9 Genius Life Hacks For Parents

Being a parent is one of the toughest jobs out there, but these 9 parenting hacks are about to make it a whole lot easier, or at the very least, a lot less messy!

1. Store & Organize Toys

You'll Need:

• hanging organizer

Here's How:

Set up a hanging organizer on the door of the room where you children play most, or at least where most of their toys always seem to end up. Now you can keep the toys, especially the small pieces, neatly organized and contained in one place.

2. Paint-Free Clothes

You'll Need:

• transfer tape

Here's How:

Stick a piece of transfer tape on the front of your kid's shirt or pants before they start playing around with paint. After they're done, you can easily peel off the tape, and the colorful mess along with it.

3. Make Loud Toys Quieter

You'll Need:

• tape

Here's How:

Many toys, such as fire engines or police cars, boast special effects like original sounds. To save your nerves, just stick a piece of tape over the toy speaker and that annoying siren will be a thing of the past. 

4. DIY Racetrack Carpet

You'll Need:

• tape

Here's How:

Racetrack carpets are pretty popular with kids, so if you want to treat your little one without breaking the bank, this fun craft is just what you're looking for.

5. Soundproof Door

You'll Need:

• poole noodle
• knife
• candle

Here's How:

Doors getting banged and slammed shut is a truly awful noise, and you don't even want to think about what it's doing to your door frames. To calm your nerves and your protect your paint budget, heat a knife over a flame and cut of a section of a pool noodle. Cut a little bit out of the middle of the pool noodle and clamp it on the side of the door. Now the door can't be slammed and you won't be as easily irritated. 

6. Clean Toys

You'll Need:

• dishwasher

Here's How:

This trick is further proof that sometimes the solution is easier than you realize. To get rid of dirt, germs, and gunk, just throw your kids' toys in the dishwasher.

7. Paint-Free Walls

You'll Need:

• curtain rod
• kraft paper roll
• picture frames
• nails

Here's How:

If your kid fancies himself the next Picasso, lucky you. But you won't be so happy when he gets paint on your clean white wall. If you want to encourage your child's creative tendencies, but can't stand the though of another mess, just attach a curtain rod to the wall at a kid-friendly height and push two nails into the wall below it. Put a roll of kraft paper on the curtain rod, pull the paper down, and hang a picture frame over it on the two nails.

8. Prevent Food Spills

You'll Need:

• cupcake liner
• box cutter

Here's How:

Let's be honest – kids can make a big mess when they eat, especially if it's something that melts, like ice cream or popsicles. To keep their hands clean, cut a cross in a cupcake liner and stick the food through it so that any spills or crumbs will land in the liner and not their lap.

9. Label Shoes

You'll Need:

• sticker

Here's How:

Some of us had a problem differentiating between wrong and right, and some of us had a problem differentiating between left and right. If your child doesn't know the difference between wrong and right, good luck with that... but if your child is struggling with left and right, we can help! To save your kid the frustration of putting the wrong shoe on the wrong foot, cut a sticker down the middle and put each sticker half in the corresponding shoe – now your kid will immediately be able to see which shoe belongs on which foot. So easy and brilliant!