I know it might be a terrible extravagance, but when DD2 (15 months old) has a massive blowout, more often than not, I just throw away her onesie and the pants she was wearing rather than cleaning 'solid foods' poo out of her outfit! If it's a new outfit or something she could still get quite a lot of wear out of, I will suck it up and clean it, but otherwise, nope, it goes in the bin!
What are your super lazy parenting cheats?
grapefruit / 4441 posts
Oh man, I have a ton... in part because I am pregnant and exhausted a lot of the time!
-since infancy, I have bathed/showered LO along with myself when short on time
-I give my daughter a smoothie for breakfast in a sippie cup so she can drink it in the bathroom while I do her hair or even in the car
-we put a baby gate (actually 2, stacked vertically) across my daughter's room and let her play in there unsupervised if we need to clean up. The whole room is baby proofed, so I feel okay about doing that!
-If I'm tired, I will read just one book and then let her watch a show in her bed on the ipad until it's time for her to go to bed. That gives me an extra half an hour to myself before bedtime.
grapefruit / 4418 posts
I totally throw blow out clothes away, unless I really love it! Not going to lie, it's part of the reason my daughter used to wear so many plain white onesies lol.
My daughter eats eggs, bananas and string cheese far more then i would ever like to admit. Could be worse, right?!?!
grapefruit / 4235 posts
baby led weaning was soooo much easier than the visions I had of making my own baby food!
papaya / 10570 posts
E goes to my inlaws' house three days a week and they feed her breakfast. I started taking her toothbrush and asking them to brush her teeth afterwards. Eventually, I bought a toothbrush for their house!! I wish I could say that it was because I wanted her teeth brushed after breakfast but it was really because I can't be doing with the battle!! Lazy mummy!
honeydew / 7230 posts
When they're being mischievous and getting underfoot while I'm cooking or cleaning, I ask them to find the dog. Works every time to get them distracted and give me some space for a couple minutes (especially if I have to do something like open the hot oven or wash the floors or something). Even better, the dog follows my instructions so I can tell him to go get on the couch, go to the garage door, etc. If he keeps moving, they keep moving!
grapefruit / 4988 posts
I give DD a healthy snack as soon as we get home from daycare. If DH picks her up (only occasionally), he always just tells her to wait until dinner and she throws massive tantrums. I honestly don't have the patience to fight her every day about it.
pear / 1946 posts
@anya: How do you shower with the baby? They seem too slippery to me! I'd be afraid I'd drop him.
honeydew / 7091 posts
@twodoghouse: I think that is one of the most hilarious things I have heard recently! I am so jealous!
nectarine / 2784 posts
@BeachMama: DH hands the baby to me while I'm in the shower and I rinse her off and then hand her back to DH and he dries and dresses her while I finish showering. Or vice versa.
grapefruit / 4441 posts
@BeachMama: I always took her baby tub in the shower with me. She sat in the tub at my feet. I was too scared of her slipping to hold her in my arms.
grapefruit / 4819 posts
I love all of these!!
@catomd00: So glad I'm not the only one who throws clothes away! Fortunately, DD seems to save her blowouts for when she's wearing pants that are looking worse for the wear or are getting to be too small so it sort of alleviates the guilt!
grapefruit / 4649 posts
I definitely shower with her more often than not, unfortunately at her age I haven't come up with too many other good shortcuts.
@twodoghouse: You just gave me a new set of tricks to teach my dog! That is the best idea ever!
papaya / 10343 posts
We have a low media center with glass doors and DVDs inside. LO looooves pulling all the DVDs out and making a huge mess. If I want 10 minutes to sit on the couch without her trying to crawl on me I open the doors and let her go to town.
pomegranate / 3329 posts
Um, I still bring my lo's in the shower with me because I'm always short on time!!!
That's only if she wakes up in time though.
pineapple / 12566 posts
If I need 10 minutes, I put my diaper bag on the floor and let DD open it and take everything out.
