Your mum/life hacks?

[Emlou07]

Aibu to want alllllll the 'hacks' for an easy life

Please share

if you have 2 children at the same school buy variations of the uniform. small has grey tights and socks, big has black.makes sorting washing so much easier

At birthday parties sing happy birthday and blow at candles at start of the meal. cut up while they are eating and give as cake for pudding. rather than wrapping in napkins and everyone taking home squashed cake.

keep underwear and pyjamas in the bathroom.

some of these are great, some sound a bit bonkers to me. as an old and jaded mother of adults I have learned:
stop ironing things
do less laundry - re-use and re-wear
freeze chilis and ginger and grate into meals straight from frozen
cook extra and freeze
philadelphia soft cheese makes a quick white sauce for fish pie
kids won't die if they aren't bathed or showered every night.

Lego is tipped out onto a rug or blanket. When it's putting away time 3 corners are gathered and tipped back into the box. This has saved me hours and lots of injuries.

My tip is simple......keep taking the pill.

Marking place, we already do some of these - Pjs or onesie after swimming, advert olympics, bed covers in pillowcase

What is advert olympics???

Pyjamas/onesie after swimming is a great idea. DS swims for a club and trains 6 times a week. They all arrive in onesies for early sessions and leave in them after evening sessions. It’s practical and keeps them warm after training.

Get a radiator dryer rack for each bedroom give each child there own towel that matches there bedroom!! Only have a hand towel in the bathroom, tell them that’s there towel for the week and it there responsibility to hang it up in there bedroom after they have used it. Lock the towel cupboard!! Teenagers become a nightmare with towels they think they should have a clean one each time they shower!, told my lot it’s not a blxxdy hotel!!
,,

Sorry, what is "leftover wine"?

Freeze meals like Bolognese in a large ziptop bag. If you freeze it flat, several portions can be stored on top of each other. It is far quicker to defrost than in Tupperware and if you need it quickly you can partially defrost the bag under a hot tap and then finish it off in a bowl in the microwave.

Few people have mentioned freezing food in zip top bag. Why is this better than just the resealable ones? Thanks!

Loving this thread...

Firstly my fave, when u go swimming and you want a wee, don't bother pulling the whole swim suit down just pull the crotch bit to one side then pull back once you've you've, saves pulling a soggy cold cossie back up your body again.

I second the onsie thing with swimming lessons. Every child at our swim club wears a onesie to go home in. I even bring slippers for ds. He is 5 and couldn't give a toss that he's in a onesie.

I use disposable shower caps over my buggy wheels as we got a dog 6 weeks ago and I'm forever trudging through mud and sh*t and the boot was getting filthy. Lifesaver. A hard brush always helps to clean the wheels off before hand.

A spray mop changed my life, I never mopped before when I had the usual mop bucket set up, now I have a vileda mop that has an opening at the top end where I put in some Zoflora and hot water. I always mop daily now because it's a breeze. The spray mop is no good for massive spills of liquid however...still need a normal mop for that.

Tuff tray or similar for kids crafts at home
....basically a massive plastic tray that plasterer use to mix up plaster or whatever. Can be bought on Amazon or in hardware stores. Mines been a godsend it's huge so kids mostly keep their play sand/paints/glitter/blocks/water inside the tray, floors rarely end up messy, much easier to clean and as it's flat I store it up against the wall in our garage.

No-brainer but always do school items straight away, money for school trips, donations etc put straight into school bag so it can't be forgotten.

Most people know but toys in the dishwasher (especially duplo but anything plastic or similar)

I pack a mini ruck sack with a little outfit for dd all rolled up as a previous poster said. It rolls tiny but so handy to have to hand.

I also do busy bags for when were at restaurants and I want to keep my little ones busy...shamless plug here...

Have millions but can't remember them all now

Multiple laundry baskets for different washes- we currently have whites, dark colours and light colours but I'm probably going to add a red things one too soon.

