You know when you are watching parents with a billion children each and they seem to have everything under control? Well I figure they must know things that I don’t. The mom who figures out a way to get their kids to eat kale by making Michelangelo creations for their lunch boxes, the dad who can braid his kids hair in 15 seconds, the parents whose kids are always totally clean, polite and utterly knowledgeable! They know sh*t and I want to know it too!
So I thought on Weekend Breakfast on Today FM we would set up a “shared space” whereby parents can share with other parents tricks they have learned to make life easier and definitely more fun with their little ones!
What got me really thinking about this is I bring my 6 year old daughter swimming every week and it drives me demented most times. The heat of the place is like the outer circle of hell, the noise is worse than a My Bloody Valentine concert and don’t even talk to me about getting a cubical, no chance. I nearly pass out every time trying to get her damn leggings over her, pretty much, still wet legs. But yet I see parents with these ultra absorbent, tiny towels and their zen like kids munching on bananas while getting their hair gently blow dried.
So lets start sharing here…. What did you parents discover (or invent) that has utterly changed parenting for the better! Email alison@todayfm.com and we will post fresh ones here each week.
Some of your tips that have come in already …
- Heat up crayon written on walls with your hair dryer and then rub it off with a clean cloth. Easy. Hazel Thompson
- Hi Alison, when my kids look for a treat on movie night I make "fruit surprise". I chop up a mix of fruit but I hide one, sometimes two sweets at the bottom. So they get a small amount of what they want,as well as a bit of a game looking for the sweets and I get them to have a fairly healthy treat! Winner all round! Deirdre
- A friend of mine told me to put an elastic band around door handles in the house to keep the kids from locking themselves in the bathrooms and other rooms!
- Cut up pool noodles and put them on springs around your trampoline - helps avoid pinching little hands and feet!
- I hate a mess, sorry but I do, so when my kids were under 2 and wanted to paint I use to add different coloured paint into a ziplock bag and let them created all kinds of designs without creating a mess
- To get your kids to put their shoes on the correct feet, cut a sticker in half and place it on the insides of their shoes so when they look into the shoes, they will know which shoe goes on which foot!
- My kids are picky eaters and one of the things they will have in their lunches every day is apples - but not if they discolour and go brown. So to avoid this I put the slices in a lunch bag, sprinkle salt over the pieces and give them a quick slosh with water. The salty taste is washed away but the brief exposure to salt keeps them looking fresh all day!
- I wish I had known this years ago, but to get splinters out of kids hands and feet put a paste of baking soda and water on a splinter and leave for a few minutes, the baking soda will push the splinter out saving your child an unnecessarily pain - it really works
- I didn’t believe it till I tried it but Use toothpaste to clean permanent marker off wooden furniture.
- Lads, lads, lads - all you need to know - WD-40 is the perfect crayon remover.
