These are some of my all-time favorite products.  You may not need them, but they might just be a game-changer for you, too!  (And c’mon, Christmas is right around the corner!)

Hoover Linx

I cannot adequately explain to you my undying love for this vacuum.  At $100, it’s certainly more than an entry-level stick vac, but I guarantee that if you have a lot of hard floors, it will become entirely worth it!  I can vacuum my entire downstairs on one charge.  It handles hard floors like a dream.  The brush head is controlled with the power button and is super-convenient; it’s a snap to use it in both modes (with brush head or without).  It also vacuums carpet, but not quite as well.  Because it’s cordless, vacuuming is infinitely easier (no running around plugging in and unplugging).  It’s much more convenient to tidy up occasional spills and those spots where dirt, hair, and grass accumulate.  It’s lightweight and good opportunity to get kids involved in daily chores.  No bags to keep up with, just dump the canister when full.  And it only takes 3 hours to fully charge, so you can easily vacuum before and after guests.

Rubbermaid Reveal

The initial system is $35, and that includes 1 bottle and 1 pad.  You can grab another bottle and pad for $4.70 and $5.99 respectively.  The pads are machine washable, which means that for just pennies and 45 minutes in the washing machine, your mop is ready to go again. Rubbermaid says each pad can last for about 200 mopping sessions before needing to be replaced.  I have 2 bottles, which lets me pre-mix my cleaning solution whenever I have 3 minutes.  Here’s the best part: there’s NO CHANCE that my husband would mop up messes with a traditional mop and bucket and measuring a cleaning solution–it’s just too much of an ordeal.  He WILL grab this sucker and give the floor a few quick swipes!  Which means that we’re keeping things cleaner for less money.  No wipes or expensive solutions to buy (I use Murphy’s Oil Soap, but you can literally use whatever your little heart desires).  It DOES have a teeny-tiny learning curve (you have to get used to the trigger and how to handle the suction on the bottle since it’s a spray mop), but it’s not significant.

Panasonic Ladies Electric Shaver

Whoa.  Consider yourself free to have shaved legs with total convenience.  I am no longer shackled to the shower for this task.  I had an electric shaver when I was a teenager.  It sucked.  This one is AWESOME.  Especially with small kids, hectic life, and showering becoming a much less reliable institution for me, this product has become crucial.  It’s $20 and allows me to have sleek legs in 5 minutes.  It’s wet/dry so you CAN still use it in the shower, but I haven’t.  EVER.  It charges in 24 hours, but you can shave your legs like 10 times between charges (and now that I think about it, it’s never even died on me–I just charge it to avoid that).

Device Organizer

Ok, it seems ludicrous to pay $40 for something like this, right?  But it took the quadmire of stacked devices and tangled cords and transformed them into a tidy corner of accessible tech heaven.  I have it tucked in a bookshelf, so it holds 2 laptops as well as other devices like a champ.

Lobby Broom and Dustpan

Jen, why don’t you just use a normal broom and dustpan?  Because whereever my children eat, there is a HUGE MESS on the floor.  So since I LOATHE crumbs and dirty floors, that means I’m sweeping a lot.  And 1 thing I’ve learned is that if you have tiny people running around, they are oblivious to piles of dirt on the floor and they will run right THROUGH it and track it all through the house.  So I don’t make a dirt pile–sweeping it into the dustpan immediately is way more efficient.  And I’m not bending over constantly because I’m too old for that nonsense.  Know why businesses and airports have people walking around sweeping with these things?  Because it makes more sense.  And even though it’s gross, this one allows me NOT to dump it if I’m in a jam.

Have your own list of products that you ADORE?  Share them with me!!!

We all want to be ninjas at packing.  Especially if we’re packing for our kids, too.  Here are some really common mistakes of mine that make the entire process stressful.

1.  Forget to check the weather situation

For our first anniversary, my husband and I went on a vacation to Washington, DC.  It was fun, but would have been a lot more fun if we had checked the weather and not frozen our butts off.

2. Have no idea of what you will do day-to-day

The prospect of needing something and not having it will cause #3 and possibly #8.  And you won’t look your best or will have to go shopping unexpectedly.  Bad.

3. Pack too much of the wrong things and not enough of the right things

Yes I do need 4 pairs of virtually identical flip flops, but I forgot underwear.  Again.

4. Run out of your tools (suit cases, Ziploc bags, etc)

Oh, remember?  That suitcase’s zipper ripped right off the last time we used it.  Did we replace it? No.  Whoops.  FAIL.

5. Pack stuff you don’t love

There is something wrong with me.  When I pack for Christmas, I inevitably believe that I will love to wear sweaters and pack them for daily wear.  I don’t wear them at home because between all the dishes and kids, they just don’t mesh well for me.  But when I pack for travelling, I become very stupid about what’s real in terms of my fashion preferences.

6. Start way too late

For me, gone are the days when 15 minutes and an empty bag complete the packing process.  I now pack for myself and several children, so I require approximately 37 years to pack for an overnight.  That’s an exaggeration.  However, 4 hours is the fastest I’ve ever realistically packed JUST FOR MY KIDS for an overnight, and that was when they were older and easy (no spit-up, predictable diaper patterns, no baby food).  Recently, when we had a TRIP with a variety of weather needs and fanciness needs and other people taking care of kids and a lot of HOOPLA– I started TWO WEEKS ahead of time planning and figuring everything out (including hiding the clothes I wanted to pack).  I am well aware of the seemingly RIDICULOUS nature of that statement, but we had everything we needed and it was one of the least stressful experiences to date.

7.  Use a “system” that’s incompatible with your personality (notes, lists, winging it, etc)

It’s pretty clear that if I ever winged anything, our house would burn down.  So that doesn’t work for me.  But I have very sweet, competent friends who would lose their VERY MINDS if I came at them with the packing list I have saved on my laptop.  Use what actually works for you.  If what you use doesn’t work, make a change.

8. Pack for EVERY. SINGLE. CONTINGENCY.

The first time we traveled with our first child, I pretty well cleaned out all of her dresser drawers.  I was convinced that she would NEED every single onesie we owned.  Unsurprisingly, my husband did NOT enjoy packing the car and it was really hard to find everything we actually needed during the trip.  When we go fishing out in the middle of nowhere, I pack pretty heavily.  Otherwise, I know that we can probably make do or, as a last resort, make a trip to a nearby store.

9. If it’s a long trip, still try to pack enough clothes for the whole time, even though there’s convenient laundry services available

Not only will you have trouble getting it all in your suitcase and car, but you can look forward to wading through a sea of laundry when you get home!

10. Go shopping at the last minute

Does anyone ever have time for this?  This is 100% guaranteed to make my stress shoot through the roof.