Mothers are the best problem solvers on the planet because we have a LOT of practice solving problems. As any mom knows, motherhood is full of challenges, big and small.
From getting my little ones to latch on in the hospital, to convincing them to sleep through the night, to persuading them to try that runny white cereal on the tip of a baby spoon, to choosing the right schools, to guiding their choice of friends, to finding that elusive sneaker when I’m just. trying. to. get. out. the. ding-dang. door. on. time, challenges have been around every corner in my short parenting career. I’ve discovered that finding clever ways to solve life’s little (and not-so-little) challenges is just part of being a mom.
And that’s just what iRobot’s That’s iNGENIOUS Challenge is all about — harnessing the iNGENIOUS ideas of women to solve everyday challenges.
A few weeks ago, I got to travel to Boston with eight other mom bloggers to the iRobot That’s iNGENIOUS Summit. We had a blast, and I was thoroughly impressed with iRobot and what they are doing. I knew about their line of home robots that help with daily household tasks, but did you know that half of their company is dedicated to robots that serve in the U.S. military? iRobot doesn’t just create devices that give a mom a little more time in her day to surf the net spend with her kids, they actually have robotic devices that save lives all over the world. They even sent a bunch of their military robots to NYC after the 9-11 tragedy to go into the demolished buildings to seek out signs of life. Even though they found none, they did save the lives of firemen who would have put their lives at risk entering those dangerous ruins.
But the point of our visit wasn’t just to learn more about a really cool company, although that was interesting and enlightening.
(That’s me, during the facility tour, snapping pictures of the retired military robots.)
And the point wasn’t just to get together with some other fab mom bloggers and goof around, although that was a whole lotta fun!
(We were supposed to be doing “the robot”????? Yeah, I know. Don’t ask.)
The point of the visit was to discuss the That’s iNGENIOUS Challenge that is launching this week. The goal of this challenge is to come up with solutions for everyday problems that mothers face. Perhaps you have an ingenious way to get kids to eat their veggies. Or maybe you have a trick to dispel the sibling bickering that seems to come with the territory. (I know I’d love to hear THAT one.) Or, here’s one. I’m always trying to figure out how to tame the paper beast during the school year. I would LOVE to hear some suggestions that would help me help my kids to remember their library books, homework assignments, and field trip permission slips.
Basically, if you have a creative solution to ANY challenge a mom faces, I want to hear it!
Please note: This is NOT a robot idea. This is NOT an invention or a product idea you might want to trademark. These are simple but iNGENIOUS solutions to everyday challenges.
We are competing against the other eight bloggers and their online communities to come up with the most iNGENIOUS idea. On September 1st, the contest will close, and one winner will be chosen from all of the submissions across the nine teams.
Here are the criteria, per the That’s iNGENIOUS microsite:
- Creative, breakthrough, “wish I thought of that”
- Practicality of implementation and scalability
- Level of blogger community engagement throughout the process
If the winner is from the Musings of a Housewife community, the author of the winning submission will receive 2 iRobot devices of her choice as well as a DonorsChoose.org gift card of $5,000 to donate to the school(s) of her choice. You will have time, if you wish, to ask your kids’ teachers to submit their own projects to DonorsChoose.org, and then you can fund projects for your own school. Or, of course, you can allocate the money to any other available projects at DonorsChoose.org.
If you didn’t catch yesterday’s post, where I asked you to help me spend $100 at DonorsChoose.org, here is a brief explanation of what they’re all about:
DonorsChoose.org is a nonprofit organization that connects public school teachers in need of classroom materials and experiences with individual donors who want to help. At DonorsChoose.org, public school teachers submit project requests for the specific materials their students need to learn. Donors from across the country browse the website and fund the projects they find most compelling.
If someone from my community wins, I will also receive $5,000 to DonorsChoose.org as well as 3 iRobot devices to allocate however I wish. My plan is to have you get your school teachers to submit their projects to DonorsChoose.org, and then we can fund them. How awesome would THAT be!? $5000 can go a long way in the classroom. And when the time comes, if our team should win, I’ll come up with a creative way to award the remaining robot devices to some of the non-winning participants.
