Life can be hectic, and sometimes it’s okay to take a shortcut for sanity’s sake. We parents tend to put pressure on ourselves to make everything perfect and Pinterest-worthy. Don’t let the stress of parenting make you question your sanity. Try out these quick and easy tips to simplify the parenting life and make it more enjoyable.
Grocery Delivery
One of my least favorite errands is grocery shopping, especially with kids in tow. My oldest is constantly throwing items we don’t need into the cart, and my youngest refuses to sit in the shopping cart for longer than five minutes, which leads to our chasing her through the store. Grocery delivery has freed up so much time for our family and saved my sanity on multiple occasions. Most local grocery stores offer this service for a small fee. Another perk to ordering your groceries online is you are able to stick to your budget much more easily because you aren’t tempted by extra items you might see while walking the store aisles.
Virtual Gift Cards
Finding time to shop and wrap gifts can be difficult. Sending virtual gift cards has become my go-to for gift giving. It’s so easy to email a Starbucks Gift Card to my friends and coworkers on their birthdays, and it saves me so much time. Most stores and even local boutiques offer this service now. Another option is sending cash through Venmo. My teenage nephew always wants money, so in his birthday cards, I write, “Check your Venmo.” He loves it, and I love not having to search for and wrap the perfect gift!
Pay Those Overnight Shipping Fees
When you’re deep in the busiest time of your family’s year, things seem to pop up that you or your children need, and there’s just not enough time in the day to make the trip to find it. That’s when online shopping and overnight shipping fees come in handy! Sometimes the extra fee to make sure you get what you need on time is well worth the cost—just to keep from having a meltdown or adding extra tension to an already very stressful day.
Store-Bought Instead of Homemade
One of my favorite hacks is buying items from the store instead of making them myself. They can be just as tasty as homemade without all the effort to create them. For my daughter’s birthday party this year I bought an already prepared charcuterie tray and placed it on my board. Everyone complimented it and couldn’t believe it when I admitted it was from Sam’s Club. I also provide cookies for the football team my husband coaches. The kids have no idea the cookies are baked from premade cookie dough.
Freezer Meals
With after school activities, sports, jobs and more, our schedule makes it difficult to have time for a home-cooked meal. To prepare for this, I cook double batches of our favorite meals and freeze a batch in the months leading up to our busy time. This takes no additional cooking time and gradually builds up to a nice freezer stash. These freezer meals make for quick and easy weeknight meals. You can also freeze individual servings of breakfast burritos and sandwiches that can be heated up in the microwave and eaten on the go.
Use Baskets
Our children tend to leave their belongings all over the common areas of the house, and asking them multiple times to clean up their stuff can be exhausting. A great hack is to have a basket on the stairs for each child. When you see their stuff out, just throw it in their bin. When they head up to their room, it’s their job to empty their basket and put things away where they belong.
Clean During Other Tasks
Do you find yourself with a little bit of downtime waiting for certain tasks to conclude? I suggest pairing your chores if you can. For example, while your kids are playing in the bath, kill two birds with one stone and clean the bathroom at the same time. While your dinner is in the oven, empty the dishwasher.
Store Pickups
I tend to have so many random items I need to grab from the store throughout the week. I like to order items online and select drive-up as the pickup option. Then when I have time, I do all of my order pickups at once. This turns a day of running multiple errands into one 15- to 20-minute errand.
Family Movie Night
Don’t feel like cooking tonight? That’s okay! Just declare it Family Movie Night. To kids there’s nothing better than pizza for dinner, a movie and some popcorn. To parents, Family Movie Night means no cooking, no dishes to clean up and some nice quiet time to relax.
Carpool
This summer I found carpooling to be a godsend. Our daughter was involved in so many different camps and activities that transportation was tricky. Carpooling with a fellow mother made life so much easier on me, and it saved us both a ton of gas money!
Set Out Clothes the Night Before
Before bed, help your kids pick out what they’re going to wear tomorrow. In the morning, all they have to do is put on their clothes and they’re good to go. Your morning will go much more smoothly without the battle of what to wear to school.
Take Time for Yourself
One of the best ways to save your sanity as a parent is to schedule time for yourself. Think about what helps you find peace and calm in your life. It could be as simple as taking a walk every day, spending 15 minutes reading or unwinding with a bubble bath before bed. Those moments make all the difference in your mental health and parenting.
Regan Lyons is a girl mom and freelance writer. She lives with her husband, Cale, and daughters Atley, 8, and Ensley, 2, in St. Joseph, MO.