I think there is a lot of pressure on stay at home partners to keep everything tightly organized. When I was pregnant, both Michael and I were thinking it would be no problem for me to manage Luke and to create seamless organization systems for all the things. Not the case from the get-go, but we are trying to find a balance of building Luke’s best life and optimizing household activities from finances, to laundry, to travel planning. And what do you know, it’s consuming and exhausting. So, we wanted to share the tools we use everyday and some ideas for gifts to help new parents in your life too.
Life Organizing Tools:
I plan to do deeper dives into how we use these tools in our household. If you are thinking about trying to use new apps in the New Year, here are some ideas for places to start.
- Evernote - I’ve been a loyal Evernote user for years. I keep so much of our lives organized here with weekly to do lists, menus, grocery lists, work notes, holiday, and travel planning, not to mention my entire archive of blog posts. In my opinion, it is mush simpler to work with than OneNote and the sync is spot on.
- LastPass - I know that Google and Apple may have you covered on password storage, but LastPass adds a layer of information to help you keep track of memberships and other details. Not to get too morbid, but we are using LastPass to assemble personal information that needs to get to our family in case of an emergency too.
- Mint - Consolidating financial information is the only way I can conceive staying on top of our credit card churning — we’ll save that for another post too. I use Mint so that I can export all of our transactions monthly to review spending and saving.
Self-Care for New Moms:
- Microfiber Hair Towel Wrap - I had considerable postpartum hair loss and I made it worse by throwing my hair in a messy bun after every shower instead of properly drying it and leaving it down. Hair wraps like this one keep your hair out of the way whenever you do have a chance to shower. And they help dry your hair more quickly so you can cut down on blow-dry time when you are trying to get out of the house.
- Fit4Mom - When Luke freaked out at the sound of the treadmill (months ago), I just up and stopped going to the gym…great. However, I recently found Fit4Mom stroller fitness classes. Luke and I gear up and head out to these kid-friendly, butt-kicking classes. Fit4Mom is franchised and available in many cities.
- Shower Speaker - Can you tell that the shower is my escape space? I try to shower while Luke is asleep, but sometimes I just have to take a shower. Although Luke is safely situated, he will still cry and I drown out his cries with music or podcasts broadcast to our bluetooth shower speaker. Terrible? No shame here.
Parent Helpers:
- Stroller Wrist Strap - For the paranoid mama or papa bear in your life, a safety wrist strap for the stroller is an added comfort for keeping a firm grip.
- Mommy Hook - It’s a big carabiner, nothing special there. However, it really is a huge help with diaper bags, groceries, and shopping bags that can be clipped quickly. These are all about getting your hands freed up quickly. Comes in a pack of two; so, one you accidentally leave one on the grocery store shopping cart, you have a backup — speaking from experience.
- Baby Carrier Jacket - People stop us all the time to find out more about our baby carrier jacket. Some are parents, but most are just jealous of how cozy the setup looks and wish they could be snuggled up as well. This jacket works on any baby carrier, but then also converts to a stroller blanket. I love the fleece lined pocket for my hands on the front.
