Parenting Hacks
Ten years ago, Asha Dornfest was an overwhelmed mother of two young children looking for a sense of community as well as some practical advice to aid her in her new role as a parent.
At the time, Dornfest says, she was writing how-to books about “the relatively new phenomenon called the Web” and reading a series of O’Reilly tech books called Hacks.
Suddenly, it clicked. “What if I could collect all of the tips I discovered and share them with other parents?” she recalled. Soon after, the Parent Hacks blog was formed.
Today, the blog contains over 4,000 “hacks”: tips and tricks from Dornfest and other parents that are astounding in their simplicity and effectiveness. Some examples: layering multiple crib sheets or waterproof mattress protectors so parents can just peel one layer off if there’s a night-time accident; hemming kids’ pants with first-aid tape; and using a men’s undershirt to add extra coverage for quickly growing pregnant bellies.
These are just a few of the examples of the tips that made it into Dornfest’s new book, Parent Hacks: 134 Genius Shortcuts for Life with Kids. Figuring out what to include was one of the hardest parts of writing the book, says Dornfest.
“The blog contains over 4,000 posts and, as it grew organically over time, the content isn’t easily sorted or searched, so culling was a mostly manual process,” she said. “I chose the hacks based on their utility, as well as to balance the content of the book so it covered a wide range of topics (home organizing, mealtime, sleep, grooming, travel, play, learning, etc.).
There is new material in the book, some of which came from the site comments (these were never published, and so escaped the attention of the vast majority of readers), and others which came from elsewhere.” (Check out the gallery above for a few other examples of hacks that made the cut.)
Have a great hack? Dornfest wants to hear about it. “The book is a jumping off point for conversation,” she said. Parents who want to add their hacks to the site should snap a picture and post it with the hashtag “parenthacks.”
Give Dornfest permission, and you could see your hack reposted at @parenthacks on Instagram and Twitter.
Emily Landes has a five-year-old, an infant and a pretty severe sleep deficit.
