Can You Hack Motherhood?

Sunshine and Mac and Cheese

July 24, 2015 by amushro

“Sunshine and mac and cheese.” That was my response to a friend that hasn’t seen my son in a few months and was shocked to see how he’s recently shot up in height. All I could say is “It must be sunshine and mac and cheese because that’s all this kid needs to grow.” The truth is, my boy should be a shade of orange because his diet consists mainly of orange colored food: mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, and cheese sticks. I’ve never really considered Aaron a picky eater because when given the foods he likes, he eats really well, is super healthy, and he is a so tall. However, when his little sister came along and was willing to eat anything we put in front of her, I realized this guy is a little tougher at meal time than I realized.

Is there anything that makes a Mamma’s heart sing more than seeing her kids eat well? No one wants to fight with their kids every single mealtime. Ugh, no thank. My mission this summer is to get creative, keep the peace, get this boy to try some new foods, and to show him a veggie will kill him.

With our free schedules during this easy breezy summer and tons of fresh fruits and veggies available right now, it was time to change the way we eat. Here’s what were are doing in this house to get a little more adventurous with our eating.

Try It Tuesday and New Food Friday- Everyone gets something new on their plates on these days and we have to try at least three bites. Even Mom and Dad. We make it a game and then celebrate when we all take at least three bites.
Small scoops- When we’re trying new foods, we start with tiny bites. So rather than dumping a pile of peas on his plate, I give him two or three. Imagine being a kid and your mom is making you try new food and there is a mountain of green stuff that looks and smells sketchy. However, two or three green things, not so bad.
Hide It- You think that’s just pizza right? (Insert Evil Laugh) I added pureded spinach! I have to be creative and sneaky and this does take a lot more planning, but the blender is getting lots of use and I feel better knowing there is zucchini in his blueberry muffins.
Smoothie Season- The kids think they’re getting a sweet treat, but this mom has packed a smoothie full of greens he would turn up his nose too. All he tastes is his favorite fruit, blueberries!
Week By Week- My pediatrician gave me this tip when I was feeling like my attempts to get my boy to eat new foods and veggies was failing. She suggested rather than look at every meal, every single day, look at the week and pat yourself on the back for trying new foods and veggies a few times a week.

Vitamins are essential for good health through every stage of life. Our bodies require a broad variety of vitamins and minerals to function properly, yet it can be challenging to get all the nutrients we need from food alone. And believe it or not, a kid can not survive alone on sunshine and mac and cheese.

We all strive to maintain a healthy lifestyle for our entire family. We know the importance of a balanced diet and exercise but for many of us, we can continue to rely on vitamins and minerals to fill nutritional gaps and enhance health.

Did you know that kids tend to gain MORE weight in the summer months? Considering my kids seem to be busy every single minute of a summer day, this statistic shocked me; however, check out this graphic from Know Your OTCS to see why this is true.

Looking for more information about dietary supplements for you and your family? Know Your OTCs created a really helpful site that can answer a lot of your questions.

What are your tips or tricks to dealing with picky eaters?

Camping with kids Life Hacks

June 29, 2015 by amushro

Do you have camping or “glamping” on your family fun to-do list? Or does taking your kids into the great outdoors makes you a little nervous? Don’t fret! I’ve got a few life hacks for camping with kids that will make your camping adventures a lot more fun. Just don’t forget, making S’mores every night is a camping requirement.

Kids won’t miss a minute around the campfire once they turn a 10 gallon bucket with a lid into own their personal camping seat with a hidden surprise. Let kids personalize their own “seat” with markers, stickers, and attach a small pillow for extra cushion. Their seat can do double duty by storing their games, clothes, and special camping treasures inside the bucket.
Is not showering for a few days making you and your stinky campers nervous? This hack and a box of wine is for you! The inside bag of a box of wine (called a bladder) can be cleaned and refilled once all the wine is gone. When you hit the campsite, fill the bladder with water and leave it in the sun to warm the water. Attach the wine box bladder to a PVC pipe or tree branch with clothes pins or clips (high enough above your head but you can still reach the spout) and you have a shower with WARM water! Refill with water and have your shower ready for the next day.
Now you need your shower supplies camping friendly. Create a shower necklace by using a lanyard and attach a loofa (a bath sponge) to the metal hook. Fill small travel bottles with shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, and shaving cream, and use thin plastic string to attach the bottles to the lanyard. Now all your shower supplies are in one, portable place, and it never has to touch the ground.

