The MomSpeak

I’ve read what feels like hundreds of books and Web sites about organizing and simplifying just about everything. Menu planning, housework routines, speed cleaning techniques, money management…they all make sense on paper, but when I try to apply them to my jumbled, busy life, something gets lost in the translation. I end up feeling stressed by trying to conform to a new system. Wasn’t the point to reduce my stress?

A couple weeks ago I found the lovely Web site Simple Mom and I’ve been combing through its archives ever since. What’s amazing is that Simple Mom covers territory so many other sites (including mine) cover, and yet it somehow manages to feel original and approachable at the same time.

Simple Mom’s creator, Tsh Oxenreider, says her site offers “life hacks for home managers.” She outlines her system for streamlining the housecleaning. She explains how she manages her email. She discusses reasonable budgeting and saving. She shares favorite recipes. But more than that, her articles remind us that organization isn’t the goal — it’s simply the way to minimize the time you spend on details so you can free yourself up for the big stuff. (more…)

Starting on October 31, sweets seem to be a staple part of kids’ diets through the end of the year. Halloween candy, pumpkin pie, hot chocolate, cookies, candy canes…it seems like there’s no end to the sugar. Seasonal treats are part of the holiday fun, but eating something sugary every day for a few months sets kids up to crave it year-round.

Here are a few strategies for a more healthful holiday season:

Store surplus candy and cookies in the freezer. My kids were horrified at prospect of trashing the bulk of their Halloween candy, so we threw it into a Ziploc bag and tossed it in the freezer. Whenever we go to the movies, we dip into our stash so we can avoid the overpriced (and supersized) theater snacks. Otherwise, it’s out of sight out of mind.

Establish a dessert rule before the holidays. Before the holidays, we talk about what a body needs to be healthy, and we refer to those ideas as we celebrate. Believe it or not, our kids appreciate the guidance, even when they don’t like the restriction. Without supervision, our son has been known to take a dinner-sized helping from the dessert table.  Our new rule is “choose one treat and come see us about the rest.” We stop short of hovering, but be don’t allow unsupervised gorging on sweets. (more…)

Did you hear? The United States is in economic crisis, and much of it has to do with credit. That is, buying stuff with someone else’s money hoping you can pay it back later. Which sounds a lot like what my nine year-old son tries to do with me: “Pleeeeeease can you buy me Super Mario Giganto Turbo Supernova III: The Adventure Continues? I’ve got the money! I’ll pay you back!”

Um, no. In fact, my saying no is part of an important financial lesson: you can only buy something if you can pay for it. In this case, I meant it literally — he needs to bring his wallet along if he wants to buy something. But it also applies to the notion of saving one’s money for future purchases.

It’s just one lesson along the way to my son’s understanding of the fundamentals of money management. It’s more important than ever for kids to learn how to make money, how to save it, and when (and on what) to spend it. (more…)

My first visit to the dollar store filled me with a mixture of wonder and horror. I was overcome by the vast array of products that could be purchased for Only! One! Dollar! But I was depressed by the mass of cheap plastic that would eventually find its way into the landfill. Could there be some decent buys for someone who values quality, but wants to save a few bucks?

In fact, there are enough deals to make a stop at the dollar store worthwhile, especially if it’s nearby other shops you frequent. Here’s what I found on a recent visit:

Art and craft supplies: If you’ve ever been to one of those big box craft stores, you know how easily you can blow your budget there. You go in for a few bottles of tempera paint and some brushes and you come out with a hundred dollars’ worth stuff you swear you’ll use but probably won’t. If you’re just looking to set your preschooler up with some basic doodling equipment, you’ll do just fine at the dollar store. (more…)

I so appreciated Liz’s recent MomSpeak post “Need advice? Just ask a mom.” (And not just because Parent Hacks appeared in her list. Although it was lovely to be included among such fantastic sites.) She reminded me of my own love-hate relationship with parenting advice books.

