My Favorite Yet Embarrassing Life-Hacks.
Life-hacks are super trendy right now, because lets face it, we are busy and anything that helps us get back to fun quicker is always a win! Through the last few years of motherhood I have found a few bizarre and yet helpful life-hacks that I want to share.
1 Laundry-Hack. One day my toddler had a endless case of diarrhea. So every time he farted, he had to change underwear and sometimes pants. This went on six times in one day. At this point I’m running out of clean laundry for him and it occurs to me to try something bizarre. So I do. I put one of my tiny, thin, pantie liners in his underwear creating fart barrier, and guess what it worked. Every time he farted we just changed the liner and boom, no need for endless laundry.
2 Best Foot Lotion Ever. No seriously. Are you feet cracked and dry and . . . gross? Try this, buy Aquaphore from the baby area of your local store. Slather your feet in it, put on socks and go to bed. Wake up the next morning . . . feet like satin.
3 Cost-Effecitive Home Defense. I’ve said this one before, but I can’t share it enough. In a self defense class I learned from a police officer, if you want to defend yourself and your home. Purchase Wasp Spray, it shoots out high pressured poison up to 27 feet, and it is cheaper and more powerful than standard pepper spray.
4 Baby Wipes Forever. I swear my son will be 14 and I will still keep a pack of baby wipes in my car. I’ve used them to clean him up after a meal, emergency illness, blown both our noses in them, when I spilled food on myself, cleaning hands after port-a-potty, the list goes on and on. The darn things are so handy for everything childhood or adulthood could bring.
5 Breast Feeding Salvation. I remember breastfeeding very well and I distinctly remember the burning hot lava feeling my breasts would turn into. Hot, painful, sweaty . . . so I looked into those freezable bras. They aren’t cheap. So one day I’m in Target buying bandaids and I see these small, round ice-packs. I look at them for a minute and buy three. One for my son, and two for me. I tossed them in the freezer and then I would toss one in each cup of my bra when I needed some cooling salvation. Cheap and effective. This is also a great trick in the middle of summer when your air conditioner decides to give up on the hottest day of the year.
6 Cuticle Cure. You know all that expensive, left over nipple cream you have after breast feeding has ended, and you just can’t seem to throw it away . . . good. Start putting it on your cuticles, it’s heavenly.
9 Emergency Dental Floss. So one day I have an important meeting and I’m parking my car out front. I do the standard teeth-check before getting out and oh no! There it is stuck between my teeth . . . lunch. So I look for my dental floss, and I’m out. Yes I typically keep dental floss in my car. I’m an over prepared nerd, but on this fateful day, it is empty. Panicked I try to remove it with my fingernails. Drat, I can’t get it! So I pluck a hair from my own head and floss that little bit of embarrassment out of my teeth. #winning. Weird . . . yes, but also effective in a pinch.
10 A Cure for Everything. Tea Tree Oil cures everything. Cystic acne, sore throat (tastes terrible, but effective), stop your kids from ever getting lice at school. It is like a miracle drug and it is delightfully natural.
12 Hemming Pants for the UnCrafty. I should note that I do know how to sew and hem pants, but it doesn’t mean I want to do it or always have time to do it. So in a pinch, I use black Gaffers Tape to tape up my dress pants. It’s easy and cheap and fast. It will hold all day. And then when you have time, you can go back and hem them properly. Warning though, do not put them in the washer and dryer with the tape on them, trust me it is a sticky unpleasant mess.