Stacey Solomon’s best parenting hacks from getting the kids to eat ALL their food to fines for making mess
LOCKDOWN has been testing even the very best of mums and dads, but Stacey Solomon appears to be excelling at pandemic parenting.
The Loose Women star, 30, has revealed some of her top tips for keeping her Essex home with her three sons in the least chaotic state possible.
Stacey is mum to Zachary, 11, Leighton, eight, and baby Rex, one, and keeps her brood happy and in check with partner Joe Swash.
The TV star has been cooking up creative snacks for them to munch on, and also dishing out light-hearted fines if they cause a mess...
Getting her kids to eat their fruit
The mum-of-three showed exactly how she keeps sons eating healthily - and it just takes a bit of creativity.
Stacey has been busy creating incredible animal-shaped fruit snacks for her three boys - and other mums are highly impressed.
She has been serving up platters of fruit of sheep made from grapes and turtles made from kiwis.
Her imaginative designs have so impressed her followers, that she added a highlights tab full of the platters she has made over the past few weeks.
Keeps everyone happy with multiple screens
Stacey joked she's "given up" on parenting after she shared a picture of her sons simultaneously playing video games and watching TV.
The Loose Women panellist took to Instagram to snap her boys relaxing on grey bean bags while they juggled the screens.
In the shot, Stacey's feet could be seen while Friends, the episode titled The One with Ross's Wedding, played on their flat screen television.
She admitted that she didn't have the "energy" to fight her "no games during the week" rule.
She captioned the shot: "Totally given up on parenting and it's only Monday.
"So much for no games during the week and one at a time play (because there's no way on this earth I'm moving the TVs into the front room).”
Fines for creating mess
Regular followers of the star's Instagram will know she loves to keep her Essex home super tidy.
She has shown how to use a coat hanger to make bed sheets perfectly smooth, and has re-used old bottles to make chic candle holders.
However, with three youngsters running around the house, it can be hard to keep everything spotless.
So, Stacey came up with a genius way to ensure they cleared up after themselves.
Explaining the system in a post, she wrote: "There is now a new system.
"It's going to cost 20p pocket money for each snack and ANYONE caught not putting things back properly gets a 50p penalty."
Stops baby Rex from stealing their TV remote control
Stacey has shared a genius hack that she has found to stop baby Rex from stealing their TV remote control.
The TV star bought a toy version for the little one's first birthday, but was disappointed when he wasn't fooled by the trick.
Now the creative mum has found another solution - and was shocked that it worked out cheaper than Rex's toy.
Sharing a video of the smiling boy playing with a remote on her Instagram Story, Stacey chuckled: "I went on eBay and bought Rex the same remote as our remote.
"I just didn't put the batteries in - it was cheaper than his bloomin' toy remote!
"Much better."
Get baby Rex to wear his sun hat and glasses
Stacey has revealed how she manages to get her young son Rex to happily wear his sun hat and glasses when outside.
She said the key to keeping her young tot protected and wearing his gear is to redirect his attention when dressing him.
Stacey wrote: “Soooo LOADS of you ask me how I get Rex to wear his sunglasses and hat. I put them on indoors.
“And then the key is DISTRACTION. Distract distract distract.”
Stacey showed a video of her giving her suncream bottle to Rex to play with while she put on his protective items.
Keeps crayons tidy
Stacey is fast becoming a guru for house hacks and storage solutions, and recently showed fans how she keeps her sons' crayons tidy.
She shared how she bought a large collection of crayons for her three kids for Christmas but she wanted to find a way to keep them neat.
The clip shows her finally manage to rip some tissue off, shouting “yes”.
She shared a video of her sorting the crayons by colour, with the caption: “I’m enjoying this far too much”.
Washes their ball pit balls in the bath
Stacey showed everyone how she washes her "balls" - and by that she means the balls in Rex's ball pit.
Stacey chucked them in the bath, dried them, then put them in a vacuum sealed bag.
The mum-of-three wrote over the post: "Time to wash my balls... I'm going to Milton bath and dry these then put them in a suction bag ad change colours for a little while.
"Left my balls soaking, hoovered the pit, and now putting in some Susan balls. I'll switch over every few months because I love changing little things now and then."
Going to the loo with a baby
Stacey shared a hilarious tip for being able to use the loo while holding a baby.
Stacey welcomed baby Rex with partner Joe, last May, and shared a parenting tip she recently discovered on social media.
She said she was forced to take Rex on a trip to the loo with her, and shared a clip from the bathroom.
Sat on the toilet, Stacey told her Instagram fans that she was in a spot of bother as she couldn’t get to the toilet roll.
Stacey flips the camera to show a pile of loo roll on the floor, as she shares the two ‘mum hacks’ she’s just learned.
She said: “So this has taught me two things, buy the cheaper toilet roll because the expensive one doesn’t rip, and also, put toilet roll closer.”
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Stacey told fans her bin is ‘too nice to put tampons in’ after revamping it with creative hack.
She is also creative with household hacks, wowing fans earlier today when she revealed that she had organised her knickers into old baby wipe dispensers.