My two children are always arguing and fighting over a number of things from doing chores to taking turns to watch programs on TV to playing video games. And they are always coming to me to be the Referee and resolve the fight.
Then I came up with this parenting hack. Anytime they come to meet me to solve a problem for them, I tell them “if mummy solves the problem for both of you, each of you lose 1hour of TV time. But if you go and solve it yourself then its fine”. Guess what? Most of the times they say No and eventually resolve the issue themself.
This might only work when you have older kids.! Would like to share other parenting hacks that have made working from home with kids more bearable lol!!
5 Parenting Hacks for Working Mums:
1. Have a daily routine: Working from home a lot of planning and structure if you want to maintain any sanity working from home. Your routine needs to cover waking up times, chores, schoolwork, snack time, playtime, etc. A schedule helps you be more productive, and the children are more cooperative because they will know what to do at various times of the day. Click here to download our daily planner.
2. Use humour and cleverness: I saw this hack and thought it was so classic lol! For my son, I have a list of things that are tied to him getting his phone for the day. Once he has ticked the list, then he gets his phone. The list includes his chores and schoolwork, etc.
3. Incorporate your children into your schedule: I find out exercising with my children was a great parenting hack. Taking them on my daily works proved to be a great bonding time as well as getting that ticked off my daily list. Also, I have found that these applies also with cooking. I never expected my boys to be so interested in cooking but they really felt proud to help me and can now eventually make some simple meals on their own. This has been a lifesaver as I can now get my 12-year-old to cook some of the family meals.
4. Plan Meals Ahead: Planning and cooking meals ahead is a lifesaver for working from home. Cook or order meals, pack into bowls and label them Monday to Friday. So that all your child needs to do is pop them into the microwave and its ready. This also applies to snacks, everyday bring out snacks for the day, label it with their names, and the time for the snack. Another thing that helps is to quickly teach them how to make a simple breakfast – their cereal, toast, sandwich, etc.
5. Outsource the babysitting: With the lifting of restrictions, working from home doesn’t mean that you can’t outsource help. My sister lives close to me, so during the weekends we organise play dates and sleepovers. This means one of us gets to rest and have me time while the other is responsible for looking after the kids and we swap the next weekend. This has been a major lifesaver during this lockdown.
6. Plan Activities to Keep Them Busy: Apart from having a daily schedule, the key to keeping your kids entertained is to plan and line up activities in advance. This is where the activity aka boredom jar comes so useful. Have a jar filled with various activities they can do and when it is required they pick an activity from it. Click here to download our boredom jar activity sheet. And playing educational games is another way to keep them busy and learning. Click here to sign up for our #LearnFrom Home campaign with access to our games for FREE in August.
Do you have other parenting hacks have been a lifesaver during our “staycation” and working from home? Share with us.