To submit an idea, simply leave a comment on this post. I will be recording all of your ideas on my page of the microsite, with proper credit, of course. This is a community effort, so feel free to read through the other submissions and build upon their ideas. You can even peruse the competing bloggers’ pages as well, to get your creative juices flowing. Enter as many submissions as you wish. I’ll even be submitting my own ideas. Hey, I would LOVE to have $5,000 to spend on my kids’ schools.
I would absolutely LOVE to see one of my readers win this, so put your thinking caps on. I have no hidden motives. I will receive nothing but the pleasure of allocating $5,000 to Donors Choose and 3 iRobot devices to some of non-winning participants. And, of course, the satisfaction of being able to say to my other eight comrades, “Na-na–na-na! We won!” And let’s face it. You can’t put a price on THAT.
I said I’d be participating, so I figured I’d go ahead and start the submissions rolling.
When my kids were younger, they didn’t care much for raw carrots. I can’t blame them, I don’t really like raw carrots either. But they are so nutritious and easy to snack on that I hated to admit defeat.
One day we were at a friend’s house, and she asked me if my kids wanted carrots.
I said, no, they probably wouldn’t eat them.
“I bet they will,” she said with confidence. Then she turned to one of my kids and said, “You want a bunny carrot?”
“What’s a bunny carrot?” my daughter inquired, taking the bait.
My friend took a good old fashioned carrot (not the mini ones that come in a bag) and peeled it and took a bite out of it. “It’s a bunny carrot,” she proclaimed. This is how bunnies eat them.
Much to my amazement, both of my kids clamored to the kitchen for their “bunny carrots,” and from that day on, they have been happy to eat “bunny carrots” whenever I provide them.
So that is my clever solution to getting kids to eat carrots. Try it! Let me know if it works.
Perhaps this isn’t the most ingenious idea ever but it works for us (and hey, it is Works for Me Wednesday, right?). Our toddler has a problem with food being on her high chair tray when she’s done eating. So she throws it off. From talking with my friends and other bloggers, seems this issue is not specific to my toddler! We’ve started keeping an extra small plate on our table when we eat, and when she’s done we hold the plate for her to put what she didn’t eat on it. Keeps the mess off the floor and as I see it, it helps with fine motor skills and cleanup skills.
Melanie, that’s brilliant! Love it. I remember my toddler doing that. Drove me CUH-razy.
Well, I can’t really take credit for this one. I saw it on a blog a while back. Please post if this is your idea to claim your fame…
We are only a family of 3, but our hats/gloves/mittens were a disaster. I had them all in a big basket. So, I bought a cheap, clear shoe holder that goes over the door. Put it on the back of our coat closet door, and gave each hat and pair of gloves its own home. No more digging for a matching glove! And, we put DS’s stuff on the lower portion so he could get it himself. Works great!
When we needed to get rid of the pacifier, I cut the tip off and gave it back to my daughter. She immediately noticed that it was “broken” and I told her to throw it in the garbage. We continued to do that same thing over and over until all the pacifiers were gone! LIFESAVER :}
When my kids were younger, they didn’t like to try new foods. So we started a “Free for All” Sunday rule. They had to try everything, including the vegetables, during the week, and on Sunday, they could eat whatever they wanted! It worked great, and I never had a problem at mealtime again. It worked for me!
Jennifer, haha! That’s mine! And you’re welcome to it. I stole it from a neighbor, anyway.
Well I have an idea that helped to get my picky eaters to chow down on some meat and potatoes. I made little meat muffins in my cupcake pan instead of making a loaf. Then I piped my mashed potatoes on top as though they were a cupcake. I let them sprinkle on the italian seasonings and walah… they actually ate it. Can you believe that?
Now I’m stuck though. Even though they are now much older they insist of having “cupcake meatballs”. I have no idea why they call it that.
