Parenting is hard work! Whether you have babies, toddlers, preschoolers, kids, tweens, or teens, moms and dads have their hands full. Sometimes a simple change in the way you do things can make life easier for your family. That’s why I put together this list of parent hacks you’ll want to start using today.

Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter for more great tips, and follow me on Facebook and Pinterest. When you are done with this article, be sure to check out my mom hacks for the beach and back-to-school hacks as well.

Mom Hack for Easy Kid-Sized Bites

Who hasn’t tried to cut a piece of pizza for your toddler with a plastic knife on a Styrofoam plate? Or what about a hot dog at the concession stand? Or orange slices on the go? It’s the worst!

This is why I carry kitchen shears with me for easy kid’s meals! Whether away from home or in the comfort of my own kitchen, scissors are hands-down the fastest way to cut many foods into bite-sized pieces.

They are perfect for pizza, sandwiches, celery sticks, chicken fingers, waffles, desserts, fruits, and so much more! I have a heavy duty pair in my knife block at home and inexpensive ones for my purse or diaper bag. Slip them into a Ziploc bag for mess-free storage.

You’ll thank me later!

Kitchen scissors are the best mom hack for making all kinds of foods bite size in a flash. I have them at home and on the go!

Mom Hack for Avoiding Cuts, Burns, and Injuries

Speaking of cutting things, my kids always come running when I grab a box cutter or other sharp object to cut something open. I can’t say I blame them since I get a sense of excitement to see what’s in the Amazon box. But it makes me nervous they’ll accidentally get their fingers in the way of the blade.

This is why I implemented a “hands on your head” policy when I’m using scissors or something potentially dangerous. I simply ask my child to put their hands on top their head when the object is out. It’s easy and it works!

My husband has been yelled at more than once for failing to put his hands on his head when my son deemed it necessary. My daughter takes it so seriously that she’ll do it spontaneously during dinner if anyone at the table starts to cut their meat. It’s so cute!

It also works when opening the oven, using an iron, pouring hot coffee, or doing anything you don’t want your kiddos to touch. Just be sure not to overuse it or risk losing the excitement factor in this parent hack.

My daughter demonstrating “hands on your head” while I cut something in front of her.

Mom Hack to Avoid Kid Fights

My kids love to play with my husband and both go running to him as soon as he walks in the door. (They’ve obviously been having soooo much fun with me beforehand…) But there is a large interest and maturity gap in the three and a half years between J and L that makes playing together challenging for long.

To ease the inevitable fights the kids had over his time, my husband developed his “five minutes on, five minutes off” hack. He literally sets the timer on his phone for five minutes and alternates playing whatever the “on” kid wants to play for that time. Then he resets the timer and switches kids.

It has reduced the tears because each child knows they are going to get to their way again in five minutes. And sometimes they end up playing along with their sibling’s choice anyway.

I’ve implemented the timer in other instances as well. If my daughter wants me to play with her but I need to do something around the house, I’ll tell her I’ll play for 10 minutes and then I have to work. The timer serves as an outside force that makes me move on instead of it looking like my choice to stop playing.

It’s also good for individual play or teaching young kids to focus on a task for longer periods of time. Defined time constraints are much less daunting than open-ended free time for some kids, especially my one with sensory processing issues.

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Mom Hack for Bib Storage

I like to keep food bibs in the kitchen but did not have drawer space to spare. That’s when I decided to add a hook inside my cabinet door to hang them on. Problem solved!

Command hooks work great for this since you can remove them after the messy eating stage is over with no damage. In fact, Command strips and hooks could be a mom hack on their own. But you are welcome to use whatever hook works best for you.

Add a hook to the inside of your cabinet door for easy hidden bib storage.

Mom Hack for Shoe Storage

Our family takes our shoes off when we come inside. We don’t have a great place to put a bench for shoe storage by the door, and I was always frustrated by the pile of shoes that would pile up in the entryway or on the stairs. (Check out how I organize backpacks and purses here.)

