While I’ve only been a mom a little over a year, I have a few handy hacks that have made life a little easier. Some hacks are for your child, some are for you, and some are even for dealing with your significant other. Read on for some handy hacks to make your day more manageable!

• Put tape over the speakers on your kid’s toys to lower the volume. Better yet, don’t put batteries in some toys at all. Just because toys have a spot for batteries doesn’t mean they need batteries.

• Keep your kid busy “painting” with water and a brush. I refused to buy a water table and add yet another item to our garage storage. Instead we give Baby G a plastic bowl of water and a big paintbrush and let her go to town on the driveway. She also has fun scooping water from one bowl to an empty one with a measuring cup!
• Wash kids socks in a mesh garment bag. We use the mesh bag that came with our swaddle to wash all the baby socks in and toss the whole thing right in the dryer. Without it, they always seem to go missing!
• Create a basket of car-only toys. We have one small basket of toys in my car and another in my husband’s car. These toys stay in the car so that when we need to travel they seem new and exciting. The toys keep Baby G much more entertained this way.

• Keep a bin for outgrown clothes in the closet. This way when it is time to pack something away you can put it directly in its final destination instead of making multiple trips to store clothes. An old diaper box works great!
• Double the recipe when you cook your favorite meals. Moms this hack is for you. If you are making a dinner you know is a staple, double the recipe and either freeze half or use it for lunches for the week.
• Use Band-Aids to cover up outlets while traveling. We took a trip over the winter and Baby G had a hard time leaving the cabin outlets alone. I didn’t think to bring along outlet protectors, but fortunately keep Band-Aids in the diaper bag that worked great in a pinch!
• Have a family calendar. To keep life a little more organized, hang a family calendar somewhere everyone can see it. Each person in the family has a different color marker (even the dog). This helps us all keep track of things that need done.

• Assign dinner to SO one day a week. I assign hubby dinner responsibilities once a week. I don’t care what he cooks or even if he orders out as long as the stress is off me.
• Keep a basket at the bottom of the stairs. We keep a basket at the bottom of the stairs. Anything downstairs that belongs upstairs goes into it, and at the end of the day we take it up to return everything to its proper place. This hack is great for keeping the island and table clutter-free.

What are your favorite mom hacks? Drop them below in the comments!