Topic
UT Moms Meeting: Tips, Tricks, and Best Practices - Keeping the Family Trains Running
Date
Attendees
Presenter: Merri S Wilson
Other Attendees: Kayla Ford Yesenia Sanchez Courtney Ann Sy Julia D Chinnock @laura jones @kyle hernandez @sarah corson
Discussion Notes
- Knock Knock: Notepads to help planning (What to Eat, This Weekend, Things Moms Really Really Needs, Daily Intention Tracker) Can order online at: http://knockknockstuff.com/product-category/notepads/?gclid=CMTNneniqs4CFYGHaQodOkMNjg or buy at World Market, Paper Place, or Amazon
- Break the weekend into quadrants (Sat morning, Sat afternoon, Sunday morning, Sunday afternoon): only plan one big thing in each quadrant
- Apps to help with lists: Wunderlist, Out of Milk (can mark if you have a coupon), Our Groceries (keeps a list of most common items added, Evernote
- Meal Planning Tips
- Try to avoid meal prep (buy pre-cut items, pick things that don't require as much prep)
- Have a leftover day the day before trash pick-up to clean out items in the fridge
- Cook meat on Sunday and stretch it throughout the week in different forms (tacos, sandwiches, etc)
- One crockpot meal each weekend to help for the week
- Kid Lunch options
- Spinach, hummus and tortillas
- Peanuts
- Almond butter
- Pack the night before (plan for 2 nights at a time)
- Cleaning Tips
- Roomba: worth every penny! Good with dog hair, empty it out every day; you can schdule it to run at certain times of the day
- Do deep cleaning on a cycle (so by the end of the month, the whole house will be cleaned)
- Chores
- Start early if you can (some moms started around 5 generally, and at age 7 usually need less supervision)
- Think of ideas to help incentivize "If you do laundry, you get to keep anything in the pockets!"
- Whatever you do, BE CONSISTENT and FOLLOW THROUGH (with both rewards and consequences)
- Don't put time limits on consequences (take it away until you think they have learned their lesson)
- Working Out/Exercising
- Camp Gladiator in the morning
- Get Fit through UT
- Go to gym at lunch with an accountability partner
- Desk Exercises (from Kinesiology)
- Use child as accountability partner: we will take you to the swings and hten afterward, we do 2 laps around the park
- Cosmic Kids Yoga
- Redefine what a "work out" is: it may no longer be an hour long time at the gym but more like walking the dog
- Use a fitbit to keep you more aware
- PodCast: Mom and Dad are Fighting (parenting topics); share triumphs or fails for the week and suggestions
Action items
http://knockknockstuff.com/product-category/notepads/?gclid=CMTNneniqs4CFYGHaQodOkMNjg