Share your best parenting time-saving hacks - £200 voucher to be won

[CeriMumsnet]

Let’s face it, parenting can be hectic so we welcome anything that helps us save time (and energy)! As the end of term approaches, Moonpig’s Group Card feature is here to take the stress out of teacher thank you cards, and to celebrate this we’d like to know your favourite time-saving tips and hacks.

• Whether it’s setting your watch 10 mins fast or packing the after school snacks the night before, post your tips and advice in the thread below to be entered into a prize draw
• One lucky MNer will win a £200 voucher for a store of their choice.

Here’s what Moonpig has to say:

“At Moonpig, we’re on a mission to spread joy to everyone from everyone! Our Group Cards are as easy as 1,2,3. Up to 50 people can add their own message to any Moonpig card. Anyone can sign anywhere in the world via a simple link and when all messages are collected their card will be sent. It’s perfect for sending your kid’s favourite teacher a ‘thank you’ from the whole class.”

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ
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I find batch cooking can be time consuming but we always eat leftovers the next day!

Let your toddler choose their own outfit. Gives them some autonomy, enhances their creativity, makes your day just a bit more stress-free.

Pack school bags the night before, similarly get uniform out ahead of the morning - not radical but saves so much faffing!

A wall planner with birthday parties, contact numbers, a magnetic notice board with party invites, coupons, appointment cards and phone numbers to keep. Everything goes on my planner - it keeps things running smoothly - and everything that we need to do is in there

Get the children to pack their bags the night before and put with anything else they need like sports kit and musical instruments. We used to have a line of bags along the kitchen wall!

Use Comfort non iron fabric softener and hang everything up to avoid ironing.
In the Summer use frozen bottles of water as ice blocks to keep the packed lunch cold and after lunch can be enjoyed as a cold drink.

Velcro shoes and trainers with an iron on name tapes on the inner of each so putting the shoes on the correct foot is easier. The velcro will help keeping the pairs together so there is less chance of one going astray

We have a fairly unique surname (definitely the only ones in our town/school) so I bulk buy name labels with just our surname on and label everything. No need to switch labels between kids as they out grow/grow into and super quick to do as don't need to sort into who's pile is who's before a labelling session.

Stop worrying about stuff. Let it go, read a book.

Difficult with children. I don’t have a problem with worrying about my children, I accept it’s a part of parenting. The key is to try and act on the worry

5 sets of school uniform each hung up as a single outfit on a hanger. My kids put a clean one on everyday - no worries about dirty collars, food dropped on it the day before, nothing.

I have children..? I’m not entirely sure where they are right now. Presumably they’ve had breakfast if they’re hungry. There’s the hack - teach you’re kids to look after themselves.

This is a few years ago for me now, but these are my top tips.

A big family calendar in the kitchen, everything goes on this, check the week ahead on a Sunday.

Take uniforms off as soon as you get in from school and they get checked and hung up ready for the morning, also check planner for messages, do bookbags, water bottles in the fridge etc.

No pairing of socks, just divide into piles - DH has plain black so they go into his drawer in singles, DDs school socks are all the same so just all go into the sock basket.

I had a 5 drawer unit where I would fill the drawers every Sunday evening with a clean set of uniform / undies for each day plus the extra items needed for each day in that drawer such as PE kit, karate gi etc. School shoes were placed on top and his book bag hung on a hook on the side.
Next to it on the wall was a visual diary to remind DS of what he had to do each morning to get ready ie. 🚽🪥🛀👔👞🥣🧥🎒

Buy frozen veg. Game changer! Never goes off plus can throw mixed veg into everything stews, mash, rice, or as a side dish!

Use contraception and don't have children then a lit of time is saved worrying about and looking after other people

Buy a pack of net laundry bags and give one to each member of the household to put their dirty pants and socks in. Put all the bags in together on a hot wash and then put the bags in the tumble dryer to dry, then hand back to each family member to put away and hang up their bag ready for the next cycle. No more lost/mixed up underwear to sort!

Use name stickers rather than iron-ons (we use Stikets). SO much easier.
Tag-team at weekends: one of you stays in during the morning (maybe with one of the children, especially a baby) and makes lunch, completes household chores and just has a bit of downtime. Everyone then has lunch together when the other parent and child(ren) return at 12 or 1. At some point between 2 and 3, the parent who has stayed home in the morning goes out in the afternoon (could be with the same child/ren or a different one) while the other parent stays home to make dinner, spend time with the other child, and have some down time. It makes parenting at the weekends SO much easier if you don’t both have to feel like you’re always ‘on’. Not the whole weekend, every weekend, has to be an all-singing all-dancing event with the entire family together the entire time. It helps you to decrease your stress and tailor the weekend to the needs of your different children (e.g. take baby for a quick walk in the pram while the other parent takes the older child swimming), especially if you have a biggish age gap between your kids (my oldest will be 5 in November while my youngest is not even 5 months yet).

It seems like this wouldn't save time but it really helps our family! My son from age 3 has been emptying the dishwasher cutlery (except very sharp knives) daily and "feeds" the IKEA octopus clothes hangers his clean pants and socks from the washing machine. When dry he sorts his own underwear away. He also sets the table for every meal and gets drinks for us. He hasn't complained so far because he's always done these tasks and feels more involved.

Cook double sized portions of meals wherever possible and freeze one meal for another day.
Always organise school stuff the night before and have everything needed by the front door.
Lay out children’s clothes so they can find everything.
Get up early!

I'm a fan of doing things in batches..Food prep for the week, packing up emergency outfits in case of accidents, making a bundle of activity packs for car journeys etc..The tedious stuff that takes effort, I just try to do a lot to last awhile if possible.

Boxes, plenty of them - for toys, craft supplies, cards and gift wrap, etc, etc. Have a big one by the door for all that outdoor stuff like gloves, umbrellas, suncream, shopping bags, ready to grab.

And duplicate stuff like cleaning products, chargers, hair brushes, one set upstairs, one downstairs, so they’re not always in the wrong place.

When it's really hot and your feeding your baby get a muslin wet with cold water wring most of it out place it between you and your baby to keep cool and just give it to your baby to hold. If you have a sicky baby lie them in a muslin to go to sleep so you don't have to change the sheets multiple times if they're sick in the night.

Only buy black socks, then they all pair up. Helps if you also follow the next step as otherwise the sizes may be difficult to figure out

Keep each persons clothes separate when washing, much quicker to put away

Toy rotation is key so there are less toys out and therefore it is quicker to clean up each day

For the baby stage keep nappies and wipes in key rooms around the house so that they are always at hand

Meal plan and put each meals items into a basket in the fridge so it's easy to get them out each day

Make sure bags are packed the night before and pushchair in the car if needed

A net washing bag for all of the socks - that way when they are washed and dried - you don't lose any, and they are easier to pair up when they are all together.