Questionable Choices in Parenting

Laughing at life as a parent so they don't commit me

4 Ways to Make Long Car Rides with Your Kids More Fun

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If you are prepping for a road trip with your kids, it’s time to prepare with a few hacks to keep your kids happy travelers. From hacking a movie, saving pacifiers from getting lost, and the best way to snack while in the car, here’s four ways to make long car rides with your kids way more fun and easy on you.
Having a DVD player in your vehicle really comes in handy when you have kids, but how can you hack a movie in your car if you don’t have an actual DVD player installed? Start with an iPad, a large freezer bag and two short bungee cords. Just attach the bungee cords to the backs of the front seats. Place the iPad into plastic bag and push the bungee cords through the bags. Now the iPad is suspended between the front seats and your kids can watch a movie. Just make sure the freezer bag is clear so the kids can easily see the iPad screen.
Create a travel tray for your kids with a small baking sheet-grab one for the dollar store and a small pillow. You can use Velcro or hot glue to attach the pillow to the bottom of the baking sheet. When you kids are in the car, they can use the tray to read, color, snack, play with toys, or watch a movie. Plus this inexpensive DIY is easy to store when you aren’t traveling.

The Best Travel Hacks for Parents

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It’s time to pack up the family and hit the road for a family vacation. While most family vacations aren’t full of rest and relaxation, they should be full of family time and fun. However, before you leave for your vacay, here are some of the best travel hacks to make your trip with your family run a little smoother.
  • An over-the-door shoe organizer is simple to pack and is perfect to hang in the bathroom. Rather than let everyone’s lotions, soaps, makeup, hair products, and styling tools take up all the counter space, pop everything into the pockets to keep the bathroom organized.
  • A roll-up cosmetic bag makes a perfect pool bag. Pack toys, goggles, money, and even a book for Mom or Dad to read into each compartment. Now everything your family needs for a day at the pool stays organized and is easy to carry.
  • Use a hanging sweater organizer as a cubby in a hotel room. It’s perfect as a catch-all for shoes, souvenirs or electronics. For early mornings, save time by designating each pocket for your kids’ outfits so everyone can get ready and out the door in a flash.
  • Pack a few clothespins because after splashing in a pool or the ocean, you can attach the clothespins to the shower curtain to hang wet bathing suits and towels for a quick and space saving dry. You can also use clothespins as toothbrush holders so your toothbrushes aren’t sitting on the bathroom counter.

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How to Play the Perfect Weekend Staycation

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If you need a weekend away with your family but not looking to spend the money to actually travel anywhere, it’s time to plan a staycation. No hotels, no long car rides, and no need to book a plane or train. All you need is time to make the plans and all of the hot-spots in your town to have the perfect weekend staycation with your family. So skip the suitcases and get ready for a fun weekend with your family right in your own town.
Backyard Camping – If you are brave enough to go camping with your family-go for it! If roughing it in a tent is not your style, you can still get in touch with nature with a little backyard camping. Setup a tent in the backyard and camp for the night or for just a few hours. Use a fire pit or make your own fire pit with charcoal in a terra cotta pot. Now you can roast marshmallows for s’mores while you sit by your own DIY campfire. The best part of this camping, if you have young kids that change their mind late at night, you can always take the camping party inside.
Find Your Favorite Sea Creature – Head to an aquarium to explore sea creatures. But before you go, head to the library and help your kids do a little research on their favorite sea creature. Look at age appropriate books and search the web. You can even create a scavenger hunt for the aquarium. This is a great way to slow kids down a bit so they don’t just run through aquarium and miss all of the creatures.

Five Ways to Keep the Trunk of Your Car Organized

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We are all looking to keep our car more organized and the trunk of our car is one of those places that can easily become a hot mess. From tossing in your groceries, your kids’ sports equipment, and any other random items you may find in your car, it doesn’t take long for the lunch to become a disaster. So to keep your entire car, including your trunk more organized, here are five easy ways to stay ahead of the mess.
  • Leave foldable laundry baskets in your car for grocery shopping days. This way you can load all of your grocery bags into the laundry baskets for an easy and organized way to transport them to your home-no spilled grocery bags for you. Plus, you can easily carry the laundry baskets into the house rather than making a dozen trips trying to carry all the bags. When you are done, just fold the laundry baskets back up and store them in the trunk until your next shopping trip. You can also store these baskets in a large plastic container.
  • Another grocery bag option is to attach a bungee cord across the inside of your trunk and string the bag handles through the bungee cord.
  • If you have plastic containers of different supplies in the trunk of your car and the bins are constantly moving and shifting around while you drive, grab double sided adhesive and a few inexpensive book ends. Place the adhesive on the bottom of the books end and attach to the bottom of your trunk. Then place the bins against the book end-which will now work as a stopper, so the bins won’t budge while you are driving.

