Mom Hacks – Spreading It Out

I am 44 years young. I am the mother of a 20-year-old and a 12-year-old. Many of my years of parenting afford me experiences, both good and bad, that can lend to advice for friends or those just starting families and beginning to run busy homes.

Completing my holiday list-making, shopping, and wrapping over the past 3 months has made me think of other things I “spread out”, in order to make the tasks more achievable and feel less daunting.

Laundry: I never feel overwhelmed by laundry, simply because I do it every day. It has become such a part of my daily routine, that I will actually choose what clothes to wear based on what color laundry load I know I’ll be washing next!

I keep three dirty hampers (whites, darks, colors), and every day have at least one load to wash. I wash, dry, and hang them as soon as they’re dry, and it really requires very little effort.

Bill paying: Who has extra money laying around? Oh right. Savers. Well, I’m not a saver, so I spread bills over weekly, semi-monthly, and monthly payments, in order to make them feel not so very BIG! I also set up automatic payments on most things, so that I don’t forget to pay a bill. It makes life so much less stressful.

Grocery shopping: People often say the way I shop is very European. I mostly shop from recipes. I decide what I’m going to be making over the next few days, and pretty much shop for those ingredients. Often, I don’t have much foresight, so I’m shopping for what I need for dinner TONIGHT. Breaking it up and spreading it out like that means I rarely have a huge grocery shop to tackle.

What about you? What do you spread out, to make it less of a huge task?

Natalie Rea

Mom to two amazing daughters - a feisty teen in middle school, and an ambitious young adult in university. Originally from Montréal's West Island, I now explore the beautiful trails of Hamilton, Ontario. Proud Canadian, vegetarian, dog-adopter, & bleeding-heart liberal. I smile a lot because I have Resting Bitch Face.