10 Parenting Hacks
As a Dad of three young kids (7y, 4y, 22mo), I have been storing up these parenting tips that I wanted to share. I wish somebody had shared these with me along time ago….would have made my life a little bit easier. Plus, several of these tips make kids more responsible and allows them to appreciate the things they have.
- Kids want to pour their own drinks? My son always wants to pour his own drink at dinner. Have the dishwasher door open and let the kids pour over the door, if some spills, no biggie.
- Easy travel with kids. Sounds like an oxymoron, right? It may very well be, but if you buy a few cheap toys or games from the .99 Cent store and dole them out at strategic times in the car or plane ride you can really buy yourself some time.
- Want to watch the BIG football game without the kids hanging all over you? Get a Nerf football, set up a mini-field in the family room and let the kids go to town. Rules: 2 hand touch, no punting!
- Kids won’t eat meat? They need the protein, so try a dipping sauce. My son loves to dip steak in Worcestershire sauce and my daughter will eat a TON of chicken if I put a little BBQ sauce on her plate.
- A hundred toys and nothing to do? If your child complains of being bored yet has a zillion toys, box up those toys and give them back at times of good behavior. You will be amazed at how they love the re-discovery of forgotten toys. Plus, they will learn to appreciate the toys they have.
- Do your kids love Play-Doh? Let them play on the kitchen floor on a vinyl tablecloth to make cleanup really easy. After they are done, you can take it outside and shake it off.
- Teach them to recycle. My son has been learning about recycling, organization, and money by sorting our recyclables. Once a month I take him down to collect the money from his hard work. He gets to sign his name on the recycle slip and they give him a piece of candy. He loves it!
- Do your kids like to paint? Use an empty egg carton and pour a little bit of each color in each egg holder. Kids can then easily mix the colors and have a great time.
- Use the time right before bed for some quiet time with the kids. Let them pick out a book to read, sit with them and enjoy the moment. Kids will go to bed much easier when they are in a relaxed state of mind. This seems like common sense, but I have seen families where bedtime is pure chaos.
- Stay flexible. What works on one kid may not work on the next. One method of discipline or praise may not work on all kids. For example, the time-out chair, as a disciplinary techniques, works very well on my son, but does not work on my daughter, instead taking things away from her and putting them on top of the refrigerator works like a charm. Don’t be afraid to tailor your methods for each child.
Feel free to add your own parenting tip. Let’s try and make this post a great resource for new or frustrated parents. And keeping with the tradition of my posts, here are some of the better online coupons on my website right now. See you next month!
- Justice.com Coupons
- Footlocker Coupons
- Lane Bryant Coupons
- Lord & Taylor Coupons
- Overstock.com Coupons
- Smart Bargains.com Coupons
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Author
By Kyle James, on Mar 11, 2009
Kyle James owns and operate a website called Rather-Be-Shopping.com which specializes in coupon codes for over 750 stores, organized in 25 shopping categories. He also has a blog, where he writes about frugal living and personal finance tips as well as other musings about the adventures and mis-adventures of raising 3 active kids.
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I'm just an average mom, trying to live a frugal life and get out of debt. I write about things that have (and haven't) worked to improve my family's financial situation. What works for me may or may not work for you, and you should always consult a financial advisor before making important financial decisions.
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Nice tips! The kids are always a challenge . . .
Here are some of the things we do with ours to keep them busy and out of trouble:
Hit tennis balls
Toss or hit baseballs
Shoot basketballs
Play Wiffleball
Go to the park
Toss a frisbee
Hit the beach
Ride bikes
Take a hike
Fly a kite
Go fishing
Play badminton
Have a picnic
Go exploring
Visit the library
Re: #2 – Wrap the toys in some wrapping paper (or the sunday funnys!) to make it even more extra special!
Another nice post! I would however caution you about putting up links to offers from Restuarant.com. There have been several articles on multiple blogs that indicate that are not very reputable (offer deals at restaurents that don’t their certificates) and signing customers for a $14.95 monthly “service” when they buy a gift certificate. Here are some links on the Consumerist.com blog:
http://consumerist.com/2009/02.....oupon.html
http://consumerist.com/2009/01.....rvice.html
I thought you and your readers might like to know.
Again, keep up the great work on the blog! It is great to read!
Hannah, fine. If your kids don’t eat there beans, nuts, and other vegetables then try a dipping sauce!
I disagree wholeheartedly with the step regarding kids and eating meat. Studies show that the protein in meat is superfluous (unless your kid is a body-builder) and in fact most protein isn’t even absorbed into the body. There are healthier, less fatty ways to get kids the actual amount of protein they need, particularly from beans, nuts, and other vegetables.
Children DO need protein from meats. The surveys vegetarians speak of are all from vegetarian lobby groups, and do not stand up to scrutiny.
In fact when I was a teenager, I lived close to a vegetarian family. The parents were average height, but the children starved of protein from meat were pathetically small and under developed. The eldest at 17 years old was only one inch off being an official dwarf, and looked emaciated even at that height. He had also not hit puberty at seventeen. The younger of the two was worse off, but casual observers could argue that he still had a lot of growing to do
Social Services came in and forced the parents to feed the boys meat, and within six months both had started puberty and both had put on four inches in height.
no, neither had any other medical help.No growth hormones, no dietary supplements.
People do not need to eat meat, plain and simple. Quoting a single example to the contrary is not very convincing. There are some cultures that do not eat, some Buddhists and Hindus do not eat meat at all. Do they have midget children? It is very likely the kids you speak of did not have a properly balanced diet.
As for protein the source is not important. It is unlikely that anyone would need more than 60 grams of protein per day, 75 grams if you are a body-builder. Even an adolescent boy shouldn’t need more than about 55 grams per day. That is easy to get through non-meat sources. For instance:
serving of beans: 7G
serving or rice: 3G
1 cup of soy milk: 6G
For me personally I probably get about 50-60 grams of protein a day from non-meat sources.
I would agree with Glenn that surely you could get by without meat and be fine, but a juicy steak just tastes so darn good!
If you don’t care to eat animals or animal by-products, more power to you. Just be educated about proper vegetarian or vegan nutrition, otherwise you’ll end up like the family Glenn mentioned (which likely has more to do with poor nutrition overall and bad genetics than simply following a vegetarian diet.
But back to the subject at home: FAMILY!
#2 — Love the dollar store grab-bag deal for travel. My mother always did that for us kiddos, especially when we took the 8 hour drive to visit her family once or twice a year. And get this: at the half-way point, where we’d stop to refuel and refresh, we’d eat a lunch that MOM HAD PACKED! Who would have thought that was possible (/end sarcasm) No trip in to Bob’s Big Boy or McDonald’s. I find it sad that most parents can’t seem to take their kids for even a short drive without having the DVD player turned on :(
#4 — Kids won’t eat their meat (or beans or veggies): try COOKING WITH YOUR KIDS! Let them participate in meal planning and meal preparation. Sometimes that goes a long way to help finicky eaters enjoy food.
Have fun :)
@Robert, I hadn’t heard that about Restaurant.com. Thanks for pointing that out. Since they don’t really have many deals in Southern Oregon, I’ve never actually tried Restaurant.com.
I agree with Hannah and Glenn. Kids don’t need to eat meat. There are plenty of other ways to get protein. I am a 15 year vegetarian and gave birth to a 10 lb boy. Now at two, he’s in the 95% for height and 70% for weight: lean and tall, but not skinny and healthy. He loves egg salad, tofu sticks, beans, meatless meatballs quinoa and nuts. Occasionally he eats meat, but only turkey meatballs.
A focus group of one observation is not a convincing argument!