Things that have made your day run smoother?

[torontokids]

Every kid is assigned a buddy. One bigger/one littler. Every time we transition from one activity to another, each buddy is responsible for helping their buddy out with whatever is necessary. Helps promote positive social relationships as well as being considerate of others and being part of a team.

I also could not live with out my kitchen timer. It gets set for EVERY activity. ALL the kids know there is NO changing activities or moving on until the timer goes off. Helps them stay on task, make wise choices and keeps the continuous cycle of those kids with attention spans of gnats easily managed.

Love this! I have used "buddies" at certain times but as a regular thing I think this would be great to do. My 3 yo may have a hard time with this (a little self absorbed at times) but I'll give it a try.

[monkeymama]

I do a lot of the same things. Labelled diapers, color coded plates and cups, all my littles has a big buddy, I do a lot of prep before. every sunday after shopping I cut all my fruit and veggies and organize them by day. saves so much work. I had all parents buy a bottle of sunscreen and use the same one on everyone. saves going back and forward all the time. I have a park and outside bag all ready to go the night before. all my kids have their own little bags they decorated ( just from the dollar store) they all have little trinkets and dry erase books to keep at the table when I am prepping lunch. keeps them occupied and less mess to clean up. one recent change I made was picture labels on all my toy bins. helps the little ones associate and clean up so much better. all I can think of for now!

[mimi]

For the kids who are all over the place when I try to put sunscreen on them, I just put them in their high chair. They will sit and comply as they want to get out and go play.

[sunnydays]

Each kid has the same colour cup every day and everyone knows whose is whose, so cuts down on germ sharing and fighting over colours. I also have little plastic bins on my counter with each child's name and I put their cups and face cloths in those for the day so I only use one per child per day and don't get them mixed up. I have my sand toys for the park permanently hanging form the handle of my stroller. I have matching sunhats for the kids and these stay on top of the stroller as well and we put them on once the kids are all in (I have a six seater). Each hat has a symbol inside so they always wear the same hat. I love all the ideas!

[Artsand crafts]

I love the bibs that I found in Walmart and they are still selling there. I used to put aprons on infants when they started feeding themselves to reduce the mess, but it takes more time to put aprons on. Now that I found these bibs I saving time. They have animal prints and look good quality. The back is like a kind of fabric and the front is a thick plastic. It has buttons in the sides so they can be unbuttoned for cleaning, making the cleaning easier too... I also seat everybody in a row to change diapers. Change one at a time and they go back to seat until all are changed. I do that also for washing hands, getting in to the stroller, going to sleep, etc. So I do not have to be chasing one after the other in between activities and wasting time.

[Momof4]

The same cup and plate for each child every day works wonders for me too so they always know which is theirs without any arguments. I change the babies and then announce that it's potty time for big kids to make that run smoothly. I keep a big box of wipes beside the dining room table to wash the hands of the little ones before we eat but the big kids wash up in the bathroom.

When we come in from outside I have the children put the footwear on the shoe mat but pile up any outisde clothing all in a pile and head into the playroom. I clean up the pile of clothing at naptime, or right away in the case of wet winter clothing. I keep a park bag packed at all times with extra diapers, a package of wipes and our emergency medical forms, bubbles, balls, etc. so I only have to grab my wallet and cell phone to throw in there and we're ready to go. I have drawstring bags on pegs at my entranceway with the children's hats, etc. in them to grab quickly and I insist on splashpants left here year round in case we need them.

[playfelt]

ArtsandCrafts - walmart bibs: have you been lucky enough to find a fifth pattern. Right now I only have 4 but that was ok because my two oldest were using something else. Now that the one has left care I would like to have the fifth child join what the others are wearing. I like how they open for wiping and many meals like snacks she would be fine without the pocket snapped up making the bib be longer on her which many of the regular bibs aren't. So far I have lion, monkey, hippo, dog but so want a fifth pattern.

[Artsand crafts]

ArtsandCrafts - walmart bibs: have you been lucky enough to find a fifth pattern. Right now I only have 4 but that was ok because my two oldest were using something else. Now that the one has left care I would like to have the fifth child join what the others are wearing. I like how they open for wiping and many meals like snacks she would be fine without the pocket snapped up making the bib be longer on her which many of the regular bibs aren't. So far I have lion, monkey, hippo, dog but so want a fifth pattern.

I have the same patterns you do. I've been waiting for quite some time for more options to be for sale, but it looks like that is all that they have. I visited 2 walmart stores north of Toronto for some time, but nothing.