4 Ways to Create Time & Sanity Without Using a Glowing Screen

Do you wish you had more time in your day?  Have you ever wanted to have more energy at the end of your day so that you could enjoy some peaceful family time?

I was going to title this post something about “saving time” or “managing time”, but really, the thing I hear most from parents and myself is wishing that we could have more hours in the day.

I know how it is to feel pooped after a tiring day of work and to feel out of patience by the time you return home to your family.  I also know what it’s like to be a stay-at-home mom and to feel like I am digging deep (like my volleyball coach used to say!) in order to find the energy and persistence to be the best mom I can be.

I have twin boys who are almost 4 and in my time raising them I have experimented with many techniques in order to make my life easier and our family time more enjoyable.

When you have twins, you have to find efficiencies and tricks or you risk losing your mind.

Warning: These are not for the faint of heart.  Some of these require a great deal of delayed gratification.

You can think of it like letting your toddler hold the fork those first few times – you deal with mess after mess knowing that, in the end, he’ll be able to feed himself, and that will free your hands to actually be able to eat your own meal.

With some of these you might ask yourself “how is this going to create more time for me?”  And my answer is this:

Most of these serve to eliminate whining, pleading, melt-downs, stress and overwhelm (for both the parents and the kids).  Less frustration and aggravation lead to more calm, more harmony, and therefore more headspace and availability for quality family time.  (One of the tips is just a pure time saver though!)

I am sharing these tips here for the first time.  They have been a big hit with a few close friends, as well as complete strangers in the grocery store.

1. Lie at the check-out line 

I know, I know.  Lying to your children.  For shame.

When I was about ten years old we moved into a new house just north of Dallas, TX.  As our moving van was unloading, the lawn man came by to spray the dirt yard with mulch.  I watched intently and asked my dad, “What is that green stuff they are spraying?”

“It’s to grow grass,” my dad said.  “You know what it’s made of?”

“No,” I said.

“Money,” he answered.

And I believed that until I was about 28 years old.

Shredded up money makes grass grow!  Who knew?!

I’m sure you have a similar story and that you turned out fine.

Here’s the story to tell your kids in the check-out line:

Child: “Mom, I want (insert any annoying item at the check-out line)”

You: “Honey, none of that is for sale.  These are just on display. The store is just showing you what they have.”

Now, in order for this to work a) you probably have to start them young and b) you have to be committed to never buying anything from the check-out line when you’re with them.  Ever.

It’s been 4 years and I have never bought anything in the check-out line while the boys were with me.

It took consistency, but we walk through check-out lines as if there is nothing there but a conveyor belt and a cashier.  I leave the store feeling (relatively) calm and ready to do something else with them, instead of leaving feeling flustered and rushed and angry that they threw tantrums in the check-out line.

2. Lovies don’t leave the car

Mr. C’s lovey that he has to sleep with at night and take on car rides is a sweet little doggie that some friends of my in-laws gave him.  Mr. B’s lovey is a monkey.

After listening to my friends bemoan the constant hide ‘n seek relationship they have with their kids’ blankets, doggies, sheep, what-have-you I decide that our lovies don’t leave the car.  They can come on the car ride, but they don’t leave the car.

They don’t come into the restaurant, the store, the playground, the church, or friends houses…they stay in the car and “protect the car.”  (From what? I don’t know, but that’s what we’ve always told them.)

The only exception is when we go to the grandparent’s house and the boys are going to be napping there or spending the night.  In that case, Chris or I put the lovies in the bed they’ll be napping in and they stay right there until naptime.

Which brings us to number three…

3. Keep a back up lovey in the closet

If you have children you’re probably already clued-in to this one.

I’ll be honest; it was super easy for us to have an extra lovey for each boy on hand since we were given 2 monkeys and 2 doggies as gifts (people like to give ‘paired’ gifts to twin babies).

We are lucky that our boys chose opposite lovies because now we have a spare one of each in case one must be washed or gets lost for an extended period of time.

We keep them up high in our closet and try to bring them into rotation whenever possible so that they wear equally (though we haven’t been super consistent with that).

4. Avoid products with highly commercialized characters

This serves to short-circuit any meltdowns about wanting the backpack with Spiderman on it, or the pajamas with Dora on the front.

Our basic philosophy has been to disallow TV shows, games, books or toys into our boy’s lives that contain highly commercialized characters.

If your kids don’t get conditioned to these characters, it turns out they don’t really care about if Dora is on their pajamas or not.

You don’t have to go to 5 stores looking for that one backpack.  You don’t have to listen to meltdowns when you can’t afford to buy the Superman underwear.

In Conclusion

So after you’ve put these tips in place, what does the lack of whining, complaining and melting down add up to?

Less stress, frustration and parenting fatigue and more quality time and happiness with your family.

What is it worth to you to have a little more peace around the house and in your own head?

For me, it’s been minimal effort up-front that is paying off huge rewards today.