I am absolutely overwhelmed and in love with my son’s school art projects. Rather than choose the best 4-5 to keep, I started taking pictures of them. At the end of the year I create a hard cover 8×8 photo book using Wal-Mart’s online design system. This is much easier to store and we’ll get to see how his artistic abilities grow over the years!
When back-to-school days roll around, many moms like myself start pulling out all the clothing and sports items to see what fits. Swapmeets for school clothes and sports gear are become more popular as people look for creative ways to save money. The more people you invite, the more can go away with something they need. People who don’t have something to donate could perhaps can pay a small fee with donations going towards a common goal.
My daughter is not a huge fan of veggies. Fruit she can’t get enough of. I have started cooking and pureeing carrots and mixing it in apple sauce. She is one so she doesn’t really get that it is different. Since carrots are naturally quite sweet it doesn’t change the taste or texture too much. I can make a batch at the beginning of the week and it lasts all week. It saves money as well since I buy organic unsweetened apple sauce in bulk instead of the small individual tubs. I just put it in a tupperware to go. This way she is getting a veggie with her fruit. You can always play with the ratio if your kids really notice the difference and sneak in just a bit of carrot.
Bedtime was a real hassle when our 3 children were small. We came up with our “Bedtime Books” plan to help with that transition. After bath, tooth brushing, and one more sip of water came the fun part. First, all of the children would sit in one bed and we would read a bedtime story. Then each child would get to pick a book and take it to their own bed. They could “stay up late” as long as they were looking at books. Of course, we adjusted bedtime to be 1/2 hour earlier than usual. Our little ones developed a love of books and still got the rest they needed (and so did we).
We are currently potty training (or attempting to!) my two-year-old. Someone shared this amazing, why-didn’t-I-think-of-it idea me. To avoid the reliance on Pull-ups and avoid the accident messes at the same time, put underwear on under the Pull-ups. The child hates the feel of wet underwear, while the Pull-up catches the mess! I WISH I had known about this with my 4-year-old!
Great post and giveaway.
I’m the neighbor that you stole the clear plastic organizer idea from – works great in the summer time too for flip flops and stuff!
My life saver was when my kids were babies and still on the bottle. It used to drive me nuts when they would spit out their medicine when I used the little syringe thing to give it to them. So I started using a nipple, without the bottle. I would start to feed them their regular formula, then I would slip in a second nipple that was preloaded with formula and the medicine mixed. They were expecting formula, so by the time they realized it was different, they had already swallowed it and couldn’t spit it back at me. It truly was a life saver and has saved many clothes from large pink stains!
But I am happy I don’t need to do this any more and hope it helps others!
How do your young kids respond when you are ready to go out the door and you say “Honey, do you want to put your sneakers on?” or “Can you put your shoes on now?” How about brushing their teeth or coming to the dinner table, or…or…?
Well, I looked at my son square in the eyes and said “You CAN put your shoes on now.” Statement of fact. No inflection.
Worked every time!
Great contest! Well, as a Mom of nine I have come up with some solutions over the years. I hope I can figure out what to submit (I’m always reading the “reader tips” in magazines and saying- HEY- I’ve always done that!).
It seems like the glasses/cups mulitply like rabbits! We have had a family rule for years- the kids each have their own cup- name written or painted on it- to use for the WHOLE day. They can rinse and wash it if/when they want, but that is the ONLY cup of the day. It works wonderfully! I even have visitors do the same thing. Acutally, when they were younger we did a different color cup for each child.
A second tip: If you have more than one child assign a color to each child. Then when you buy things make sure you color code everything to match: i.e.- cup, plate, towel, backback, notebooks, etc. all in red for child A, blue for child B, green for child C etc.
A third tip: Make a card telling how to do each chore they are responsible for. This way they cannot get confused AND they cannot say, “Well, I didn’t know I needed to do that”.
A fourth tip: Print out your chore chart with clear expectations put in writing to avoid whining and repeating yourself endlessly.