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How to Upcycle Items from Your Home Into Items that Will Keep Your Car Organized

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If you are looking for ways to keep your car more organized, there’s no need to spend a small fortune on expensive gear for the inside of your car and trunk. You can actually turn some of your trash into treasure-car organization treasure. So before you take out the trash, here are six ways you can turn regular items from your home into the perfect containers for everything in your car.
  • If you can’t enjoy your morning coffee without creamer, then you probably have a few plastic containers taking up space in your fridge. Clean out the container and use it to store small snacks. The lid is perfect for tiny hands to open and you can toss the container in the car for long car rides or just for a quick snack when you are on the go. We love storing goldfish crackers, dry cereal, or tail mix in these upcycled containers.
  • The next time you need a pack of gum, grab the kind that comes in the round container with the snap-top lid. This container is perfect to store spare change. Place the container in a cup holder and lift the lid to add the change whenever you need a few cents.
  • Old makeup cases are perfect for car emergency kits. From band aids for boo boos, to wipes to clean up messes in the car, you can store everything in the makeup case, zip it up, and never worry that you won’t have any of the essentials when you are on-the-go.

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Easy Ways to Save Money on Gas

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If the warmer weather has you wanting to get out and hit the road, you aren’t alone. Spring is the perfect time to drive to your favorite spring break destination, take a weekend road trip, or pile the family in the car and check out the beautiful flowers of spring. However, all that driving can really cost you at the gas pump. So if you are hoping to rack up the miles without racking up gas high gas prices, here are a few easy ways to save money on gas this spring.

  • Take advantage of gas points at your grocery store or whole sale store. Do a little research and find which stores in your area have points programs that go towards gas. You can easily save money on gas by spending money on the items you are already purchasing every week.
  • Use tracking apps like Gas Buddy or ITrackGas to compare gas prices in your area or when you travel. These apps are great at saving you money and some even have programs you can join to earn points towards free gas on future trips.
  • If you don’t want to download another app, check to see if apps you are already using will do this for you. Apps like Waze have this feature and if you are already using Waze, you don’t need to download another app.

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Everything you need in your car when your kids play spring sports

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 If springtime in your home means running your kids to practices and games for their spring sports, then you need to have your car ready for just about anything. From preparing for all different types of weather to making sure everyone has the equipment they need, here’s how buys parents can pack their car for the spring sport season.

Rather than tossing a number of items into your car and hoping that you can find what you need later, try creating individual kits and packing all of your kits in a large plastic container that you store in the back of your car. Now you’ll be covered, have what you need, and be able to find it quickly. Here’s a few ideas of the kits you can create:

Warm Weather Kit

  • Sunblock

  • Extra water bottles

  • Lip balm with SPF

  • Hats or visors

  • Sunglasses

  • Bug Spray

Clean Up Kit

  • Garbage Bags that can be stored inside a plastic container or an empty baby wipes container

  • A roll of paper towels

  • A few packages of wet wipes

  • Bottles of hand sanitizer

  • A roll of toilet paper and baby wipes

  • A roll of dog poo bags for small messes

  • Plastic Cups, utensils, paper plates for meals and snacks. Store all of these inside a gallon plastic bag.

  • Portable potty for younger siblings

Rainy Weather Kit

  • Poncho

  • Change of socks

  • Large beach towel

  • Umbrella

  • Stadium seats

Tech Kit

  • Rechargeable battery

  • Travel cords

  • Extra batteries

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Tips and Tricks for Traveling with Toddlers

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Traveling with toddlers can be tricky. To be honest, doing much of anything with toddlers can be tricky. So when you are getting ready to hit the road for a vacation or a road trip, sometimes you need to get creative to keep your little one a happy traveler.

  • If your stroller is taking up way too much space in the back of your SUV or minivan, try this hack. Grab a bungee cord and attach it to the back seat headrest. Then stand up the stroller and attach the bungee cord to the stroller. It will stay secure, take up less space, and will be easy to get in and out of your car.
  • If your toddlers want a snack in the car you can get a bit creative with yogurt tubes or applesauce cups. Simply pop a start into the tube or cup and let your kids “drink” their snack.
  • Toddlers are messy and you often need to change their clothes. Store extra outfits in small ziplock bags. You can fit an entire outfit in each small bag. Store them in the car for quick changes and toss the dirty clothes into the bag.
  • Stash toys in small container that you can situate next to your toddler’s car seat. This way they can reach down and grab all of the toys they want while you drive. This hack will hopefully keep them entertained on long and short car trips.

 

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Creative Hacks to Get Your Car Clean

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If spring cleaning has you in the mood to get your car sparkling from the inside out, then you’ll need more than a vacuum to get your car clean. Here’s eight hacks that will get every inch of your car clean and ready for spring.
  • A cheap toothbrush is perfect for cleaning cracks and crevices in your car. From the seats to small spaces, stash a toothbrush in your car cleaning supplies for quick dusting and cleanings.
  • A sponge paint brush will help you get inside those dirty air conditioner vents. Since you can grab one of these for under a dollar, not only are these a handy cleaning tool but an inexpensive hack as well.
  • If the inside of your windows need a quick clean up a baby wipe will do the trick in pinch. This is perfect or those times you have tiny finger prints or even nose prints from pets on the insides of your windows.
  • If you want to give your dashboard a quick shine, put a very small amount of Vaseline on a rag and rub the Vaseline into the dashboard. This hack is a great conditioner for your dashboard and will help keep dust off your dashboard.
  • Lingering smells can easily be erased by sprinkling baking soda on your car seats, floor, and mats. After you let the baking soda sit for about 20 minutes, vacuum up for a clean and fresh smelling car.

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