10 Mom Hacks to Create an Easier Life
Reading Time: 13 minutes 10 Mom Hacks to Create an Easier Life
Being a mom is hard. I never realized I had several that helped me get through the days that also made my job much easier. Some are designed to get the family “on board” to helping me. Some are to simply make my life more efficient. And some I never realized at the time, but looking back they are the ones I needed the most. Here are the 10 most common tips and tricks I used for hacking everyday life.
*I have links to some of the products, if you purchase, I will get a very small “thank you” from Amazon. Be assured, I have tried each of these!
A cordless vacuum cleaner: #1 Quick Clean
I have had several. I learned a lot. First, the ones with cords keep their power longer and have much better “suction” however, they are not as “quick” and easy to maneuver. I gave up on the corded ones and am now loving the SHARK WANDVAC. This is not for the entire floor. It is simply to grab the spilled coffee (happened last week), or clean out the dried food “stuffs” in cabinets and drawers, or spruce up an arts and crafts table, after the event. The suction on this is pretty good. It will not lift big stuff like dog kibble. It also has a fairly short charge. However, for those emergency spills, it is fabulous!
2. A WHITEBOARD IN A CENTRAL PLACE: #1 GROCERY “GO-TO”
This is a really cheap way to have everyone help with food supplies, posting important papers, and quick reference for “blocked out dates”. We use this to keep grocery lists on, vacation dates (or school half days or no school dates), and any other important information. When I first put the whiteboard up, I told all of my men (2 boys and a husband) that whatever was on the whiteboard I would pickup, if it was not on the board, I was not responsible for getting it. It took them almost 2 years to figure this out! My husband was the last hold out. I don’t eat bread, but he would get so upset if there were no English muffins for breakfast. Was it on the whiteboard? Eventually, he learned to put everything on the whiteboard. This made grocery shopping so much easier. I just “snapped” a picture of it as I walked out the door. I realize many people are “Alexa” fans. If you are old fashioned and want the family to help out, try a whiteboard! *I found that the magnetic whiteboard comes in handy every once in awhile. I am recommending getting one of those, but the crucial part is having something to write on, not having a central place to “post things”. Although all of those group forms, notices, announcements, etc are great to put there as well.
3. large cardboard box in a room everyone uses: #1 Encourages family to Help
This sounds crazy, I know. However, this is my biggest “tip” to all parents. Teach your children how to use a “Goodwill” or “Donate” box. If you always have a box available and it is in a central location, when your child comes to you saying they have no jeans, they are all too small. Ask if there are any in their drawers, if the answer is “yes”, have they tried them all on? Again, if the answer is “yes”, do they all NOT fit? If the answer is they have 3 pairs of jeans and none of them fit, those should all be in the donate box and you need to schedule some time to get new ones. This also works well when your child says they no longer like a certain toy or they are too old for specific books. Your child will learn to help you keep things organized. My husband ended up loving the box! He uses it all of the time.
4. A family planner: #1 “Where is everyone?”
In #3, we decided we may need to make a clothing run together. Have a family calendar/planner. This way you all know who is doing what on which days and until when. You can immediately schedule that clothing trip, once it is determined it is needed, in the family calendar. I love this one because it is simple: daily calendar, what each person is up to, and dinner for the day. Dinner can be overwhelming. By having this on the family calendar, everyone has access and is using this. Everyone’s name is on it, everyone has “ownership” in a way. So, ask that everyone recommend one dinner a week. This will help you with coming up with dinner ideas! 
5. CUBE BOOKCASE: #1 ILLUSION OF ORDERLINESS
How do you get kids to clean up their toys? This is a question asked over and over. I never fought my boys on clean up. I had two rules: if it was a long project, they were creating a lego city for all of their race cars, for example, I had a room for them to do this. These projects did not have to be picked up each night. For all of the “get out and play with” toys that were then forgotten on the floor, I had an eight “cube” storage unit with cloth “drawers.” My husband craved a clean and picked up house, every night. I did not care how the clutter was picked up, I just did not want it visible. This cube bookcase save my life and endless nagging for my children. Each boy had 4 drawers. I labeled them with things like: balls, cars (and other transport stuff), “guys” (this is what we called all action figure types), and other. When the boys could not read, I had pictures. The boys knew they could just throw their stuff in the drawers. I never cared if they got the balls in the cars drawer, I was just trying to give them some kind of organization. I LOVED this.
6. MINI TRAMPOLINE: #1 ENERGY BURN
I was not a TV or electronics fan. I wanted my children exercising and moving around. I also had children that would go from couch potato to running and screaming in the house within 2 minutes. I bought an indoor, mini trampoline. Yeah! I loved it. If a child had excess energy to burn, they could go “jump”. If they wanted to watch TV, they could, but they had to be jumping on the trampoline the whole time. I am inwardly cringing at the feedback I am going to get from this, however, I had boys who found stuff to do outside more often since they knew the only way they would get TV time is if they were exercising while watching the “boob tube.” When my nieces came to visit and thought jumping on the furniture was a thing everyone did, I explained that in my house we did not do this. However, we had a special place just for jumping! It seemed to appease them. I got an “adult” mini trampoline because I use it for exercise as well.
7. Cuddle chair: #1 Family Need
This became my favorite piece of furniture in my house. It is also the “thing” I bought that had the most value without me ever understanding the impact its purchase would have on our family. We called it the “cuddle chair”. While the boys were young, it was used for story time at night. We would all “pile in”, prop up pillows, and get comfy and read a story or two together. This chair became associated with love, comfort, and family. As my boys grew older, they experienced angst and drama associated with most teens. They would say they needed me to talk with them, in the cuddle chair. This was my signal that it was serious and it was my job to be supportive. And, I was able to cuddle my boys, still, when they were in their teens, but it was in that chair. The chair created a “safe place” where they could be children who just needed their mom. I looked for one on Amazon that I could send you to. Ours is about 58″ wide. The widest one I found on Amazon is 52″. FYI, do not get caught up in color or fabric. I got this on sale at a furniture store, no one wanted it! It was eggplant purple in a linen type of material. I recovered it in microfiber in a color to match my decor.