A fifth tip: No matter your childrens ages keep a diaper bag by the front door, ready to take with you, containing a baggie of commonly used medications, an emergency dose of perscrition meds., a change of underwear for anyone under 7, a change of clothes for toddlers or the clutzy older child & a fresh shirt for Mom, a box of wipes, sunblock, bug repellent and a pair of scissors. I used to keep it in the van at all times, but some medications do not keep well in heat.
A sixth tip: Keep two or more “barf buckets” under the seats in your vehicle along with a box of wipes for the unexpected car sickness spell or new illness.
A seventh tip: Keep the dishes and snacks your children are allowed to use in a lower cabinet or drawer so they can get to it without assistance.
An eigth tip: Get each child their own plastic lidded shoe box. Write their name on it and put all of their personal toiletries in it. This will eliminate clutter in the bathroom and also eliminate the calling of “Mom- so and so used my brush!” or “Mom, I can’t find my toothbrush!”, etc.
A ninth tip: Assign each child one day a week for them to be Mom’s assistant chef. They will help you prepare dinner from start to finish, including clean up. Not only will they be learning to cook, but proper clean up and a bonus of great one on one time with Mom.
A tenth tip: A sure fire way to get your children to behave in the grocery store- as soon as a temper tantrum begins you leave the store and go back to the car- no matter what. It will only take a couple of times and tantums will be a thing of the past! Also, even from the age of 2 they can be given a “job” to help out- find the red item, hand Mama the cereal, do you see a circle?, etc.
An eleventh tip: One of my husbands favorite sayings I’ve come up with over the years is “Nice or nothing” meaning be nice or be silent/still.
An even dozen today: Before you leave the car stop for a moment and go over your expectations of behavior for all- toddlers to teens.
blessings,LisaAnn
This is similar to the idea for the kids’ artwork. We face the same issue — too much artwork, too little refrigerator space! So I started scanning my kids’ artwork into the computer and adding it to a digital photo frame. They are inexpensive enough so each kid can have his or her “own” art gallery. They love seeing a rotating display of their artwork — and as they age, we get some good chuckles from their early pieces!
Cost — $50-$100 for digital frame, plus $10-$20 for the memory card.
Space saved: PRICELESS!
This is a little trick I use with my 3 boys whenever we go somewhere crowded (like the zoo, a museum, an amusement park, etc.).
I write my cell phone number on the upper inside of each child’s arm. My boys like it because they think they each have a “new tatoo”; it is far enough away from their hands that it won’t wash off after a potty break; and, most importantly, if any of them is separated from me or gets lost during our trip I don’t have to worry about them remembering my cell number. (Many children are taught their home number but that does no good if the parents are not at home but on the trip looking for the child.)
Of course, at the start of the trip I always make sure to take my cell out of my purse and put it right into my pocket so I can hear the ring and feel the vibrate of any call.
I LOVE the cell phone tattoo idea! I’m going to start that will my younger ones
Thank you!
Ok, I’ll see if I can get a dozen today LOL- I asked the kids for ideas and gave examples and they said, “But Mom doesn’t everyone do that? We always have.” Sigh- no help from that cornere LOL.
1. When the kids are little and get the L and R shoe mixed up I always use a sharpie and draw a “I love Jesus fish” in each one. The children know that when the fishes kiss they have the shoes on the right feet:)
2. When everyone was little I would put all the food on their plates all cut up and portioned out. As they get older I teach the older ones to use knives and start putting the foods in serving dishes at the dinner table to pass around. The older can help the younger and it adds to family togetherness at the same time.
3. We always worship together (unless one of the teens has a volunteer job to do in the daycare etc.) so I each of the little ones has their own small notebook, matching pen, Bible coloring book and box of crayons in their “Church Bag”. This is a small tote that we keep put away at all times except church. It keeps them quiet and busy but they still benefit from listening whether they know it or not
4. I’ve always put a shower curtain under the car seats in the van to protect the upholstery. Easy to wash when needed too.