Outdoors good. Germs bad. Create a handwashing station from a large laundry detergent dispenser (the kind that has a spout and you can control the pressure), attach a roll of paper towels to the top with a bungee cord, and attach a bottle of soap with string. Now go wash your hands!
Multitasking moms need multitasking camping gear, so grab a large tarp (the kind with metal grommets), some plastic PVC piping and elbows, and plastic ties. You can create some privacy for the shower or potty, shade from the sun, a waterproof tent, and a dozen other uses. Super versatile and super helpful!
Before putting down your sleeping bags, lay foam tiles (the kind for playrooms and outdoors) down on the floor. The tiles keep little feet safe and make a more comfy sleeping space.

One of the best parts of camping is the food! Make cooking easier by organizer all kitchen supplies in an over the door shoe organizer so everything is visible, clean, and within reach.
Don’t forget the spices but save space by putting them into a plastic seven day pill organizer.
Need to bring eggs but don’t want an egg mess? Clean out a plastic bottle (we used a coffee creamer container) and add your cracked eggs. Use a sharpie too mark measurements so you know how many eggs you are using.
Time for S’mores! Get that fire started with these fire starters: cover cotton balls in petroleum jelly and store in an egg crate or fill empty toilet paper rolls with lint from the dryer. Light that fire!
Bugs be gone! Here’s a safe and effective homemade bug spray: Combine the following in a small dark-colored glass spray bottle: 15 drops Citronella, 15 drops Lemongrass, 15 drops Peppermint, 1 tsp Witch Hazel, and fill the rest tap water.

Back on The Today Show with my Beach and Pool Hacks

June 3, 2015 by amushro

Friends, I have a happy dance that I reserve for really, really special occasions and let me tell you, I am full on happy, tap dancing, cartwheels, turn-turn-turn-kick-ball-change-jazz hands when I ‘m asked to come back to the Today Show. It gets real fancy up in here. After I finished bustin’ a move, I hopped a plane to NYC to be a part of another Parenting Team segment and I really think you will love this one. I’m sharing some of my best pool and beach parenting hacks.

P.S. Some of my readers were worried about the little girls that helped with the sunblock train and I’m telling you they were fine! They were outside for less than 2 minutes, honestly! They were so cute and their parents were so nice! So simmer down!

Also, I sorta love this clip because it literally makes me laugh out loud AND my hair and makeup looks fabulous and I would love for the Today Show hair and makeup team to just follow me around all day long.

Hey do me a favor, when I die, play this clip on repeat because it’s hilarious and fabulous. Deal?

A video posted by QuestionableChoicesInParenting (@questionablecip) on Jun 3, 2015 at 9:57am PDT

6 Tips To Get Your Kids To Wear Sunscreen

May 19, 2015 by amushro

Today I’m sitting among suitcases, packing list, bathing suits, and sand and water toys and all I can think about are freckles. Since my kids are part fish, it’s quite convenient that we spend most of our summer at our family beach house. I watch my kids race into the waves for hours and they sequel with joy when the tide rolls in and swallows up their sandcastles, but all I can think about are freckles. You see, I’m a child of the 80’s and teenager of the 90’s. So that means in addition to awful hair choices and questionable styles in clothing, I shamelessly worshiped the sun, and now at the ripe old age of 35, I have the sun damage and the freckles, to prove it.

As a kid, sun protection for me was one bottle of sunscreen, only used while we were at the beach, applied only in the morning, and was probably used the next year and the year after that. There was no sunscreen when we rode our bikes or swam for hours and hours at our pool. As a teenager and in my early twenties, the tanning bed was my friend and constant companion between laying out with….wait for it…baby oil.

And now I have been entrusted with the precious skin of my children and friends, let me tell you, I take this job very seriously. Because their skin is just as fair as my own, I need to make sure their skin is protected and they’re not covered in freckles from years of being careless in the sun. But adding sunscreen to kids everyday can be a bit of a challenge because getting my kids to stand still long enough for me to actually apply the sunscreen is pretty ridiculous.

For beach, bike rides, pool time, playgrounds, and prolonged exposure to the sun, we need to be protected with sunscreen. Here are six ways to get your kids to actually wear sunscreen.

1. Sunscreen Train: Everyone needs sunscreen before we head out and everyone needs to get on the train! Create a line and let everyone apply sunscreen to each other. Just be sure you go back over the kids to make sure they have the correct coverage and enough sunscreen.

2. Connect the dots: Apply the sunscreen in a dot pattern on their arms and legs. Let your kids use their fingers to connect the dots while you apply to other body parts.

3. Set a Timer: Grab an egg timer or set a timer on your phone and have a race with your kids to see how fast you can apply sunscreen everywhere. Make sure you start with their feet and legs and work your way up since their faces tend to be where kids fight sunscreen the most!