My parent hack for this problem was to buy a canvas bin for everyone to put on the stairs. It can also be used to catch other items that need to go upstairs, but I’ve found that my expectations are more realistic if I use it for frequently-used shoe storage.

Obviously, my toddler daughter can fit a bunch more pairs in a bin than my husband, but she has more shoes than him anyway…

One bin for each family member on the stairs has been a great organization hack for our family.

Mom Hack for Toy Organization

Storage for toys is a never-ending battle, especially with multiple kids. While cube shelves and baskets are great for organizing, they eventually get full.

Therefore, I implemented a “one toy in, one toy out” policy. For every new toy purchased or gifted to my children, they must select an item from their collection to donate or throw away. If they can’t decide on their own, I help (usually with the biggest or most annoying toy that is reasonable to part with – I’m looking at you, talking puzzles!).

It’s so satisfying to box up a bunch after Christmas or birthdays! Now that my son is older, he knows the drill and starts thinking of which ones to get rid of in advance. Sometimes I’ll put his choices up to save for my daughter.

It also makes it easier for them to part with the cheap kids’ meal toy when it means something they already have has to go for it to come in. This mom hack helps keep toys from taking over my house.

Mom Hack for Messy Eaters

If you’ve followed me for long, you know that my youngest has an affinity for throwing her plate when she’s mad or just done, resulting in more messes than I can count. This is why I love ezpz suction dishes and mats!

The ezpz plates, bowls, and mats are made of dishwasher, oven, and microwave-safe silicon that self-suction to the table or high chair tray. We use them at home and even travel with their mini mat. (You can see it at use in my 8 Tips for a Successful Beach Vacation with Young Kids.)

I’ve tried some of the cheaper suction plates and bowls and they just don’t work as well. They also promote independent eating, which is a life saver for parents everywhere. This is why I consider ezpz products a must-have mom hack.

Just for my readers, use this ezpz link and promo code SILLYBIB for a free bandana bib with a mat or bowl purchase!

Mom Hack for Potty Training

When potty training my son, I found that peeing on the potty wasn’t nearly as difficult as getting him to go number two. He didn’t want to stay on the toilet long enough to let things happen as they should. That’s why we implemented the potty phone.

We had an old iPhone in the house that we put a few kid-friendly apps on. The only time my son got access to it was for bathroom trips. Worked like a charm. More than three years later, it’s still the only time he uses the phone.

Of course, he could easily abuse his phone time with unproductive bathroom trips. So we have set time limits and how many visits a day he can make with the device.

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Mom Hack to Limit Screen Time

One of the reasons my potty phone hack works so well is that we intentionally limit screen time for our kids. Until about a year ago, we didn’t have a tablet or other kid device (besides the aforementioned potty phone) in the house.

It wasn’t until I read about the Fire Kids Edition tablet that I decided to take the plunge. This relatively inexpensive tablet comes in a kid-proof case and they’ll replace it, no questions asked, if your kid happens to break it in the first two years.

Though it has the full functionality of the adult Fire tablet, you also get a free year subscription to FreeTime Unlimited with more than 1,000 kid-friendly books, apps, and movies at their fingertips. My son loves building finding new games and things to do in there.

But my favorite feature is the parental controls. You can easily set wake and sleep times, as well as daily limits for screen time. I know that if I say he gets 30 minutes that it will automatically turn off when that time is up without me worrying about keeping up with how long it’s been on. There are also goal options that make the user read for a certain amount of time before moving on to games, videos, etc.

Amazon deserves the credit for making life easier on parents everywhere yet again.

Do you have any parent hacks to add to the list? Please leave them in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you!

You may also like:

5 Simple Back-to-School Hacks for the Best Year Yet

8 Tips for a Successful Beach Vacation with Young Kids

3 Easy Last Day of School Traditions

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