Top parenting tip you wish you'd known earlier

[Fantasisa]

My children are swimmers and for years I have battled with swimming pool showers, queuing, attempting to get conditioner out of their hair etc and putting clothes back on to damp bodies it has been a real lowlight of my week.

Now I just dry them off, chuck those towel hoodies over them, stick crocs on their feet and shower them at home. For me it has been a game-changer and I WISH I had done this from the start.

What tip would have made your life easier?

Don't have kids.
That would have made things a LOT easier.
Damn.

My three would always whine for drinks at the start of a long car journey, gulp it down and then need a wee two minutes later. Now I freeze the drinks for them the night before. Takes them ages to get through it!

But what about the 6 months of the year when it’s too cold to sit in a car naked, damp and with just a hooded towel on?
We went swimming the other day and it was freezing cold when we got outside.

Towel wrapped round them as an extra layer and into car and put the heating on. It isn't far for us from pool to car which helps. We have had a very mild winter here too which has also helped.

That baby vests have a neck that allows them to be pulled down to be taken off. Manys a time I dealth with poo explosions and made a terrible mess taking them off over the child's head. Until my health visitor told me how to do it!

If the baby / child is somewhere safe, it’s fine to leave them for a little while, go to the next room and calm down.

Tell annoying people to fuck off. Saves so much time and hassle.

Along with don't listen to any parenting advice.

When someone gives you unsolicited advice just say "thank you I will think about that" you don't have to actually act on it and they shut up.
Applies to any situation not just parenting.

^agree. Im 37 weeks pregnant and the amount of unsolicited advice I get is annoying. Some of it good, most of it rubbish.

Take care of yourself. It sounds cliched and simplistic but the number of parents I know who run themselves into the ground trying to be everything to everyone is astounding. When friends/family offer help, take it.

Say no to people when you need to. Don't justify your 'no' to them, just "no, that doesn't suit" and let it wash over you.

There can be an edge of competitiveness over parenting and you have to try your best not to engage - nobody gives a shit when your DC potty trained once they're through that stage, yet when my NCT group met it's all anyone talked about - looking back I honestly spent so much energy worrying that the DC should have been doing x, y and z because someone else's child was. DS1 is 14 now and genuinely over the last 12 years not one person has asked me when he potty trained and I feel quite put out by that given how important it seemed at the time.

Do not listen to other parents announcing that their child plays Chopin on the harmonica or speaks toddler Portuguese. Don't even think about trying to keep up with what other parents say theirs can do; it's either nonsense, exaggerated or just downright pointless.

Buy a small fish net from a pet shop. Your child will shit in the bath, probably more than once. You will need the fish net so you don't have to use the kitchen colander to scoop the poopnuts. Enjoy that precious time.

Save the battles for those that really need winning. Makes life easier and when you don't battle often they tend to realise it's serious and don't put up so much of a fight.
When cross don't raise your voice instead lower the volume so the child has to listen carefully to what you say.
Even the infuriating bits tend to be a phase just know that it will seem like a blink of an eye before they are all grown up and leaving home and you look back fondly on these phases.

Shouting at little children is not just pointless but counterproductive, and will only make you feel like crap.

@hiredandsqueak I was going to say this. Pick your battles. Some are just pointless.

Stock up on freezer meals before baby arrives!! The only reason I ate in the first few weeks is because my friends stocked up my freezer with cooked meals. Utterly priceless.

You take your kids home wrapped just in a hoodie towel? Are they naked underneath?

If you Hand them a juice carton with a straw, tell them to put the straw in their mouth before you let them hold it. It stops the juice being squeezed all over them. I was in my third child before I figured this.

With teenagers, when they ask if they can do something/go somewhere don't just say no (even if it is a ridiculous request) 9 times out of ten the party doesn't actually happen anyway/they change their mind about wanting to go somewhere and you don't end up being the bad guy.

Pick your battles definitely. Does it really matter if ds wears his wellies home from nursery, rather than shoes. Nah, not really. Does it matter if he spends 12 hours straight watching thomas the tank engine on a saturday? Yes, definitely, so worth dealing with the tantrum over.

Also just accept that sleep will not be what it once was. Trying to hang onto the idea of a decent night sleep will wear you down. You're better off accepting the fact of broken sleep and trying to find a moment of pleasure in your 4am wake up call.

Tell annoying people to fuck off. Saves so much time and hassle

Along with don't listen to any parenting advice

Totally. It would have saved me a lot of stress and worry if I had done this.
Constant advice from people wirhout children telling me I was doing it all wrong & I was making a rod for my own back.

My confidence was zero as dp had run off and turned my world upside down in 12 hours.

I was constantly being told I was selfish to not have time for everyone.

Rant over!

That baby vests have a neck that allows them to be pulled down to be taken off.

This isn't true though. They have envelope shoulders because babies have big heads.

I tried the whole 'pull the vest down after a poonami' and all that happened was the poo ended up all down his legs, over his feet and kicked everywhere.
I'd rather it up the back of his head, it's easier to keep still and clean!

@LynetteScavo if you lift the little wings and push the top together a bit it stops it spitting out

Honestly life is too short make it fun spend time with your kids they’ll thank you for it later!

You take your kids home wrapped just in a hoodie towel? Are they naked underneath?

What’s the problem with that?! They’d be just as naked underneath clothing!

lynette another tip for drink cartons is before you put the straw in, pull the little triangle flaps up then train your DC to automatically hold it by the flaps rather than the main carton.

Also, surely onesies would be a better option after swimming?

Wish I had known about the baby vest thing before DD5. I have been known to cut vests off so poo hasn’t gone all over their little heads!

I stick mine in a cosy onesie and take them home to shower. You can never get near the showers and trying to wash dd6’s hair with a struggling toddler under one arm is not easy.