
In Mamamia’s Parenting Hacks series, real women share their tips and tricks on everything from meal prep to organisation to nailing the morning routine.
This week, we asked parents to share their very best parenting hacks.
We’re all looking for quick and easy ways to keep our kids happy while getting them to do what we want them to do.
But bribery can get expensive, so hacks are the way to go... even if they’re occasionally, ahem, slightly questionable.
So we scoured the internet - and asked the parents from the Mamamia Parents group - for the very best parenting hacks.
Watch: How to get your kids to help around the house. Post continues below.
Here's what they came up with.
The oh-so-deceitful ones.
"My friend told her kids that no cafes in our town knew how to make hot chocolates."
"One from my mum: 'I told the girls the tooth fairy only liked white teeth, and hated yellow so they'd brush their teeth. If the fairy found teeth that weren't clean and sparkly, he'd put it back in their mouth.'"
"Told my three boys that the annual public holiday was a day off from school for washing walls. They were nearly 10 when they figured me out."
"My parents made a competition between my brother and I at dinner time. While we waited for our food, we had to sit in silence and put our hands behind our backs. Whoever didn't talk got their food first. We loved it and tried to get each other out."
"We told our kids if they tell a lie, a star appears on their forehead that only adults can see. Now, they always cover their forehead when they're lying."
Top Comments
I use to send my kids out to collect rocks so we could make rockbuns. Kept them out of the kitchen until I finished. If they came back to soon I would tell them the rocks they collect were too big/small and they had to try again. Worked for years.