Mom-Tricks I Learned from the Internet That Actually Come in Handy
When I had my first daughter, I (like all new moms) was totally clueless. I feel lucky to have been a new mom in the internet age and be able to outsource advice or scroll until I find something that works for me. Over the years, there are a few mom-tricks I’ve stumbled on that have been so handy, and these are always the first ones I share with other moms. Many of these tricks are compliments the best Instagram accounts for moms that I’ve stumbled on over the years.
Use a hair drier to remove stickers from household surfaces.
We’ve spent way too much time trying to take glittery princess stickers off doorframes without removing paint, pulling Peppa Pig stickers from the hardwood floors, or pulling holographic unicorns (which I find super creepy) from headboards and dresser drawers. My kids have been in a constant sticker phase for the last 5+ years, so I’m getting pretty desperate. Once I saw this trick, I had to try it. This was much more successful on the more recently placed stickers, but it worked.
Use spray sunscreen to remove sharpie from hard surfaces.
I saw this one an Instagram account for toddler activities, so I was sure it would work since the mom who runs the account has much more messy-kid experience than I did. I tried it once when one of my kids drew on the glass surface of our coffee table with sharpie, and it worked like a charm! Then I put this trick to the ultimate test when my youngest entered her art era and no surface in our house was safe. It even helped remove the chapstick my youngest used to draw a family portrait on the hallway wall. Even though we don’t use spray on sunscreen for the kids, I keep a small can around for this purpose.
Emergency Car Bin
This might be one of the most helpful tips from the internet now that my kids are a little bit older, but I have been thankful for it on numerous occasions. It’s simple: keep a plastic bin in the trunk of your car with the following items: extra clothes for each kid and mom (even dad), sunscreen, bug spray, a small first aid kit (ours has bandaids, tweezers, lidocaine spray, and hydrocortisone cream), a pack of baby wipes, some baby powder, a towel, a couple of ziplock and grocery bags, and an empty water bottle. The towel and the plastic bags have come in handy more than I imagined. You’ll be thankful for this if you ever forget your mom-bag.
Makeup applicators (brushes or sponges) to apply sunscreen
I saw this on the same Instagram account of the sunscreen trick, and man has this been a game changer. When I first saw this trick, I didn’t want to spend the money on a makeup brush until I knew it was worth it, so I bought some makeup blending sponges just to give it a try. I have extremely fair skin and need to apply sunscreen like I’m allergic to air. The makeup blending sponge made applying sunscreen to my face, hairline, and scalp where my hair parts so much easier and more consistent and reliable. Using a makeup brush with a handle is probably much easier, but I recommend both that and a blending sponge to help you get the sunscreen in those harder to apply areas.
Disposable trays for messy art projects
One of the best tricks I saw was going to the Dollar Tree to pick up a few inexpensive foil or paper baking tins for the messiest art projects. We’ve used this to contain finger painting projects or for salt art activities. There is no clean up mess because you can just throw this away when things are too messy.
Honorable mention goes to this Dawn dish soap trick for removing those difficult stains (saved my life during softball season).
When I think of all the tricks I’ve taken from the internet that have made parenting easier, I really wonder how my mom survived raising me without the same resources. I’m so thankful for all the tricks other internet moms have shared to help make parenting kids today just a little bit easier.
