PerthZine

Tag: life-hacks

  • Domestic Dan #4 – The Vulture Club

    Yo yo yo!

    Here we go again with another tip for keeping the modern dad-train on track. 

    My last post described the benefits of keeping it separated, a dinner time hack to alleviate the heartache of uneaten food and unfed children. 

    For today’s hack, we’re keeping it food-centric but taking it out of the kitchen and into the restaurant. 

    The cost of everything these days has blown out like a flip flop on a freshly mopped floor. Which, in turn, has made it extremely expensive to eat out. 

    For some (or most) it’s impossible. 

    We need a hack to bring down the cost of what can be a real treat for everyone in the family (parents don’t have to cook and the kids get to do colouring-in at the dinner table!) Everyone’s a winner.

    So, who wants to join The Vulture Club?

    Take a tip from natures greatest scavengers, the vultures, and don’t bother ordering anything for yourself (ok, maybe a salad or starter just in case). Instead let your squids eat their 3/5’s of a kids meal and then swoop in and get yourself fed for free! Not only do you save thirty five bucks, but the kids meals cost a third of that!

    A piece of cheesy garlic bread here, a slice of pepperoni pizza there. A couple of nuggets with a scattering of chips. Half a bowl of spaghetti carbonara. There’s always plenty to go round. 

    Same goes for desserts, although, miraculously, these tend to get devoured without much fuss. Even so, there’s generally some mostly melted ice cream, a chunk of brownie, some cheese cake (they didn’t realise it was passion fruit!). You get the picture. 

    All in all, everyone gets fed and the bank doesn’t get broken (just a little dented). There’s no clean up and the squids have a blast. 

    And the best thing?

    The Vulture Club is free to join and has no monthly subscription! What’s not to love about that?

    Keep on dad-ing folks. You’re crushing it!

  • Domestic Dan #3 – The Keep it Separated

    Yo yo yo!

    Here we go again with another sure-fire way to make your modern dadding run as smooth as a well-oiled wheel bearing!

    Thankfully, not all household hacks are for the laundry regime (see posts #1 and #2).

    One of the biggest mine fields within the modern dad-iom is a dog fight called dinner time. If your squids are anything like mine, then grub o’clock is generally fraught with all sorts of culinary catastrophes.

    The “can I finish this game first!” when the dinner call comes.

    The battle for who sits where.

    The spilt drinks. Every. Single. Time.

    Dropped cutlery, dropped food (accidentally on purpose), dropped guts (they’re animals, I swear).

    All this though, pales in comparison to the heartbreak of an uneaten dinner. When you’ve not only spent a small fortune on ingredients but also spent a good hour or two in the kitchen prepping and cooking, it really does cut like a knife when it goes unappreciated, unloved, and ultimately, uneaten.

    So, to today’s household hack: the Keep it Separated.

    My youngest has what I call food phobia; inherited from his very own father (it took me three decades to overcome). It’s a genuine fear of certain foods, tastes, textures, smells, colours. The look of something used to tell me I wasn’t going to like it. The smell told me the taste. It dogged me so hard that eating food in front of people became a genuine cause of shame and anxiety.

    Because of this, I’m happy doing anything in my power to stop dinner time becoming a traumatic experience. I’m going to Keep it Separated (at least until they’re 30!).

    Some kids like the meat, some like the veg, some just like the carbs.  Rarely though, at least for kids with food phobias, do they like everything, everywhere, all at once.

    To make separate bowls may seem like extra work but it’s completely worth the effort if the food gets consumed. Serve as standalone items. Deconstructed but still delicious. Everybody then gets to eat what they like without the fear of contamination from the food that they don’t.

    Picture it, you’re cooking spag bol. Pasta, mince, vegies (I like peas, sometimes going even heartier with broccoli or similar). Normally, pre-children, you’d throw everything into the pot and you’re done. Sadly, this doesn’t work with all kids.

    Instead, cook the mince and sauce, but keep the veg separate and don’t mix it with the pasta at the end. I know, some would consider this sacrilege. But it’s a compromise.  Just put a little sauce in, or none if your kid has a melt down from the slightest speck of red on the pasta!

    I’d rather they eat something than nothing at all.

    This can be applied to pretty much any dish – curries, salads, even desserts (work with me here).

    Trust me. Try it and you’ll never look back (at least until your kids move out at 30 and normal life can begin again).

  • Domestic Dan #2: The Take Down

    Yo yo yo!

    Here we go again with another household hack for The Modern Dad!

    If you read my last pearl of domestic wisdom, hopefully it’s changed the game for ya! At the very least, it might have saved you a few minutes so you can spend them on yourself, doing whatever makes you you.

    So, what’s next?

    We’ve joined the Hang Gang and used the Flick and Fold to complete the One Peg Wonder. Well, once the clothes have dried, it’s time for The Take Down!

    This can work in a couple of ways, depending on whether you are a hanger or a folder. If you’re a folder, you are in luck!

    Clothes dried using the One Peg Wonder system come off the line pre-folded! Hallelujah! No need to iron either (who’s ironing these days anyway?).

    If you’re a hanger, the most efficient way to bring your laundry in is, well, hung (ahem). Take your hangers out to the line and every time you un-peg a garment, whack it straight on a hanger and hang it in the space left on the line. You’ll be left with a literal wardrobes worth of clothes, ready to rock and roll.

    Enlist the squids to take their items to their room(s) and put everything away, straight away. The key to the perfect Take Down is to complete The Put Away immediately.

    I know It’s the hardest step to muster motivation for, and it is by far the biggest harbinger of hysteria (well it is for me) but it’s worth it. Get the squids to help. It’s good for them! It’s good for you! It’s good for the good of the household!

    Keep crushing it fellas, you’ve got this!

  • Domestic Dan # 1: The Hang Gang

    Tips on efficient clothesline practices –

    Grab a squid (*Dan-slang for kid, get used to these), offer cash if required, and get your freshies out to the line.

    Anyone that hangs out laundry has no doubt come across the hellish hurdle of running out of pegs mid-hang. Or running out of space to hang. Or both!

    The following is a game changing hack that’s going to change your life. I call it The One Peg Wonder.

    Take a T shirt, hold it upside down from the corners with both hands (Fig 1.).

    Then do the Flick and Fold (Fig 2.).

    This is a quick, two step move that involves flicking out the shirt as if you are shaking beach sand from a towel and then a neat fold from left to right (or vice versa).

    Aim for precision but don’t waste time trying to perfectly align the edges of the garment.

    You’re now holding a T shirt, upside down and folded long ways (arm to arm).

    Take a single peg and hang the T shirt from the bottom edge of the garment (head and arm openings should be at the bottom) (Fig 3.).

    Voila! One peg and half the hanging space used.

    This technique works for everything, not just T shirts, and you will find your own way of flicking and folding your own garments, relevant to their shape and size. You may think they won’t dry properly. You’re wrong. You might think they’ll get a crease down the middle. You’re wrong. You might think the sun will bleach half the garment and leave it looking like a zebra crossing. You’re right! But only if you leave it out in the Aussie sun for a week – that’s not you, is it? Course not! You’re a Modern Dad and you’re crushing this!