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Mom hacks are not always as good as they seem! Today we have 5 mom hacks that I have deemed stupid or silly if you want to say it nicely.
These mom hacks are simply not a good idea for most people in most situations. So, let’s jump right into the list with #1.
#1. Frozen Water Balloons to Cool Drinks
I recently came across a “mom hack” to put frozen water balloons in a cooler with drinks. These frozen water balloons are replaced using ice. I guess the idea is that when the “ice” melts you will have water balloons ready to throw rather than a cooler full of cold water.
In theory, I guess this could be a good idea. I am not an anti-water balloon.
My problem here is at a party you are not just hosting your own children. You have kids from multiple families with varying behaviors and personalities. Your children may fully understand to wait until later to throw the balloons, but other children may not listen as well.
Could you imagine frozen water balloons getting thrown at people or property?!?
I feel like a regular water balloon hurts bad enough, a frozen one is essentially like throwing a rock at a person.
What if a 5-year-old chucks a frozen water balloon at a 2-year-old?!?
Someone could get seriously hurt!
Do not combine cooling drinks and water balloons. Just use ice in the cooler and separately make water balloons that are at room temperature.
Keep things simple!
#2. Doing a Mixed Load of Laundry Daily
Doing a load of laundry daily I agree with. However, when you see moms with like 6 kids telling them all to throw their clothes in the wash every day I don’t get it. First of all, I could do this method and my entire family would constantly wear the same two outfits. They would go back and forth each day.
That seems a bit repetitive to me!
What I like to do is rotate through members of the family. Say it is a family of dad, mom, son, daughter. I would go through each family member then do a day for sheets, then do a day for towels, and then if I need to go back to the family members I can or maybe I find something else to wash like throw blankets from the couch.
My point here is to keep the individual’s clothing separate!
This makes putting the clothes away soooo simple. You don’t have to sort. You go straight to that person’s room and get all their clothing quickly put away.
Now say you do need to combine 2 family members’ clothes. Say you have a lot of kids.
- Boy 10
- Boy 8
- Girl 5
- Girl 3
- Boy 2
What I would do is intentionally put two kids’ clothing together so it will not get mixed up. For example, I would not do the 8 and 10-year-old boys’ clothes together (unless they share clothing).
This is how I would do it:
- Boy 10 + Girl 5
- Boy 8 + Girl 3
- Boy 2 + Mom
- Dad
- Sheets
- Towels
Or something of that nature.
Again my point is yes do the laundry daily, but no do not combine everyone’s laundry.
Eliminate sorting.
The key is for each person to put their dirty clothes in their own hamper.
#3. Clean (er) Painting Supplies
The world is constantly producing more products to keep painting clean and fun.
There are special cups and brushes, along with various smocks and painting easels.
All of these items have to be washed once done painting. This might make less mess on your floor and table, but it is probably the same amount of work or cleaning for you as the parent.
Painting gets messy. You are either ok with that or you are not. Your child is likely going to get messy. This of course depends on their age and personality.
Just embrace it and quit buying more products to hack your way out of a mess.
#4. Frozen Sponge in the Lunch Box
This is such a silly mom hack to me. Basically instead of packing your kid’s lunch with a freezer block you dampen a sponge, put it in a Ziplock baggie, and freeze it. You then place it in your child’s lunch box to keep it cool.
It can work like a freezer block and then they can use the sponge to tidy their area once done!
What?
So, I actually have way more steps now.
A simple freezer block will do the trick just fine…why are we trying to improve on this?
#5. Diaper Under the Car Seat Padding
I saw a hack that was advising parents to put an open diaper under the padding of their child’s car seat if they were recently potty trained.
First off you should never add anything to a car seat or alter it in any way. Car seats are to be left alone to keep their safety features fully intact.
Practically speaking if your child has an accident it is going to be a mess. I get that the diaper may absorb some of the mess and attempt to keep the mess from hitting your seats. However, you are still going to have to remove and fully clean that car seat.
Once again you can’t mom hack your way out of problems and work. Cleaning is part of being a parent.
Conclusion
What are your thoughts on these mom hacks? Are there any you disagree with? Which one is the worst in your opinion?
Please, please, please ignore stupid mom hacks.
Before considering a hack make sure they are not asking you to spend money. Don’t buy a product that will be used rarely.
Check to make sure the hack is truly reducing steps, or work involved in a task.
Don’t get sucked into stupid mom hacks!
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