21 Life-Changing Stay at Home Mom Hacks + Tips
Do you find yourself completely exhausted and stressed out being a stay at home mom? While a SAHM life is tiring, it doesn’t have to lead to complete burnout. Check out these life-changing stay at home mom hacks to transform your home into a more relaxing, stress-free, and happy environment.
Not every day is perfect, but these SAHM hacks sure can help!
21 Best Stay at Home Mom Hacks
Order Your Groceries Online/ Grocery Pick Up
Let’s face it, going out to the grocery store with little ones can be draining if they aren’t in the mood. Instead of spending an hour in the store with fussy toddlers and kids who want every eye-grabbing cereal box, order your groceries online! This is by far my favorite stay at home mom hack EVER.
The pandemic honestly made this possible for many stay at home moms. They saw the benefits of either getting groceries shipped right to the house or doing grocery pick up. I absolutely LOVE Misfits Market. They have a huge selection of organic foods and produce that ships to your house weekly. Grab $10 OFFyour first order with this link.
It makes healthy living so much easier when I get a box full of greens and quick and east fruits for the kids to snack on.
PLUS this is food that would otherwise go to waste, so you are reducing food waste and saving tons of money while you’re at it. Not even kidding, my weekly grocery bill decreased by at least $60!
If we need extra ingredients, it’s a lot easier to go in and out of the grocery store or have my husband pick up one or two ingredients while he is out. (Is my husband the only one horrible at following grocery list directions? Love him to death though haha)
2. Meal Kit Delivery Services
For the weeks that you have soccer practice or kid activities and games back to back, an organic meal kit delivery service is life-changing!
My favorite one has been Sunbasket since they use organic ingredients, unlike other healthy meal kit delivery services. You can get $90 OFFacross your first 4 orders with this link! :) If you need to make the meals bigger for extra friends that are hanging out for the evening, you can always throw in an extra sweet potato or ingredients you have at home.
3. Rotate Toys
If you get overwhelmed with toys everywhere, rotating your kiddos toys is an awesome stay at home mom hack. The kids will be more entertained with the small selection because every time you rotate them, it’s like they are getting a new toy!
You’ll spend less time of your day picking up the basket of little cars and Little People…that they didn’t even play with.
You can rotate the toys every week and keep the backup toys in bins in the closet or garage. I’ll do the same thing with seasonal books!
4. Get Outside as Much as Possible
The less time the kids are in the house, the less mess there will be! Getting them outside will let them get all their energy out and will play them out. Head to a park or if you have a fenced-in yard, that’s great! You can watch them play and listen to a podcast.
Everyone gets a little Vitamin D, exercise, and time in nature. By the time nap time or bedtime comes around, those little peanuts will be out!
In the spring we love raising caterpillars! On Earth day this year, my sons, Emmett and “Spidey” let out little friends go! You can grab a caterpillar kit here!
5. Live a Minimalist-ish Lifestyle
The fewer things, the less mess, the less mama stress! It’s easy to find a home for everything when there is less clutter. And when there is less clutter, everyone in the home will feel lighter.
This is everything from shower supplies, to clothes, to kitchen countertop appliances, to the number of toys. This also makes cleaning, like dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, and wiping countertops off so much easier and less of a hassle.
The only exception I have to this rule is books. Your home can never have too many books! And I love having a front-facing bookshelf like this one to really encourage your kiddos to see all the available books to encourage them to read more :)
But if you do want to reduce them, you can be an avid library goer and switch out books every couple of days.
6. Adopt a Slow Living Approach to Parenting
If you’re always on the go, rushing from one activity to the next, the kids and you are going to be overwhelmed. This is one stay at home hack, or really, stay at home lifestyle, that I absolutely love and makes me a happy mom.
I leave my stay at home mom schedule light, leaving more room for rest, play, and space. We don’t have to rush to get out the door or hurry around to get the kids bathed up before leaving home.
We have slow mornings and slow days so we can all feel more relaxed and happy.
As for kid activities, we only have each kid in one activity, unlike many families where each kid is in 3 sports. This allows them to focus on one sport and leaves more room for connection and creativity.
7. Be Creative with Entertainment
Have a big cardboard box, empty oat container, or something of the like?
Cut out shapes, make it a playhouse or make a music shaker. It’s simple things like this that keep kids entertained without having to spend money! This will also show them how to be creative with the things all around them!
Download already created fun worksheets (at the beginning of the week and keep in folder)
8. Keep a Basket or Book Shelf of Library Books
This keeps reading new and exciting for your kids and encourages them to pick up books. You can even begin read-aloud storytime while they are playing. Before you know it, they will be interested and come over and sit on your lap.
Pick books on topics that they are into lately. Are they into Mickey Mouse, dinosaurs, Paw Patrol or princesses? Get a variety of books on those.
Oh If you haven’t read, Brave Learner, it’s SOOO amazing! I highly recommend it. It’s about bringing magic into everyday life for your kiddos to help them learn and grow. Julie Bogart is FANTASTIC!