When my first child was born in 1999, there wasn’t yet a widespread Internet community for moms. There was BabyCenter, which was an incredible resource, but I never felt at home on its message boards. There were no blogs at the time, and I was a new enough mom that I hadn’t yet made many friends with children similar ages, and so I mainly relied on my trove of parenting books for advice.

Whenever I felt stumped as a parent (which was often), I paged through those books looking for answers. Everything seemed so seemed so clear, sitting there on the page, but when I tried to apply what I had learned to my own child, he rarely responded “by the book.” Was he broken? Or was I? (more…)

It’s lunchbox season again. And again I find myself wandering the grocery store aisles looking for inspiration. The “fruit snacks” and sugar-filled yogurt tubes my kids beg for only depress me. Where’s the real food?

It is indeed possible to pack delicious lunches with a minimum of fuss and waste. Here are a few tips passed along by Parent Hacks readers over the years:

Send your kids on a spy mission. I ask my kids to report back to me what their friends are eating that looks good. I’m often surprised by what they tell me. Some of the ideas that came back from last year’s recognizance: hard-boiled eggs, lasagna, skewered apple chunks.

Freeze a week’s worth of sandwiches. Build your sandwiches assembly-line style on good quality bread, then pack them back into the thick plastic bread wrapper and pop the whole package in the freezer. Works well for peanut butter and jelly, many lunch meats, and cream cheese on raisin bread, and cuts down on the morning rush. (This trick works for muffins, too.) (more…)

Meal planning. Sounds so sensible and mundane. Where’s the spontaneity? The allowance for food cravings? And what if there’s no room for the overhead of planning in your already busy life?

I wouldn’t classify myself as particularly organized or systematic, but I do consider meal planning to be the backbone of my domestic week. The fifteen minutes I spend mapping out the week’s meals save me hours of time I’d lose dashing around my house trying to scare up dinner, or running back to the store for an overpriced item from the deli case.

I’m here to reassure you that meal planning does not have to include seven days’ worth of perfectly balanced meals, nor does it require a lot of work or time. Just a few minutes and the willingness to sit down with a cookbook and a grocery list. (more…)

With grocery prices at record levels, we’re all looking for ways to save money on our food bills. With just a little bit of forethought and common sense, you can lower your grocery budget while still eating well. Here are a few tips to get you started:

Plan your meals. This one’s obvious, but may feel overwhelming if you’re not one who likes to cook (or plan). Any meal planning you can do — even if it’s for three dinners during the week — will help you buy only what you need, and, in the process, save you money. You can also build in time to defrost meats you’ve purchased on sale or cook dried beans (rather than having to buy more expensive canned beans). Another option: sign up for a meal-planning service such as savingdinner.com or thescramble.com. For a subscription fee, you’ll get meal plans and grocery lists emailed to you each week. (more…)

Camping? With a baby? Are you nuts?

Possibly, but that’s beside the point, isn’t it? Camping is one of the best budget-savvy vacation options around, and if you can master it while your kids are little, they will grow up loving it (and so will you). While it’s true that camping with a non-walking, non-toilet-using person poses a few challenges, a deep breath and a little planning can go a long way.

Parent Hacks readers recently sent in a slew of smart tips for camping with babies and kids. Here are a few highlights geared toward the under-two set:

Start simple. As in, pitch-your-tent-in-the-backyard simple. That way, you can practice using all of your equipment (the tent, the stove, the lantern) but still have easy access to your stuff. In the process, you can figure out which bits of baby gear you actually need, so when you head out on a real camping excursion, you’ll know what to expect. (more…)

If the notion of having a baby is overwhelming, so is the tidal wave of advice about the gear and supplies you need to prepare for your baby’s arrival. How are you supposed to know what you need, and what will sit, unused, in your already over-cluttered house? To make matters more complicated, every item of clothing and equipment seems to come in multiple versions, colors and styles, making the task (and cost) of outfitting one’s home and nursery gargantuan. Or is it? (more…)