5. In the van are a couple of crates: One holds Mom stuff- mapbook, notebook/pen, wipes, a squirt bottle,hairbows and brush, kleenex, flashlight, phone charger. One hold kid stuff, books on tape, books, cheapy little toys (like Happy Meal treats), an Etch A Sketch for each and a MagnaDoodle for each. These are in front between the two front seats along with a trashcan with a roll of bags in the bottom. In the back is one box for emergencies, including flares, cones, rags, oil, water. Under the seats are “bark buckets” and boxes of waterbottles.
6. I spend the extra dollar or two for a photo index when I get prints. Then I give the index to the children to play & create with
They are “scrapbooking” by two and make stickers by three and even the teens have fun with them.
7. I also get double prints and the second set is used to send to Grandparents and I also have a set of scrapbooks any of the kids can look at anytime. They are at kid level and all pages are protected. The kids of all ages pull these out regularly! But Mom’s heirloom albums are nice and clean (and fancier of course lol)
8. The television and computers are set up to turn on and off at certain times of day/night. This prevents unsupervised viewing/surfing. The computer is also in the busiest part of the house with the screen pointing out so no one can get into anything not allowed that sneaks by the firewalls.
9. During the summer we have a “code” for friends- if the curtains are open we are accepting guests/visitors. If they are closed we are having famiy time.
10. I have finally come to terms with having my picture taken. I don’t like it any more than before, but realize that my pride could deny my children of pictures of their Mom later in life and how I look is never worth robbing them of memories and keepsakes.
11. Jot down all the cute little things your kids say. No matter how many years they use that word/phrase they have invented and you think you will always remember it- you won’t. You will want to!
12. If you get bags of hand-me-downs be sure you go through it first. This prevents kids (and especially teenagers) from picking out things you do not approve of. You can toss those before they can become an issue.
smiles,
LisaAnn
http://www.MegaMom9.blogspot.com
1: If you have a outdoor facing sliding glass doors tempera paint can be painted on and washed off with a hose
Don’t forget to take pictures from inside!
2. A piece of iron fencing secured to a garage wall makes an excellent bike rack
3. Always make your kids get their car seat straps or seatbelts on before the car moves an inch! If they get into the habit early it will help them stay safe forever.
blessings
LisaAnn
I have a few ideas that I use:
For kids artwork-take picstures of them and then have a 8 x 8 photo book created of the artwork for the year. This way you always have it, but don’t have to take up so much space.
In the car-I keep 2 Ju Ju Be Be Quick bags hooked on the seat in front of each kids spot. One quick holds a change of clothes and medicines. The other hold toys and snacks. This way if I am ever out somewhere and need one of those things on the go, it works great.
Another great tip my MIL taught me in order to get my 2 year old to eat food. Cut it up into fun little shapes or animals. This not only gets her to eat, say a peanut butter sandwhich, but it is educational and fun.
First of all, I have to start my comment by saying that your outfit in the above picture is awesome, Jo-Lynne. Please share where you got that uber-cute green shrug.
Moving on from fashion to my “ingenious” solutions (ha!)…
(1) To encourage kids to appreciate fruits & vegetables: When you are at the grocery store, invite your child to pick out any one fruit or vegetable in the produce section. Make it a special tradition. He/she can pick out (and later eat) anything his/her little heart desires – from a pineapple to a plum to a purple eggplant.
(2) To encourage kids to be creative:
* Turn off the TV.
* Spread out wax paper on a cookie sheet. Fingerpaint with chocolate pudding.
* Buy funny dress-up pieces and accessories from thrift stores and yard sales. Set up a stage and put on a show.
* Make a “fort” out of blankets and chairs.
* Go for a walk in nature with a scavenger hunt list. Look for a yellow flower, a smooth rock, a bug, etc.
Thanks, Jo-Lynne…and thank you, iRobot! It’s been fun (and helpful) to read the other reader-submitted suggestions. I’m off to check out the microsite…
Keep a spare set of sheets under the mattress of each child’s bed. At some point, there will be a puke accident in the middle of the nigh. Yank the old sheets off, put the new ones on, and tuck said child back in their clean bed. Deposit soiled sheets into the washer to deal with in the morning after regaining consciousness.