Label boxes to go in the attic on all sides, not just on top or one side.

If you have a wee one still in nappies, keep some spare nappies and wipes by the front door so that you can grab them as you leave the house

White board in the kitchen. We use it to meal plan for the week. Also use it as a giant to do list with the chores for each week: means dh and I know what needs doing and can get on with it whenever we have a spare five minutes

Mop slippers changed my life

Keep a bag of spares in the car. Our summer bag of hats, sunglasses, suncream has just been replaced with our winter bag of gloves, scarves, hats.
Means if we're running late we can jump in the car and go knowing winter essentials are in the boot. Or if we're not dressed for the cold but stop off somewhere on the way home we can all stay warm.

The under stairs cupboard is solely for school related things.

Each dc has a row of 4 pegs. Tie, blazer, coat and reading bag have their own pegs so there is no more faffing about in the mornings trying to find a missing tie for example.

I also have a spare generic tie so if one of the dc comes home wearing their dinner I can substitute the tie.

Rucksacks and school shoes go in a plastic tub in the bottom.

My kids have colours as well- even their nametapes are colour coded so I can tell who owns an article just by looking at it. Socks have the relevant colour dot sharpied on the inside hem.

DH and I both wear plain black socks. Don't even bother putting them in pairs they go in a basket in our wardrobe.

They both have a what do I need to take to school on what day list laminated on the inside cupboard door so they should can sort their own school stuff out.

Each dc has 5 sets of school uniform including skirt/trousers. My life is too short to be washing uniform mid week.

If I can get more than one days wear out of a set of uniform I see it as a bonus.

take a photo of your car reg for when you have to enter the reg number at parking pay machines and the car is 5 floors away.

freeze packets of chicken breasts and thighs separately. Cut one or two breasts into pieces so save time defrosting and preparing stirfrys/currys.

Cut up sausages before freezing if you only use one or two.

Hang clothes directly onto hangers on the line, instead of pegging.

Clothes bundles sorted for the week while sorting and putting away washing
Vest, socks, pants, t-shirt, jumper and trousers for each day for toddler
Pack bags into car night before.
Make next days sandwiches while cooking dinner.
Go in each room and do the most urgent thing. Think what would I be horrified at if so and so dropped by and saw this room right now.
Only put 3 things on your to do list and don't make another one til they're done
Keep about £5 change in the car incase you forget your wallet. Can use for petrol, lunch, parking meters.
Use a key hook and always put your keys on it.
Have a drawer for Important Stuff like passports, concert tickets, appointment letters etc. Go there first when looking for things

@TinselAngel that was my question too!

I'm still in the baby/toddler stage - filing a lot of these for future reference.

Mine would be: no matter how tired you are, make sure the changing bag is restocked before you go to bed. You don't need to be chasing around for nappies and snacks in the morning while an over energetic toddler trashes the house clamouring to get to the park (nor realise when dealing with a baby poonami in cafe loos that you didn't replace the spare babygrow after the last 'incident'!)

Set the timer and get the kids to tidy their stuff before we go out, to the shops, the park wherever. They are keen to leave the house, so tidy up quickly.

Cooking swede whole in its skin in the microwave to make mash. I will never peel a swede again.

Having a dedicated string-tie bag per child per activity. Once the gear is washed, it goes straight in the string bag. One thing less to worry about when trying to leave the house on time.

That is such an obvious but brilliant idea! How distracting are phones! Iam terrible! Must try this more often... my god my house will sparkle!

You can also microwave or roast butternut squash in it's skin and eat the skin, save having to peel it.

Only time I wouldn't do this was if it was to go into soup as I imagine you get tough or papery bits of skin remaining in the soup.

I can’t get the excitement over the pesto hack.

Once opened pesto has storage of 2-4 weeks. Why not just use it on that time? Freezing in little cubes seems like a waste of freezer space and an utter faff!