It’s no secret that being a parent can be stressful and hard work.
Obviously, there are plenty of wonderful, magical things about having children, but every now and then mums and dads will crave a little time to themselves.
And it seems one mum has figured out the perfect way to achieve just this.
A TikTok user named Kirsty Foley has shared a video in which she explains how she manages to get at least one “peaceful” child-free hour to herself each week.
Her ‘parenting hack’ has been branded “genius” and her video has been watched more than 200,000 times.
In the clip, Kirsty, a student midwife, can be seen sitting in her car eating a chocolate doughnut.
Alongside this, she says: “Parenting life hack…
“Step one: Tell other parent you’re off to do the food shop.
“Step two: Grab coffee and snacks.
“Step three: Go and collect the click and collect order you already pre-ordered.
“Step four: Enjoy your peaceful child free hour+.”
(Image: TikTok)
The mum-of-four later clarified in a follow-up video on TikTok that her husband is aware that she does this, so she’s not tricking him into looking after their children.
She added: “In lockdown, the only outing you get is the shop because you should ‘Stay home, protect the NHS, save lives’, so I take some extra time in the car with my husband’s knowledge.
“We get our own time but this time is the only time I get to eat my own doughnut on my own without having the mum guilt of already leaving them when I spend long days working.
“So I do a two in one. When I would usually spend one hour in a shop, I now get to use that as ‘self-care’.”
(Image: TikTok)
Many people loved her parenting hack and took to the comments to tell her.
One person said: “Took me two hours the other day… the ‘queue was huge’.”
Another wrote: “My son has moved out now, so I just send my husband shopping. That’s my break from him.”
“If only I wasn’t a single parent,” replied a third.
Someone else commented: “I do this and drive the long way home.”
“Well I think you are a hero for sharing this,” admitted a different user.
A sixth added: “Why did I not think of doing this?!!! Thank you!!!!”
“Thank you for your contribution to the sisterhood,” joked a seventh.
“OMG this is genius,” proclaimed a fellow parent.
Do you have a parenting hack to share? Let us know in the comments below.