Steph, thank you! That’s from Ann Taylor LOFT.
I just love it.
First, I loved reading everyone’s ideas.
I know I probably have more but I am having a hard time thinking of what we do that is unique and works well.
1)My kids are tv-a-holics. They would be plugged in to the TV, computer, or DS all day if I let them. I didn’t let my oldest watch any TV until almost 2 and since then have always limited the amount of electronics time they had each day. It always seemed like a fight. Last year I read on a blog (maybe WFMW on We are THAT Family) about making a time limit for electronics. We now do 30 minutes on school days and 2 hours on the weekends. The best part is the kids self regulate. Instead of whining they seem excited to track their time. We also live in neighborhood with lots of children so between playing outside with friends, homework, dinner, and after school activites, 30 minutes is plenty of screen time on school nights.
2)In our new house there are 3 bedrooms 1 bath upstairs which are the three kids rooms (hubby and I have a main floor master plus bath). I only go upstairs so many times throughout the day so as you can imagine a small mess can turn into complete disaster zone within a few hours up there. My rule is they have to pick everything up off the floor every night before bed, rooms, and bathroom. Is it always organized and perfect? No! But if I didn’t control the mess somehow it would be out of control all the time.
3)Meal plan. I know lots of other moms do this but I plan the weeks meals before I go to the grocery store. We don’t always stick to each day but at least I know I have all the ingredients for the meals this week. If we substitute Tuesday for Friday that is ok I just defrost the correct meat.
4)Going from a household of 2 to a household of 5 I thought the laundry was going to take over my life. Especially since I was working full time at the law firm at this point. I could seem to manage to get the laundry washed most of the time but it piled up in clean piles in my room waiting to be sorted. Hubby’s aunt gave me a great solution. Don’t sort! Give each child a small laundry basket in their room and wash all their clothes together. My kids are even old enough that I ask them to bring their laundry baskets downstairs when full and I have them bring the clean laundry upstairs and put it away themselves.
This has been the single biggest time saver for me!
5)Go through our clothes at least twice a year and either sell on Craigslist/ebay or donate. No matter how cute something in my closet is if I haven’t worn it in 6 months plus I won’t wear it in the next 6 months, time to get rid of it. For the kids it is a little harder but if it doesn’t fit or has a stain or rip or tear that can’t be repaired I get rid of it too.
6)Let go of the stuff you don’t need and aren’t using. We are a blended family and both hubby and I had a 1400 sq ft home when we met. We took both homes worth of stuff and combined it into one of the 1400 sq ft homes. Needless to say we had too much stuff and no storage. In the past few years I have had two garage sales, sold tons of stuff on Craigslist, and donated even more. I know people get caught up in the value $ and sentimental value of their stuff but honestly once it is used it probably isn’t worth too much. If you aren’t using it get rid of it! You will feel so much better afterwards! We did this again before our move to Maryland and it feels so nice to not be overloaded with junk we don’t need regardless of the junk’s “value”. I do have 1 box of B’s baby stuff, a few boxes of the kids memorabilia such as report cards, art projects, etc. but once I scrapbook those I can even get rid of more of that, holiday decorations, outdoor equipment, and really thats about it in my attic.
That’s all I can think of today. Hopefully I can think of more another day!
Again, saw this on a blog somewhere… To keep kids from using too much pump soap, put a rubberband around the pump part so it only comes down halfway!
For years and years, I always order the exact same drink at my favorite coffee shop, Starbucks. I have told the baristas…it would be great if we could “swipe” our orders. We walk up to the cash register, swipe our card (like we do at the library) and our order transmits to the barista. Beyond my coffee addiction, this would also work well at McDonalds where the kids always order the exact same happy meal! If we have self-checkout at the library and grocery store, why not at the coffe shop and fast food places? Just the thoughts of one very busy Mom- who orders the Grande, Cinnamon Dolce with Whip…each time she visits Starbucks.