4. Simon Says Sunscreen- Put some sunscreen in your child’s hands and play a quick game of Simon Says Sunscreen. Simon Says put sunscreen on your belly! Simon Says put sunscreen on your right leg! Of course, re-check for coverage when the game ends.

5. Apply before you go: Once you hit the outdoors, your chances of successfully adding sunscreen are dwindling. So apply before you leave the house!

6. Distraction: Come on, you’re good at this! A quick snack, a show on TV, maybe a few minutes on the beloved iPad. Sometimes our distractions aren’t pretty, but whatever it takes!

Here’s a really important tip: just applying sunscreen isn’t enough. There are quite a few things I learned from KnowYourOTCs.org about sunscreen and how and when we need to apply. Here’s what they say are the most important tips to remember about applying sunscreen:

Re-apply every 2 hours or more if your child has been in the water

Use sunscreen labeled “broad spectrum” — it means it protects against UVA and UVB radiation

Make sure you are using the right amount of sunscreen–think the size of a golf ball

For more summer survival tips, be sure to check out KnowYourOTCs.org

Now I know applying and reapplying sunscreen to younger kids can be difficult. Tell me what fun ways have you used to apply and reapply sunscreen on your kids?

This post was sponsored by KnowYourOTCs but all opinions and ideas are 100% my own

Visit Consumer Healthcare Products Association's profile on Pinterest.

Parenting Sanity Savers Making Beach Trips With Kids A Breeze

May 7, 2015 by amushro

Summer is coming, friends and that means sun and fun and schlepping your entire family to the beach. We all know that a family vacation REALLY isn’t a vacation for you, right? It’s more of a working vacation, but if you have plans to take your kids to the beach, I’ve got a few sanity savers to make your beach vacay a breeze. Maybe not a breeze but a whole lot little easier. Lookout beach, here we come!

Use a mesh laundry bag (grab one at the Dollar Store!) and load up all of your kids’ sand toys, buckets and shovels. The lightweight bag is easy to carry or drag up or down the beach so even your older kids can be in charge of this bag. Before you head inside, rinse everything right in the bag in an outdoor shower or hose! You can let the bag drip dry on the balcony or deck and have it ready to go for the next day!

Image via Th Idea Room — Image via The Idea Room

An easy way to keep sand from overtaking your beach blanket is to ditch the blanket and grab a fitted sheet. Flip the sheet upside down and in each corner put a bag or cooler so the sides of the sheet are flipped up. You just created a little barrier from the sand–at least for a little bit.

My favorite tip for the summer! At the beach and pool I’m high alert mom because my kids always run off in different directions and if I’m distracted for a moment, I can easily can lose sight of them. Panic time! Here’s how I fix this issue with a little color coordination

Want the sand off but don’t have a place to rinse off? No problem! Stash a bottle of baby powder in your beach bag and sprinkle away. The sand magically falls off and who doesn’t love the smell of baby powder? If your kids get a little over zealous with the sprinkle part, fill a child sized knee sock with baby power and tie it off with a ribbon. You’ve created a sand-be-gone-sack. Silly name but sandless hands and feet!
A very important item you need for the beach are dog poo bags. Yes dog poo bags. Throw a roll of these bags into your beach bag for wet bathing suits, dirty diapers, sunblock explosions, taking home seashells, and every other mess or blowout you can and can’t plan for. The bags are small but super handy.

You already know to pack light on vacation. So here are a few ways to re-purpose items already on your packing list:

Pool noodles are super fun during the day while your kids are splashing around, but dry them off at night and tuck them under a fitted sheet on a bed and they work like a bumper for you kids. No need to move furniture or bring a bed rail, just use your noodle!
Sandy cellphones are no fun. So put your phone inside a plastic bag to keep the sand out but you can still use the buttons!
A day of cannonballs into the pool or dives into the ocean can lead to water in your kid’s ears. Ouch! Have them blow up a balloon for instant relief from the clogged ear! Fill the other balloons with water and freeze overnight. Use the frozen balloon in your cooler during the day and in the afternoon have a fun water balloon race on the beach with the family. Fun and functional, I like it.
Save the lid to your take-out coffee, flip it upside down, and put the stick of a Popsicle in the drink hole and ta-dah–the lid catches drips and your kiddos little hands stay clean! You can also use a cupcake liner for this trick.

Image via LifeHaccker — Image via Lifhacker

Protect your kiddo’s precious skin and reapply sunscreen every two hours (less if they have been in the water). To remind yourself, set the alarm on your phone, download an app(you can find lots of free apps), or write on the back of sunscreen bottle the times you need to reapply.

