Parenting Cheats

[delasi]

No idea if this has been done before but I have just completed my first ever 24 hours completely alone with DS it's not pathetic, honest and it was great and lovely. And tiring. And I got remarkably little else done. I realised I have very little in my arsenal of parenting go-to's and considering DS will keep growing and we hope to have more DCs, I think I need to grow my cheat sheet.

So far, I have:

• Lie down when you're playing. It's oddly relaxing.
• Always give DC a bit of what you're eating. It makes you both happy and you get to eat a hot meal.
• If it's one of 'those' days, and you're watching the clock (not that I ever would, ahem), and it's vaguely close to bedtime, start now and take your time with the wind down routine.
• Bringing DC into bed in the morning is a bit like having a lie in, even if it does occasionally result in a child on your face.

Please add your cheats/tips to the list, anything parenting related, for any ages and for any number of DCs. I need to be better prepared!

Disney junior online has a "mousercise" video which lasts ages and I use this to cook dinner with DS in his highchair happily watching it. It's good for him to learn at such a young age how important exercise is so i d not feel at all guilty.

In desperate times I used to ask dc if they wanted to lie in bed with me and play with the ipad. They would watch a film or netflix quite happily while I'd get 20 or 30 mins to doze.

Ready rolled pastry can be used in soooo many ways to make dinner or treats. Though quick and easy does not feel like a ready meal and also very appropriate to give guests, adult and toddler alike. Todays lunch made in about 90 second while holding crying baby just by putting a few things from the fridge on top and sticking in the oven...

I was making pastry the other day and I gave DD (nearly 4) a lump to play with a rolling pin and some small biscuit cutters. We got quiche for dinner and she made "cookies"- win, win!

I only wash my DD's hair twice a week...all other times I stick her in the bath with hair tied up in a shower cap.

With my DD (nearly 4) "I bet you can't do such and such before I/ or baby do such and such" works an absolute treat with her getting herself dressed/ up the stairs/ into her car seat etc. I've been doing it for a month or so now and she's showing no signs of getting fed up with it!

Now my DD is a bit older I cover her up well when she it eating and that way a t-shirt/ jeans etc can last a few days...reduces the insane amounts of washing a little bit!

Just thought of another one if I need to brush and plait my DDs hair and she has other ideas I get her attention by telling her I want to tell her a secret and then I plonk her on my lap whilst telling her an elaborate story about the "fairy" I saw in her bedroom last night. She loves it AND doesn't look like she has been dragged through a hedge by the time we reach nursery.

Toddlers love pegs. If it's fine, plonk them on the ground while you peg out the laundry and fold the clean stuff. Show DC how to put pegs on their shirt and leave them to it.

Bath paints are awesome stuff.

Paper one wall with butcher's paper and draw murals.

DS loves getting a "treat" of a shower with daddy - probably every few days.

He hasn't twigged yet that his hair gets washed as daddy "accidentally drops" shampoo on his hair when DH does his, and then needs to rub it off. It also wipes up the breakfast crumbs from his face.

Baths should only happen when you are cleaning the rest of the bathroom. "If you are really good I will let you dry yourself while I clean the bath. And if I finish before you do, you can have talcum powder!"

Regular bath - 2 inches of water.
Special bath - belly button deep with bubbles.

Your purse should be packed with little fiddly raisin boxes at all times.

If you have a baby and a toddler and want to limit tv in addition to getting some cooperation when trying to put the baby down - advise that the tv will only go on once the baby is asleep. Not while your putting him down, but actually asleep. At that moment the tv can come on and you can go have a break. This is the only way I get any time to myself.

I like this thread a lot. Am struggling with dcs and housework at the moment. Thanks all.

Get them into audio books. I get them from the library, read one book and then stick a CD on-they love it. Only trouble is my 5 year old DD loves listening to Mallory Towers with her older sister and this week she caused mayhem in her school by 'running away'-she didn't get far and was very matter-of-fact when the staff caught up with her 'I'm going home!' Lots of soul searching from teachers-is she unhappy etc, no just copying the stories! At least the school (tiny-only 47 pupils) now knows where it needs to tighten up security!

Yes to the 'racing'! DD1 (3.11) is always a bit reluctant to put her pj's on at night, until we suggest a race! Bet you can't put yours on before me (It helps if you're a bit silly, I always manage to fall over or put the bottoms on my head by accident )

When getting ready in the morning I allow DDs to choose my disco soundtrack - if you have an mp3 player on a dock just let them skip songs until they find one they like and suffer 'Yellow Submarine' four times in a row

I have a device in my hallway that is actually a camera linked up directly to Santa's office at the North Pole. Every time the red light flashes it means Santa has turned the camera on for a peek. It's absolutely not a smoke alarm and the ones in other people's houses, the local family pub etc are all linked up to the same system. My nephew always comes into my hallway with great trepidation