Last updated on September 28th, 2021 at 02:34 pm
I am Type A. I like things to be planned and organized. But I’m also a mom of 5 kids, including a set of 19-month-old triplets. For a long time I thought I couldn’t peacefully co-exist with my Type A tendencies and also have five kids. I have happily discovered this is not true. That being said, with five lovely beings underfoot with different needs and personalities, I do have to work hard to ensure my planning and organizing desires are met. Enter my phone hacks. Your phone may already be your best friend, but you can take it to whole new levels to keep yourself on track as a busy mom of multiples. Here are some easy ways your phone can be further utilized to make sure you don’t forget things when you are sleep deprived or just plain busy because you are caring for more than one kid.
1. Use the timer
If you are pumping, use the timer feature of your phone to remind you when it’s time to pump again. My triplets were preemies with feeding issues, so I pumped every 3 hours. My older kids got so used to my timer, they’d yell “Mom, pump timer!” every time my phone rang. Despite pumping every 3 hours for months, I never failed to be surprised when my phone timer went off- it never seemed like 3 hours had passed! As soon as I settled into pumping, I would set the timer again for the next session. I really believe this phone trick helped me continue with a good supply for the triplets for their first year of life. (And by the way, if you aren’t pumping or breastfeeding your multiples, don’t beat yourself up about it!)
2. Utilize your phone’s calendar feature excessively.
If one of your kids is on antibiotics and it’s a 10-day regimen, go ahead and write down the date the antibiotics are to end. Put in the date library books are due. Put in the birthday party date and location as soon as you RSVP yes. When the school calendar comes out in the summer, put in all the holidays and half days right away. Make it a daily habit to check the calendar first thing in the morning to make sure you know what to expect and prepare for.
I use my phone’s calendar feature for other oddities so that things aren’t forgotten. For example, if one of my triplets needs a follow up visit with a specialist in 6 months and the office isn’t scheduling that far out, I write a note on a date three months in the future to call the specialist to schedule the appointment. I input that calendar entry while I am still in the doctor’s office speaking to the receptionist about the appointment.
3. Use your phone’s reminder feature religiously.
If my son’s kindergarten folder notes that next Friday is a special day where he’s supposed to wear his green shirt, I immediately get my phone and add a reminder for the morning of that upcoming day. You can also use a calendar feature to notify you, but the key is to make sure the reminder actually pops up on your phone at a time that you can actually utilize the news. For my son’s shirt reminder, I would set the notification for the time in the morning when he normally was awake and getting dressed for the day. I could then seamlessly remind him that he’d need to wear his green shirt.
4. Use the notes feature
I use the notes feature in my phone to write down anything we are running low on grocery wise or supply wise. In fact, if you are able, you can go a step further. We use a grocery pick up service that has a phone app, so I often just add that item to my grocery cart so that it’s ready to go when I complete my grocery order. If I need something from a different store, I create a new note for those needs too. That way, if I’m out and happen to be near a store (or if someone asks if they could pick something up for me on their daily errands), I know exactly what I need.
Why do these phone hacks help? It takes mental energy to remember everything, and using that energy takes away mental muscle power you could be spending elsewhere. When your mind knows there are certain things you’d like to accomplish that are still not done, it will naturally remind you that there’s something you need to do, and that mental reminder fosters restlessness and anxiety. By using your phone, you no longer have to constantly worry about things ruminating in the back of your mind. Having a clearer mind helps with relaxation, and it also helps you be more mentally present for people and things that you want to be spending time and energy on.
One of the reasons I advocate using your phone instead of a paper list is because your phone is almost always naturally next to you. It is easy for your phone to become the catchall for everything on your mind. You don’t have to use fancy apps- just capture all the things you need to remember in an easily accessible phone feature. That way, the energy you’ve spent thinking of that item is handled once and is then able to be devoted to other things that need your energy. If you really prefer to use apps instead of the default features of your phone, people have had great success with apps such as Remember the Milk and Wunderlist. I personally like Google’s calendar app because it syncs with my email and I’m able to share my calendar with my family so we all are on the same page. But again, what matters most is that you use a catchall system for all the things on your mind.
Using phone hacks is actually in some small way a self-care mechanism. By using your phone, you are acknowledging that you don’t have to struggle to keep track of everything, and that using reminders isn’t a sign of defeat or lack of mental power. Instead, it’s an acknowledgment that you want to be fully present for your amazing but busy life and that you have a digital catching mitt for the inevitable curveball life with multiples throws your way.
Claudia Andre is a mom to five kids—a 7-year old, a 5-year-old, and 19-month old triplets. Her blog, called The Type A Mom of Multiples, details what life with multiples looks like for a Type A mom.
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