Sunburn got you down? Try these tricks:

Freeze aloe vera in ice-cube trays for cool relief or put the entire bottle in the fridge for a quick cool down.

Add two cups of apple cider vinegar to your bathtub. The vinegar will calm your hot skin
Pour apple cider vinegar on a washcloth and dab your skin. Once it dries, add coconut oil. This combo should ease your pain and reduce redness by the next day

Most important tip take grandparents…. kidding, kinda. OK, most important tip Have SO MUCH Fun! Look out beach, here we come!

Sanity Savers For When Your Kids Are Sick!

April 30, 2015 by amushro

I’m so excited to announce my new series for the blog called Can You Hack Motherhood? Since my Sanity Savers For When Kids Are Sick was such a hit on the Today Show, I knew these great tips needed to be a shared as a weekly series! So here is the post that started it all and a clip of my Today Show appearance! Keep a lookout for a new set of life hacks and sanity savers every Thursday and if you have any great tips for hacking motherhood, send them to me!

As a mom, I’ve got all kinds of super hero powers, like my kisses can fix boo boos and I can make lunch, kick a soccer ball, talk to my mom on the phone, and nurse a baby at the same time! But even when it seems like I’m just flying through life with my super hero cape on, nothing can send me into a stress induced tizzy like my kids getting sick. Everyone is miserable, no one is sleeping, and I’m looking around wondering “Who’s next?”

I’m not a doctor, but I do watch A LOT of Grey’s Anatomy and have two kids that like to barf in my hair at 3 AM and often get sick at the most inopportune times, like on trips to Disney. So here are my parenting life hacks when your kids are sick:

Making Medicine Less Yucky

When your kiddos are sick and they need to take medicine, the last thing you want is an all-out battle to get them to take their doses. But to be fair, a lot of medicine tastes pretty awful so here’s how we hide that yucky taste and start feeling better:

Put a few mini chocolate morsels on their tongue and when the chocolate melts, it coats their tongue so you can sneak the medicine in minus the bad taste. See chocolate really does fix everything!
For serious negotiations, I turn to a currency my kids understand, lollipops. Dip the lollipop in the medicine and let your kid lick the medicine each time you dip. When they finish all the medicine, they get to eat the lollipop (get yourself one too — you’ve earned it).The Skinny on Soothing SkinIt’s not just the flu or a cold that can have your favorite patients feeling awful, but don’t worry; you’ve got a bag of tricks to fix anything when they have issues with their skin
Itchy dry skin is no match for you! Put your little one in a lukewarm bath with a cup or two of white vinegar and skip the soap and shampoo. Cover their skin with Vaseline or coconut oil—yes coconut oil. They won’t be itchy and will smell like a yummy pina colda.
Sunburns are so painful, but you can come to the rescue with a cool fix of freezing aloe vera in ice cube trays.
My kids are anti-shoes in the summer which leads to a lot of splinters. So this Mamma mixes up a paste of baking soda and water to coat the splinter. Add a band-aid and let the paste sit for an hour. The splinter works itself out of the skin, you can easily pull it with tweezers, and your babe’s feet will stay pain free.Sanity Through ExhaustionYou’re probably a little rusty when it comes to all-nighters. So do a few things to keep sane when you only have one eye open at 3AM.

Be prepared for a night of tummy trouble by pulling out your old towels and sheets for your kid’s bed. Just like lasagna, make layers of sheets and towels. When you need to make late night clean ups, you can strip off a layer and the bed is already made and ready for the next round, sigh
You may already suffer from Mommy-Brain AND you’re exhausted, now you have to remember the last time your kids took their medicine—not happening. Grab a marker and create a small chart on the side of their medicine bottle for doses and the number of days they need to take medicine.
Earaches are so painful and keep everyone awake, but if you take an all white sock, add coarse sea salt and a few drops of lavender, and warm it up in the microwave or a skillet, you have a soothing heating pad to place on a painful ear. Sweet dreams!
Hydration is key when they’re sick, but if they’re lying down or napping, you can fully expect spills on their bed and your couch—but not anymore! Grab a cup with a lid and put a crazy straw in upside down. Even if the cup falls over, it won’t spill! Hallelujah! I might do this every day!Sweet Pain Relievers
Got a sore throat? Try a few mini marshmallows. Why does it work? I have no idea, but it does and it’s yummy.
Popsicles make everyone feel better so add Jell-o to homemade popsicles-it won’t melt as fast—genius– and if you add some fruit, you get a something healthy into you’re a sick kiddo with zero appetite.

These parenting life hacks can fix a lot and get your family back to normal…..

Or as normal as your family can be.