#MomHacks -- Sick in the Car

Red solo cup, I fill you up

Let's have a party, let's have a party

In my life as a mom, I esteem the red solo cup quite highly.  It let's me entertain with less dishes, can be used for crafts, planting sunflower seeds and many other assorted uses.  However, today's #momhack is meant to highlight my most helpful use of the red solo cup.

Red Solo Cup = car vomit receptacle AKA "the sick cup"

Kids getting sick in the car is just about one of the worst things that can happen in day-to-day life, especially if they are still in car seats.  All you hear while driving is the heaving sound as you know multiple surfaces and, more than probably, every buckle crevice is being coated in stomach expulsions.  If your family is anything like us, each kid has one carseat with no spare since you've got the one family car.  Which means that you either have to deal with the stench for awhile or immediately change your plans and execute a deep clean of the fouled carseat.  No matter which you have to do, those buckles, straps and crevices are going to have to be cleaned and it's never pretty.

Enter the red solo cup.

I keep a couple in my center console.  The minute any audible indication of being unwell is made, the cup gets passed/tossed back to the child.  Obviously, not the easiest concept for the younger children but even my two year old has successfully told me "I don't feel good" in time that the majority of her vomit ended up in the cup. 

So, next time you are having the type of party where one of your children is filling up a red solo cup, I wish you well and stand with you in solidarity!

Prevent a Headache -- Use Click-N-Ship

It's that time of the year -- I see my mailman making the rounds in the neighborhood no less than three times a day not to mention the assortment of FedEx, UPS and contract delivery trucks that are making stops left and right.

Not much compares to the pain of having to go to the post office in person, usually with a little person in tow, and stand in line, waiting for who knows how long, to mail off Christmas presents.  The solution can be found at USPS.com and is known as "Click-N-Ship". 

I've been using it for a couple years now and I am still quite shocked when I discover that there are people who have never heard of this truly magical service; hence, why I am writing about it today.  You could say that is is a bit of a #momhack ;-)

Using it is simple -- create an account on USPS.com, enter in the return address, recipient's address, check the box on what type of package you are sending (small, medium, large, priority, express, etc), enter your payment and print the postage label.  Super simple! 

The next best part is that you can schedule a FREE carrier pickup at your house.  Just use the website, tell when and where to expect the package and an estimated weight.  This usually means that at 9pm I am printing postage for a package to sit on my porch and get mailed the very next day!

So you say, well, you'll still need to go to the post office to get the flat rate boxes.  Not true, you can order those online too!!  Or if you do have to go inside, you don't have to wait in line to get the flat rate boxes all you need to do is find the display and get what you need.

Just sayin' but the US Postal Service has really upped their technology game and you can do so much through the website, especially if you plan on shipping flat rate.  Save yourself the time, trouble and headache of having to wait in line and just do it yourself! 

Happy Mailing :-)