I love putting library books ONLY in our front facing bookshelf to keep it exciting and new all the time (and it’s an easy way to not lose our library books every week…well almost. There’s also that ONE book we search the house high and low for)
9. Go to Bed Early, Wake up Early
As a stay at home mom, you have to make sure you are getting enough rest. If you are tired, you’ll have less patience and be cranky. And that just leads to cranky kids, right?
After I put the kiddos to bed, I give myself about 1-2 hours to clean the house and have me time, whether it’s to clean or to work on my business.
10. Same Bedtime for Kids
While we are on the topic of bedtime, get your kids on the same bedtime schedule. It’s important that your kids are getting enough sleep as well- your toddlers and your teenagers.
11. Put Your Phone Away
Don’t let your kids think your phone is more important than them. Plus, when you put your phone away in a kitchen drawer, for example, you’ll find that you’ll have so much more time to connect with your kids or get household chores done!
12. Crock-Pot Meals to the Rescue
Wash. Chop. Cook. Eat. Crock-pot meals are the best! You can let it cook all day without dirtying up a million dishes. It can take 15 minutes tops to chop or insert the ingredients, and then you can go about your stay at home mom schedule.
13. Simple, Healthy Snacks
You don’t have to snack time over complicated. Easy fruits, nuts or veggies are great options. You can give them to them while they are playing outside or even during a walk in the stroller to keep them entertained.
Apples and almond butter, carrots and hummus, chickpeas, oranges, date bars with nuts are all easy healthy options.
What I love doing is making smoothies filled with secret veggies and call it a “dinosaur” smoothie (or something fun). This Hulk Smoothie Bowl is a fav in our home. It’s such an easy way for all of us to get in our vitamins and minerals for the day. And honestly, the kids don’t even care. They love helping me make the smoothies :)
Download My FREE Ebook, Healthy Ingredient Swaps for Healthier Family Meals!
14. Never go to Bed with a Dirty Kitchen
This stay at home hack makes for a happy mom in the morning! When my son wakes up at 5 am, it’s a lot easier to get my butt out of bed when I know I’m coming down to a clean kitchen with the coffee waiting for me!
This allows you to start your day feeling relaxed and stress-free, making for a good day with the kids.
15. Adopt Nap Time/ Quiet Time
Plan in nap time around the same time every day. If your kids are growing out of naptime, introduce quiet time where they can play, read books, or watch 30 minutes of a show. During this time, you can work on your SAHM job or clean up the house before going into the afternoon.
The key here is to get everyone on the same schedule so you can actually get time for yourself (which we know is vital if you want to be a happy SAHM!)
16. Create Your Own Stay at Home Mom Schedule
Speaking of schedules… it’s nice to have a simple stay at home mom routine to follow on most days. While this shouldn’t be taken too seriously, these time blocks will allow your kids to get into the groove and know what to expect each day. It’s okay if it’s not followed to a T, but it can give some order to the home.
17. Let the Kids Help Clean
If the kids are old enough, get the kids involved with chores. You don’t have to wait until bedtime to clean the entire home.
My 2 year old likes to help me change over the clothes from the washer to the dryer. While it may take a couple of extra minutes, I’d rather include the kids and get it done, rather than saving it all for at night.
I just recommend that you use all non-toxic cleaning supplies in the home to protect you and your peanuts from harmful chemicals. For example, we use “For Everyone” handsoap that we pick up at our local grocery store and we order from Branch Basics non toxic home cleaner.
18. Be Present with Your Kiddos
When you decide to be fully present with your kids, it honestly makes the day go by so much faster, smoother, and more enjoyable. You will connect with your kids better and pick up on body language to catch meltdowns before they happen. It’s nice to actually have fun with your kids and get in on the fun action!
19. Work on Your Stay at Home Mom Job During Nap Time/ Bedtime
Besides nap time/quiet time, don’t try to work on your stay at home mom job during the day when your kids need your attention. This will make you less productive and cause them to want you more.
Wait until the kiddos go to bed and then get out your laptop and work away.
Some nights I dedicate to work, other nights I focus on recharging myself. It’s important to find that balance to stay sane as a stay at home mom!
20. Go for Stroller Walks
When the weather is nice, go out walking as much as possible! This will keep the kids entertained, get you in some exercise and allow you all to get some fresh air and avoid huge messes inside your home.
This Double Bob Jogging Stroller is hands down my absolute favorite! No matter if you are a jogger or not, you’ll love this. I can’t imagine being a mom to two little boys without this stroller! Seriously. It’s extremely easy to push and I can’t say enough amazing things about it. The storage is great and the cover is great protection from rain, wind, and sun.
We love exploring new roads and trails throughout the week. Make sure to have snacks, diapers and little toys packed for the best success!
21. Download or Buy Kid Workbooks
For toddlers, order ABC and 123 tracing workbooks and for older kids, get some according to their age. There are workbooks ranging from Paw Patrol 123/ABC workbooks to Disney Princesses, to Math Starwars workbooks.
If you need a morning or afternoon activity, I love having a stash of these to get out to focus their attention.
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