Find out a simple way to ensure your keep your cool around your kids and how to make snacking on the go easy peasy in this month’s tips and tricks. Do you have something up your sleeve that you think that we should add? Tell us about it! We could feature it in an issue of Metro Parent and give you $25.
Parenting Hair Band Hack
Catch this one on your newsfeed? So smart and simple, it deserves a shout. A tip from blogger IdealistMom.com (made viral by a Facebook post by mom Shauna Harvey), it entails putting five hair bands on one wrist the minute you wake up. Each time you “lose your cool or say something unkind” to your kiddo, Harvey says, move one to your other wrist. To earn it back? Do five kind things. Reset daily. The visual cue and gentle pressure are powerful reminders – and help build better habits with repetition, the thinking goes.
Pool Noodle Doorstop
These cheap (hello, dollar store) swim toys are pros at buffering doors – and saving toddlers from pinched fingers and accidental lock-ins. With a box cutter, trim a section of noodle, carefully slice it in half just midway through, length-wise, and then nestle on/slide up your door. Secure with a dot or two of hot glue if needed.
Ketchup Cup Expand-o
Y’know those tiny white ketchup cups at fast food joints? So darn tiny! Optimize your French fry dunking capacity with a trick from YouTube star CrazyRussianHacker. The cups have folds along the sides. Along the opening, every two or three folds, give a tug to open the fold. It doubles your condiment storage space.
Travel Caddy Hacks
Rock your fam’s summer road trip with a couple of our favorite finds. Drive-thru on the go? Use a colorful handled square caddy (again, dollar store!); its three compartments easily hold food – one’s even custom-sized for a drink – and prevent spills. Prefer your own eats? Search “snackle box” on Pinterest right now for all the eye-popping ways you can turn a simple lidded tackle box into snack nirvana.
Got a great tip or trick? Visit MetroParent.com/TipTrick and tell us all about it! If we feature yours here, you get $25. Simple as that.
