With siblings, it was always "race you to that tree!" "first person to the crossing gets to push the button!" My parents used to go jogging with us kids on bikes. When we were faster, it was "bike ahead to the end of the street and back." It was 7am, on empty roads, and worked great. They also ran separate routes, intersecting on this long stretch where they were coming from different ends, and we'd swap from one parent to the other, so they each got half their run alone.

You also have to have them take 5 minutes and tell you what the book was about.

Creative naming is everything. I read one where they called veggie sticks veggie fries and their kids no longer hated them. (Not frying them, just cut in french fry sized sticks).

Yeah! When I did track in 8th grade, I always wore bright pink shoes so my mom could find me while we were out on the track. Bonus points because they looked REALLY good in pictures :)

Don’t want to dye their hair but still be able to easily locate them? 1. Attach a helium balloon on a string to their trousers. or 2. Insist they wear stilts. Simple really.

Not allowed for most kids, in primary school i couldn't even paint my nails!

Practical, and very pretty !

Why shouldn't kids have green hair? Pick your battles.

That was one of the things i let my boys have control over--their hair. if they wanted it long, short, or in a mowhawk. It's HAIR! whatever they do to it can be (eventually) remedied. Don't like it, shave it off & start over with a blank slate. My only requisite was that it be clean & not impede their vision for health & safety reasons. another was their choice of clothing, with the stipulation that if they wanted to go somewhere in public with me, they would dress 'appropriately.' one case in point was my teen wearing a tee with a naked lady silhouette (like on mudflaps) & wanting to go off with me. Nope, change your shirt & you can go. He refused, copped an attitude & was told the choice was his. He changed his shirt & life went on; we had a good time out

My only problem is that in Italy the kids with colored hair are always the most problematic. It is never the good, studious kid that want something different.

I've seen this one before, but with produce. "Today their snack will be Cars apples with peanut butter. Tonight we'll be having pasta with Frozen tomato sauce and Bluey salad."

This is genius

And when you're out, you can scream 1,2,3. Mommy is glue so they stick by your side.

This might also save a rectangle bannister post. I've probably dented several items trying to get the tension tight enough.

Velcro dots! Yes

Grab some stickers of trees and houses for bonus points!

Our kids grew up with the nano. All kinds of songs and audio books on there.

beach wagons with big wheels exist.

I used to cup my hands and start exaggeratedly saying wow. They stopped crying because they wanted to see what I had. I would then hold my hands out for them to look and when they leant in I'd shout it's the tickle monster and start tickling them. Worked every time.

Accurate. Works on some grown-ups including myself! I'll set a timer for 5 min to see how much of the kitchen I can clean. So much!

A basket full of random stuff they can take out of it makes an excellent baby toy.

A typical toddler will remove the ice cream and turn the plate and cone in to a big mess.

Balloons terrify me as an adult with a child. Especially in the car, driving along, it's like a ticking time bomb for those of us with anxiety/PTSD 🤣😞🤣😞 p.s. I do allow my kid to still have them. I live with the fear.

beautiful baby

This pic is SO cute!

So many things were solved by the simple concept of going on an adventure. Food issues, boredom issues, reading issues, anxiety issues... Just put on a figurative hat of being an explorer/adventurer and trying a thing. Side effects may include kids wanting to try foods that even you're afraid of, or wanting to go down a street because they've never been that way before.

Bonus points for baking with your kid!

That's called a playpen. They've been around over a hundred years. They lost popularity in the 1990s when people started calling them "baby jails". So, win for OP, but hardly innovative.

I don't have a teen at the sullen stage, but this is great advice. My son was already a little adventurer, so going for a ride in the car was something he enjoyed. But it totally escalated when he turned 13. In Washington state, where my son and I live, a kid can sit in the front seat of a car after their 13th birthday. My son looked forward to this the same way I looked forward to turning 21. For his birthday that year, we took road trips all over the state, and he got to sit in the front passenger seat and navigate (by paper map!). He absolutely loves being in the car and just talking.

This seems like a more wholesome variation of drinking wine out of a coffee cup during zoom meetings. 😁

When my kid was a toddler he was obsessed with trash trucks. So I found a YouTube channel that shows nothing but a montage of various trash trucks driving and dumping. He would have watched it for hours if I'd let him. He learned his colors on YouTube as well through a channel that shows different cartoon busses and says the color out loud. I have an adorable video of him watching and saying the colors along with the show.

My two sons have a loft bed, I lined the edge of the bed and steps with fluorescent tape so nobody hits the head in the dark and he can go up and down the stairs without the light on (and it look a bit like TRON..)

Beautiful curls....

Never insert any batteries, reduces the annoying sounds 100%.

Okay, that's pretty genius...if it actually works.

The real hack is one of those desk chair clear mats, wipes clean and isn’t an eye sore.

Or pull the top "flaps" from the sides to create more space inside the box

Thanks for the tip! I fell recently and may have torn my Achilles tendon, I have to wear a boot, trying to find a shoe that is close to the same height as the boot. I found a sandal that would work but it was too smooth to let me push when I am in my kitchen chair. Thought about silicon but don't have any. I do have hot glue.

Don't forget to take it with you when you leave!

Is he developing photos?

I'm a server. I'm going to try this. Maybe the kids will unfold it.... but it is worth a try

If you buy a wagon be sure it has a sun roof. This way your child will be out of harm's way and cooler than it ever would be with just a fan. Plus it doesn't need electricity

Works for me too, I’ll have a nap thank you very much zzz zzzzzzz

My mom would cut them diagonally and place them on the plate looking like butterflies and call them 'fancy lunch'

I used pool noodles to cushion the poles holding up the "kiddo net" around my trampoline.

However, do not let little one (who can roll over by themselves) sleep on such a bed.