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
we used to bathe them every day. Now 2 times a week is enough! except in the summer when they get really sweaty and dirty.
clementine / 812 posts
I bathe my 3 month old every 3 days. I get the feeling most do it more frequently. Meh.
persimmon / 1129 posts
We rearranged our cabinets so one of the bottom drawers has all the tupperware. While I'm cooking, I give her some random kitchen utensils (a wooden spoon, a whisk, etc.) and let her have at the tupperware drawer. It occupies her forever!
In the yard, we got her a little wheelbarrow and taught her to pick up sticks. It keeps her entertained for a long time and it's actually helpful! Getting started early with the child labor.
eggplant / 11716 posts
My biggest lazy-parent cheats revolve around food, since my LO is still MSPI and can't ever (ever) eat food in a restaurant or fast food place. So my quick meals are rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, the Dr. Praeger's broccoli patties, and all kinds of other MSPI friendly prepared foods that I don't actually have to cook.
Saves my life on the days when pregnancy + full time work +toddler = mom too tired to make dinner.
coconut / 8079 posts
@twodoghouse: that is so funny! I wish my dog was so obedient! 
@My Only Sunshine: love the wheelbarrow idea! We have lots of trees and I was just telling DH I can't wait for LO to be big enough to make picking up sticks a fun game.
LO's play kitchen is in our kitchen so he can cook while I cook or load the dishwasher.
grapefruit / 4923 posts
sometimes instead of washing his hands in the sink with soap, i clean them with a baby wipe. this is at home, when the sink is 5 feet away.
cherry / 180 posts
@twodoghouse: I love this! stealing for future use.
my cheat is a little dress up game called parischic on my phone that guarantees 20 min to accomplish something. i'm not a big fan of handing my phone over and don't think parents should so I'm torn all the time about it.
hostess / cantaloupe / 6486 posts
I've been letting my 35 pound toddler sit in the baby swing because she loves it and it keeps her off me while I'm trying to nurse. I even changed her diaper in it yesterday because it was the only way she was still. I'm sure it's going to break one of these times but it's just not worth the fight to me
pomegranate / 3858 posts
If I ask her how her baby is today and she needs to be looked after, I can get 20 minutes of quiet play time out of her...also Daniel Tiger app on the iPad while sitting on the potty. She'll play that as long as I want her to!
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
We have an eat in kitchen, I set up an art station using collapsible fabric bins there right next to the table, so he can do playdoh, color, glue, etc while I am cooking dinner.
I also try to minimize the number of steps I have to do tasks, so another one I did was to rearrange my son's clothes into outfits, rather than clothes categories.
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
@Mrs. Coral: Mine is almost 6 mo and so far we bathe her once a week.....
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
@looch: Oh, I like how you arrange his clothes! I def stand around thinking about what to pair with what in the morning...
clementine / 812 posts
@snowjewelz: Oh thank you!! We skipped last night, so we're going on 5 days of dirty...
clementine / 950 posts
@twodoghouse: bahahaha I totally do this too! "Can you help me? The dog is lonely, can you throw his ball for him?"
Magic! At least 20 minutes go by until the dog gets tired of chasing the ball for the 1.5 feet Lo can throw it haha
kiwi / 541 posts
I second Mickey Mouse! Mine is also into monster trucks and loves watching the videos on the IPad. So he gets to do the Ipad for longer than I'd like but since I'm home alone with him 4 nights a week it helps to get things done. And/or gives me a minute to sit on the couch and veg-out.
My other cheat is in the mornings I give him a bubble bath in my spa tub. He loves it and it makes lots of bubbles. I do this while I put on my make-up and get dressed! When he was younger I gave him lots of snacks.
bananas / 9973 posts
My LO is a slooow/picky eater. If we need to be somewhere fast(er) in the morning, I will occasionally get her McD's or something easily hand-held and put a plate on her lap in the car while we're driving somewhere. She actually eats better in the car than if I were sitting next to her in the high chair at home. I tell myself it's a terrible habit to create, but it saves us at least 40 min.
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