Help. I have a fairly typical three-year-old DS - boisterous, argumentative, energetic, all the usual - and twins on the way. As I get more tired and enormous, I am looking at any possible way that I can make life easier for myself. I am basically begging for those really simple quick-and-dirty parenting cheats that you've discovered by chance or learned from others that cut down stress, time, and tantrums, even if they mean a compromise in our otherwise impeccable hahahaaa yeah not in this house standards.
For instance, DS is very active and he has no interest in food for its own sake, so he's a skinny rake and getting him to sit and eat a half-decent meal is torture for everyone involved. I just let breakfast and lunch play out however, but I discovered that if he watches his iPad at the dinner table I can hear the gasps of horror already he may eat incredibly slowly, but he eats way more, and I can sneak veggies and all sorts down him. This is about the only life-changing thing I have discovered in the last three years but oh my god it has brought my daily stress levels down and turned meals into something enjoyable again.
Anyway, anyone got any other cheats that they're willing to confess to, to help me save my sanity?
Note: this is meant to be light-hearted but will no doubt horrify the Performance/Competitive Parenting Brigades so if the notion of parental cheating gives you the vapours then this thread may not be for you.
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Parenting
Parenting cheats
ForTheSakeOfFuck · 04/04/2017 20:10
Save inner trays from bought cakes, boxes of chocs etc, and use them to put paint in when doing art with kids, you can bin the lot when finished so only have to wash brushes. Cheap plastic party tablecloth underneath, will clean easily with a baby wipe, and no need to be particular if it's only used for painting.
My fussy 3yo eats far more if a meal is served as it's separate​ parts i.e. chicken, plain pasta, veg, rather than all mixed together. Much less stress since i realised this!
Sticker charts didn't work for containing bad behaviour for my DD, she just did the good things to get stickers whilst still doing the bad stuff too. It all changed when we started a star jar, small plastic jar and an old purse full of 50-60 buttons. Good behaviour is praised and gets a button, bad behaviour gets an explanation and a button taken away. When the jar is full she gets a treat, usually something we'd have done anyway, or something low cost (soft play, let her have some makeup on in the house, walk to the shop and get three pieces of pic n mix, or a small thing that she's been lusting after while we've been shopping. This week it's a fairy mirror that cost 50p 
). Her behaviour has improved drastically, probably as much for the praise as for the treats if I'm honest!
Getting housework done is much easier if she helps me (amazingly!). She gets her own duster and has a toy vac, and takes it all very seriously. Shes pretty good at doing the hard to get to bits in the corners 
When we've finished we high five then sit down together for snack time with much sighing and mutual back patting for a good job. Also, from an early age we made a game of putting dirty clothes in the laundry hamper, so i very rarely have to tidy up stray clothes (a job i absolutely hate).
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I'm sure everyone knows the "choices" trick but I love it even though it doesn't work every time, it's remarkable how well it does often work. Just offer two choices which are both acceptable to you in order to achieve whatever it is you're trying to achieve, and they get the illusion that they actually have some free will
e.g. if they don't want to go upstairs to start the bedtime routine... "Do you want mummy to carry you or do you want to walk up the stairs by yourself?"
Often if we're out somewhere and DS isn't co-operating I offer him the choice of doing what I want him to do, or going home. He hardly ever says he wants to go home, especially if we're at a toddler group or on our way to a park or whatever.
My son is nearly 3 and he has only just realised he can be stubborn and say no to both options... Even then, he usually caves in and chooses one of my options... Muahaha!
By the way, this works on husbands too... e.g. "Do you want to do the washing up or do you want to hoover the living room?" 
Feels a bit manipulative but oh well, needs must.
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When mine were small, many moons ago, I used to run a bath with a lush baby lavender bath bomb and light candles (safely out of reach) once a week. The noise level dropped by several decibels and I could read a book/ feed baby while sitting on the loo. not sure what it was about baths by candle light but it seemed to calm the most wound up little darling.
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