parent hacks

How to unload the diswasher with a curious toddler underfoot

IT CAN BE DONE. From Linda:

Here's how I manage to load and unload the dishwasher with a toddler (18 months) who wants to be involved with EVERYTHING I do: while she is sitting in her toddler chair, I give her the utensils rack from the dishwasher and several spoons. The other morning she spent several minutes - yes, minutes! - moving the spoons around to the different compartments while I was able to unload and load the dishwasher. She likes having the shiny, grown-up spoons and the power to decide which spoon goes where. I like having a few minutes to deal with the rest of the dishware.

Related: Let toddlers pour beverages over the open dishwasher door

Bag clips hold seatbelts during carseat installation

Here's how Andy and Chris simplified car seat installation:

Installing car seats is a whole lot of no fun, particularly if you have seat belts that automatically retract. We figured out a little hack that makes our car seat installation just a little bit easier.

Many kitchen supply stores sell these clamp-y things used to seal off bags.  They're perfect for clamping off a seatbelt (holding it in a fully pulled-out state) so that you can install the car seat and buckle it in without having to wrestle with a belt that wants to retract.

It sounds like a little thing, but it has seriously made installing car seats a 5-minute job instead of a longer, testier one!

Just remember to remove the clip when you're done.

Related:
Mighty Tite keeps car seat secure
How to Install a safety seat that won't budge (daily links)

Happy Mother's Day, Parenthackers

Just hopping on to wish you a wonderful Mother's Day. I'm not sure what the day has in store -- which is perfect. Any day I don't have to orchestrate (what's everyone going to eat? what's the weather like? is the science museum open today? Do we have milk? ...ad infinitum) is a Good Day in my book.

Also, Rael and the kids have been creeping around the house with conspiratorial smiles for the last week, which is as fun for me to watch as any gift I could get.

Have a lovely day. You are appreciated.

Photo by Pizzodisevo

Dandruff shampoo gets rid of cradle cap

Shaunta says:

To get rid of cradle cap, wash your baby's hair with dandruff shampoo.

We used baby oil and a comb, but it took forever to go away. Anyone else have cradle cap cures?

Related: What do you do with baby oil?

How to trick the autoflush toilet sensor in public restrooms

This may be the most useful tip you'll get all year. From James:

My son had the bejebus scared out of him by the autoflushing toilet when we were just starting training. I don't blame him, me holding him over the pot trying to keep him from falling in while he did his business. Then out of nowhere WOOSH! Since then, he's been very concerned whenever he has to confront one. I've tried to stand in front of the sensor or hold my hand near it, and it works sometimes, but it needs to work ALL THE TIME! I found that if you drape a length of toilet paper over the sensor (folded over a few times), you can fool the Potty Eye. Then when he's all set we can pull it off and let the flush happen. No more worrying about getting sucked down the pipes and he gets a kick out of fooling the potty!

Even now, both my kids are wary of autoflush toilets. When my son was in preschool and we were stuck in an airport restroom somewhere dealing with a particularly loud self-flushing toilet, he yelled, "Who's the jerk who invented this? Didn't he know that kids have issues?"

Related: What to do with your kid when you're in a public restroom?

Pistachios: yummy AND good for kids' fine motor skills

Rachel's found a new favorite snack:

I have just discovered the greatest fine-motor food work and added variety to my four year old's diet! I bought pistachios for a cake I was baking and my son was intrigued. I showed him how to open them and he was hooked. He is normally incredibly fussy about new foods, but he loves that he opens them and "earns" the prize himself. It's great for buying me some time too!

I started by making sure there weren't any hard-to-open ones in the bunch, but if he comes across one of those now he just calls me over for help with a "sticky one."

We had the same experience with edamame and artichokes -- my two very picky children loved the entertainment value as much as the food.

Related: 'Gateway' foods entice finicky eaters

Veggie scrubber doubles as high chair de-gunker

Brooke's found a way to get the crusties off the high chair:

I am in love with my veggie scrub. (I'm sure the mesh bags avocados come in would do the same thing.) Both are great at scrubbing potatoes and carrots BUT the hack I found made me write to you. Our son's highchair/booster seat sometimes acquires a layer of caked-on food. When it comes time to take it (the chair) to a restaurant or grandma's it must be cleaned up. Wiping it down with a wet cloth does very little to dried oatmeal and tomato sauce. BUT add a little soap to the scrubbing mitt and the chair is clean in minutes!

Related: Cookie sheets rescue food dropped from the high chair

Mom's Ultimate Organizer winner!

WOW. Thank you -- over 200 of you shared your clutter-releasing stories in the comments! Pretty inspiring, I must say. It's weird how one small act -- getting rid of a box of old clothes, or forgiving someone, say -- can get the ball rolling in the right direction.

Our randomly-picked winner is Maureen...check out what she got rid of:

I got rid of my car. Donated it to a worthy cause. In one fell swoop, I decluttered: the mess of kids' toys, old newspapers, and junk food remnants that accumulated inside; the emotional clutter of squeezing in errands, shopping, and kid-chauffering--now all of us shop and play local, and older kids have learned to (gasp!) use public transportation!

Bravo! Congrats, Maureen -- email me with your mailing address and I'll get your organizer on its way.

The magical, multifunctional properties of painter's tape

Jen in Toronto loves her blue tape! For good reason:

We use painter's tape a lot around our house, and we take a roll with us when we travel. It makes a great impromptu electrical outlet cover. We use it to 're-seal' packages of crackers and boxes and bags of all kinds; you can also use it to keep diapers closed if the tabs break. It makes an okay temporary sink-stopper. Tape paper to the floor or other surface so it won't move when kids are trying to draw. [See stencil tip in today's link roundup! -- Ed] Create a hopscotch grid on any floor without having to clean up chalk marks. Best of all we put it over the speakers on musical children's toys and it magically lowers the volume! Put on a double layer for extra sound-muffling power, or just cover half the speaker if you only need a little tone down.

Anyone else have other uses for painter's tape?

Related: Use blue painter's tape to babyproof a hotel room

links for 2008-05-08

• Mimi & Moe's Mom: Hold stencils in place with painter's tape
  Thanks for passing this along, Adrienne!
• Baby Toolkit: Hard As Nails: Reuse BPA Plastic Bottles
  Why not get some use out of all of those BPA bottles you're getting rid of?
• Want Not » Mindful Money: The conundrum of groceries and gas
  Good grocery budget tips.
• Half Full Blogversations: A Different Mother’s Day Gift Guide
  Yes.
• Kidmondo: an online baby Journal
  Looks like fun!
• Seat Belt for Pregnant Women
  Fascinating. Thanks for the link, Michelle!
• The KIDS SPEAK OUT! Survey
  Help author Susan Goodman collect feedback from 4th-to-8th graders about the presidential election! Her book, "See How They Run," comes out soon.