Mom-hacks: Four simple tips to save your time and sanity

Parents know that sometimes you've got to have a few tricks up your sleeve to get through the day. Here's four tips from Danielle, a St. Petersburg mom of two boys and a self-proclaimed expert in mom-hacks. 

"I would say that mom-hacks are sanity-saving. They're time-saving. And they're, a lot of time, argument-saving," Danielle explained. 

First, Danielle says to cut a large sticker in half to help teach kids how to put on their own shoes. She puts the left side of the sticker in the left shoe and the right side in the right shoe. When they hold the shoes together, the perfect picture guides them to a quick, proper slip of the shoes. 

The next tip is for any parent with a toddler who thinks the toilet paper roll is a carnival game. Danielle wraps the toilet paper with a simple hair-tie. 

"They really don't ask many questions. They just know they can't do anything with it." She simply slides off the hair-tie when needed and then just slides it back on when you're done. 

Danielle uses the next mom-hack to keep her boys safe in any environment. They play the classic pool-game ‘Marco Polo’ out of the water. The boys know to always respond and she can locate them if she loses an eye on them. 

"We do it a lot of times if we go to parks, which is great with all the kids running around."

Danielle has an easy way to clean up dessert time using a cupcake liner. When she gives the boys popsicles, she puts them in the liners by cutting a small slit in them. So when the popsicles melt in the Florida heat, the liners catch all the sticky juice. 

They're four easy tricks that help keep her hectic life on track.