Five Mom Hacks You Can Do This Week

Mom of five Amanda Woodiel shares five simple solutions for common household problems that drive moms crazy.

Problem: Multiple cups on the counter. 

 Of all of the mom hacks I have implemented over the years through trial and error, none have elicited more “oohs” and “ahhs” from fellow mom guests than this little wooden caddy. I bought it for myself one Mother’s Day after I counted 21 cups on the counter.   

I’m sure you know the drill: someone gets a drink using a glass or cup. She puts it on the counter. Later, she comes back to find two other people have also gotten themselves a drink using identical glasses and have also set theirs on the counter. Which is hers? She doesn’t know. She retrieves another glass from the cupboard. On and on it goes until it seems as if every cup, mug, sippy, glass, and plastic giveaway tumbler you’ve ever acquired litters the counters.  

I purchased a white paint pen and wrote the names of my kids on the outside of each slot. In the bottom of each, I placed a coaster. I placed this in the spot where most cups seemed to land anyway. In the space of a week, I had cut the number of cups used daily in our house by 70%. This is a gift worth giving to yourself! 

Problem: Whose bath towel is on the floor? 

We must have had a house pixie who loved to make mischief by throwing kids’ bath towels on the floor because no human child ever claimed being responsible for them. We finally banished the pixie from our house for good one day after I had had enough and went and purchased 10 bath towels in five distinct colors (although in colors that “go together” in terms of a color palette). Each child was issued two bath towels in a color, and each child will have that color for life (no switching). Now I know exactly whose towel is on the floor, and after being reminded several times to pick it up, hardly anyone ever neglects to hang it up anymore. 

Problem: How Should I Store the Toothbrushes? 

Toothbrushes! How to store them so that they stay clean and dry? If we use a cup with holes, often there are not enough holes for all of us (7 in total). If we use a regular cup, the bottom fills with a liquid I don’t want to think about. Laying them down flat? Not enough room!  

This is a mom hack that I take no credit for. I read about repurposing Boon “grass” drying racks (originally intended for baby bottles) as toothbrush holders years ago. One day last year, while the songs of the heavenly choir sounded in my head, I saw a castoff one at our local thrift shop. One dollar poorer but much excited, I took it home to my family. This little gadget is worth the $20 it would’ve cost brand new. It keeps the toothbrushes upright and separate, and the runoff water goes into a little tray that the toothbrushes are kept out of. 

Problem: Homeschooling multiple ages and tracking who has done what for the day.  

I homeschool our five kids and over the years, I have tried multiple ways to organize schoolwork. I’ve printed off papers with little empty boxes next to each subject that awaited checkmarks for the day. It ended up being too wasteful. I’ve made school “wheels” that are like spinners with a pointer that ended up being a dreary never-ending loop of school subjects. 

At long last, and thanks to my cousin, I discovered these little dry-erase pockets. At the beginning of the year, I print off a subject list for each child on a single sheet of paper. During the school day, the kids have the satisfaction of using a dry-erase marker to cross off their subjects as they go through them, and I can see at a glance what remains. 

Problem: Kids wanting more screen time.  

Learning how to manage screen time as our kids have grown up has been a challenge. What is a reasonable amount of time to spend weekly on electronic-based leisure activities like video games or YouTube videos?  We’ve tried many different iterations based on the kids’ ages.  

Pondering this in prayer one day, I considered whether there would be a saint who could help me. At first I laughed at the image that came to mind of Saint Francis de Sales playing a video game with Saint Jane de Chantal or of Saint Thomas Aquinas yawning, setting aside his Summa and picking up his phone to watch a YouTube video.  

But then I remembered there is one saint who really could help me: Blessed Carlo Acutis. A teenager who was very proficient with computers, he allowed himself one hour per week for video games. “One hour a week is good enough for Blessed Carlo Actuis,” I told my teenage sons, “it’s good enough for you.” You know what? They agreed. Like all rules, screen time rules are more readily accepted when they don’t seem arbitrary.  

Each Sunday, each child receives a fresh hour of screen time. Screen time has to be used in a communal manner—no absconding with a tablet alone. It has made for some fun family times as we compete against each other on a video game or as we watch a show together. But it doesn’t feel overdone, like it’s the only way we know how to be together.  

We also give extra screen time for any other solemnities that pop up on the liturgical calendar. As a result, our children pay close attention to the liturgical year!    

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Five simple solutions for common household problems that drive moms crazy. #CatholicMom

I would love to hear what mom hacks have streamlined your household.  Share in the comments below! 

Copyright 2023 Amanda Woodiel
Images: Canva

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