clean as they were when they started!
Glitter cleaning hack
Kids love craft activities, even more so when parents get involved too. Cutting, decorating, glueing stuff, its all fun, but then they ask to take out the glitter! Need I go on? Glitter simply has to be the worst invention known to man when it comes to craft activities, and it quite literally gets everywhere and seems to hang around for months! So how about a great mum hack for cleaning glitter from the floor and table? Get yourself a sticky roller for clothes and roll it over the surface to collect all the glitter, simple!
Mum hacks for a teething baby
And last but not least, we all know how stressful the teething stage can be. Your baby is having difficulty sleeping, they are more cranky, and of course in pain. You’re already wearing a teething necklace that they can nibble on whilst you’re holding them, but sometimes that’s not enough. Calpol can help relieve the pain but if you want a more natural way you can add silicone teethings to the fridge and leave for about an hour. When your baby chews on the chilled teether it will help relieve some pain and take away a bit of the inflamation. NEVER place teethers in the freezer as this can cause freeze burns in your baby’s mouth. You can find a selection of fridge-safe teethers here.
If you have a favourite mum hack you’d like us to add to this article please drop us a line!
