45 Comments
Aug 15Liked by Amber Adrian

I want all these things now. Excellent. Especially the dang vacuum but our cord one just keeps working. 🤣

Expand full comment
Sep 3Liked by Amber Adrian

Get one anyway. My dad insisted for my birthday to get me one… and now I actually vacuum and I don’t hate it any more. The cord one still has its uses, but damn… cordless all the way!

Expand full comment

we love our visual timer too!

Expand full comment
Aug 13Liked by Amber Adrian

I bought the cordless vacuum almost immediately upon getting pregnant and I'm constantly impressed with my foresight.

I'm also pretty happy with our toilet seat - it has a magnetic kid sized seat in the lid for them to pull down.

We have friends and family all over the place so I put laminated maps up around our house so we could discuss where everyone was. We have city, state, country, world, and solar system maps.

Expand full comment

I'm impressed with you too! One of my old coworkers told me that every mom should put a dyson on their registry :)

Expand full comment
author

That is genius.

Expand full comment
author

Wow great job with the vacuum. ;)

Ah the toilet seat sounds great! I'm pretty tired of a little potty cluttering up our bathroom floor. I might look into that!

Maps! So good! We weirdly don't have a map or a globe anywhere in our home at this point, and I need to fix that. Thx for sharing!

Expand full comment

Ooooooh a visual timer. That will be so helpful. Thanks for the recommendations!!

Expand full comment
Aug 19Liked by Amber Adrian

This swing you mention might just be thing to save my sense of sanity on the screamy-stormy days!

Expand full comment
author

I doubt you’ll regret it. I don’t even remember life before the swing😂

Expand full comment

Just ordered the timer for piano practice and quiet reading time! Love my Dyson cordless vac ! Haven’t tried earplugs but I often have one AirPod in (with nothing playing) so kind of the same thing I guess? Thanks for the recs

Expand full comment

Convincing me to finally hang the swing I ordered forever a go!

Expand full comment

Loops for the win every time. And I'll see your sensory swing and raise you a play couch.

Expand full comment
author

We have one! And actually I just bought another but a knock off one this time! So great. Good addition!

Expand full comment

Laughing at the comment about handmade soap 😂 I have been curious about those ear plugs for awhile and you said only certain people would get it-I GET IT 🤣 Love the practical advice!

Expand full comment

The time timer has been a game changer for me this year!

Expand full comment
author

Nice! What are your favorite uses for it?

Expand full comment

Getting ready to go, doing chores, and answering the “how long until dinner?” question

Expand full comment

Whoa...automatic soap dispenser! So brilliant!! I'm thinking this might also be a good incentive to visiting children to wash their hands.

Expand full comment
author

I know, right? Never knew they existed until I saw one by my friend’s kitchen sink.

Expand full comment

The other day my toddler was talking a mile a minute and my one year old was literally screeching at decibels that HAVE to be objectively damaging and I could feel my whole body just closing up aaaand I could have used those earplugs!! This is great and practical and much needed.

Expand full comment
author

Thanks Katie!

The earplugs are really great. I use them frequently in the time right before meals when everyone is hungry and a little crabby and there's food cooking and questions and people in and out of the kitchen and it's all just a lot :)

Expand full comment
Aug 14Liked by Amber Adrian

I just ordered some Loop ear plugs! I have had them on my radar for ages and this gave me the push I needed to actually buy them.

The sensory swing looks amazing…now to convince my husband and figure out if we can fit it in somewhere.

I haven’t thought about an old fashioned timer but it makes so much sense for kids. Will be getting one of those too!

Expand full comment
author

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼❤️

Expand full comment
Aug 14Liked by Amber Adrian

Love the lot but not sure about the soap hahaha I got an auto soap dispenser the other day and put it on our functional play kitchen and the kids LOVED it. And then they smeared the bubbles all over the place 😂 they just kept waving their hands at it and getting more bubbles 🫠 I might go back to bar soaps. I keep waiting for the novelty to wear off but it hasn’t happened yet!

Expand full comment
Aug 14Liked by Amber Adrian

Oh and as a corollary, a play sink or play kitchen is amazing for keeping the little ones occupied. Just have towels ready! Put the water on recycle though or else they’re going to ask for refills. A lot.

Expand full comment
author

I love that! Do you mean inside or out? I'd love something like that by our patio. There's an area where our six-year-old loves to mix water and dirt. And maybe I'm overthinking but what do you mean "put the water on recycle"?

Expand full comment
author

Ha, I can see that. I suppose it depends on your kids' ages and temperaments. Or maybe because it was in the play kitchen they were like this is for play!! :D Ours are at our kitchen sink and our main bathroom.

Expand full comment
Aug 13Liked by Amber Adrian

Paper plates are super helpful

Expand full comment
author

Oh yes, I figured that out a few years ago. Sorry environment, my sanity matters too;) We always have a stack in the pantry!

Expand full comment
Aug 14Liked by Amber Adrian

I always bring postpartum mom‘s a huge stack of paper plates from Costco. It makes the biggest difference! I have six children. Currently ages 15 through 25. The four middle ones I had in under four years. So I have lots of tricks and tips. The paper plates is one of the easiest ones to recommend. For years I only used paper plates. When I started back to regular plates my kids kept throwing them out. Lol.

During that really intense season with lots of little kids, my husband would always say “any port in a storm”. Any place we could gain some peace or order we took it.

Expand full comment
author

Love all this. Would love to hear more from you! The wisdom!

Expand full comment
Aug 13Liked by Amber Adrian

LOVE ME SOME EARPLUGS. I've even been wearing my Flares to Mass, which I'm a little self-conscious about because I don't want to look disrespectful, but like... someone misinterpreting my earplugs vs. someone absolutely not misinterpreting me losing my temper at the kids... *shrug* gotta pick your battles, I guess.

Expand full comment
author

Oh man, love it. I never seem to need them outside of my home. There's something about the clutter and the noise and the always-massive to-do list that makes me feel crazy sometimes, and just dimming it all helps so much! I was saying above to Katie M that I use mine a lot during mealtime prep.

Expand full comment