8. CUP CAKE HOLDER: #1 YOU DID NOT KNOW YOU NEEDED
I am laughing. I have no idea if parents are even allowed to bring home baked goods to school anymore. Both of my boys had summer birthdays. They never said, but I knew they both envied the children who had big “to-do’s” in the classroom over their birthdays. So, I started doing a “half birthday” for them. Every January, I would bake cupcakes and take them in. I never saw myself, ever, buying something like a cup cake holder. Yet, I used it for bake sales, half birthdays, and even now, when my boys are grown, I had a special request for lemon muffins and I brought those muffins in the cup cake holder. 
9. KID’S WATER BOTTLE: #1 HEALTHY HABITS
I wanted my children to learn to drink water, a lot of water. It was easier if they always had it with them. They liked it better if it was cold. I liked it better if we were not using plastic “throwaway” bottles. I had to search for awhile for something I really liked. I tried the ones with straws. I have “issues” with germs. The straw ones are too hard to really clean. Then there are ones where the child has to unscrew the top to get to the mouthpiece, yeah right, how long is that screw top going to stick around? I like the Thermos Funtainers. There are a lot of fun designs, the top “pops” up to allow for easy drinking and then can just be put back on. The only drawback is that these are designed for cold beverages only, so if you are looking for something to hold the hot cocoa, you will need to keep searching! 
10. PLAYGROUND BALLS: #1 SMILE GENERATOR
Kids smile, every dang time, when you bring one of these out. This was the gift we got every child, combined with slime, or paints, or coloring, for every event for almost 4 years. It was the instant “hit” of the party. These 8.5” balls are the ones the kids are familiar with from school. They use them for 4-square, kick ball, dodgeball, etc. They are soft and they bounce. I do not think I ever found a ball that was more universally loved. I never had children say, “We are bored, what can we do?” when I got a couple of these out. As a bonus, they are rugged. We live in Arizona, land of the plants that have thorns. I have playground balls I bought 8 years ago that are still full of air in my garage.
Items for mom:
A good bra: #1 Mom No-Brainer
This sounds like a no-brainer, but seriously, you get dressed in the morning and then you are off and running. You need a bra that can be, whatever you end up doing that day. I don’t even want to think about support, spillage, hooks cutting into me, etc, while I am waiting for pick up, playing at the park, or learning about the science project requirements.
I am “well endowed” and have looked long and hard for the “perfect” bra. My favorite comes from an “at home” company. I have tried brands like it, and none are as good. If you are on a quest for a quality bra that has no underwire that you can wear all day and have great support, regardless of your size, try Ruby Ribbon. *I am not a seller, or an affiliate, I just know the pain is real and it is really hard to find that fabulous bra!
2. Libby: #1 Mom Free Entertainment
Have you met Libby? No? Oh. My. Heck. You are totally missing out! I did a blog on how to get free books and have a list of my favorite 25 “fun reads”. All of them are on Libby! Libby is the program public libraries use. You can get e-books and audio books that your local library has, free if you have a library card! This is so you can have a guilty pleasure. It can also be a form of self care. I always have an audio book “running” so I can listen to something while cooking dinner or walking the dogs.
If you do these things with the kiddos, you can get fabulous kids books on Libby as well! This is a great way to boost your child’s audio skills in a fun way. They will want to hear what the characters are up to and how the story is progressing. After all, who does not love having a story told to them?!
3. Spotify: #1 Stopper of Stupid Bickering
Any music service will do. If you have more than one child, there is usually an argument over who gets to listen to what in the car. Then songs that no one likes will come on, flipping channels will happen, and the argument will come up all over again! I recommend you get a music subscription service that offers a family plan if your children are older. Have or help your children create their own playlists. You can even make everything “fair” by limiting each playlist to a specific number of songs, like 10 songs. This way the children can take turns listening to their playlists. Why is this for mom? I did not like stupid arguments. You know, that endless bickering over…nothing. Music control was one of these things. I would head them off “at the pass.” By having this system, I took this argument right out our reality. This was a huge “mom gift”!
Bonus Mom Hack
The bonus hack I have for you, that goes against everything every nutritionalist will tell you is:
Hamburger Helper: #1 Meal Life Saver
Did I feel incredibly guilty for fixing it…yup.
Did my boys love it and eat it…yup.
Did I avoid stopping for fast food…yup.
Was I able to get a fast meal on the table…yup.
Their favorite: Beef Stroganoff
Once my boys were in sports, I discovered I had to, basically, fix two dinners. One when they got home from school and then one after they got home from sports practice. On good days, I had something in the crockpot that was healthy for the after practice “official” dinner. However, I did not have it in me to fix “two” major meals. I was never fed Hamburger Helper as a kid, so I had no idea how easy it was. After I fixed it the first time, I was hooked. The boys gobbled it down for an “after school snack” and it only took me about 20 minutes to throw it all together. It was a one pan clean up. And we were out the door!
Yup-my guilty bonus mom hack for you is to cave to the easy from time to time and check out Hamburger Helper.
We all need a little “assist.” Daily life as mom can be hard; I often felt like I was barely hanging on! It never occurred to me how many mom “hacks” I had around me that made life so much easier. These are not typical suggestions, but they are the ones that occurred to me that many years later I still remembered as being crucial to helping me keep my sanity. What are your “mom hacks”?