ANY mum will tell you that you need to come prepared when it comes to a trip to the beach.
And this mum is possibly the most prepared of all, armed with a myriad of hacks to make any seaside jaunt a doddle.
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Organised mum-of-four-under-four Heather Smith recently shared an epic list of hacks for getting her four young kids to the beach, all by herself.
The TikTok videos will get you prepared for everything from the journey there to the dreaded sandy toes.
Getting four young kids into the car, let alone out for an activity where everyone has fun is a feat in itself.
But Heather is a confident, organised woman. And just because her husband is at work, that doesn’t mean she keeps the kids at home.
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She shared her genius beach hacks on TikTok, rattling them off like the expert that she is.
“Water shoes because you’re not carrying anybody through the hot sand… Only a few sand toys because they’re carrying them to and fro. Sand and waterproof mat… collapsible buckets were in my beach bag.”
The video flashed through footage of her kids having fun. She even had a little blow up pool for her youngest kids, and a playpen fence so they couldn’t escape.
Unsurprisingly, her food game was strong.
“We packed our lunch so we could eat before they get dry clothes on,” she said.
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“I froze yoghurt, water bottles and pouches for ice packs, and then they ate them.”
And at home time, Heather wasn’t shoving sandy, wet clothes into an old plastic bag.
“Quick-dry towels , and while the kids dried off, I started loading the wagon back up. Dry clothes in a wet bag, so when you take the dry clothes out, you put the wet clothes in.”
But the most genius tip was the way Heather gets sticky sand off little feet. Most people just wash the sand off, but Heather puts baby powder in a sock and dusts it over the sandy feet to remove the sand.
Every pouch, every compartment of Heather’s many bags are labelled with a label maker. And miraculously, all her kit, right down to the inflatable pool, fit in her little beach wagon.
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Many followers loved Heather’s organisational skills.
“Mothers should be in charge of the world. Military precision. Y’all know how to handle stuff,” said one person.
“I can’t understand how you not only did all of this but also found time to record for us,” said another person.
Not everyone loved it though.
“I am stressed just watching this,” one person said. “I took one kid to Walmart for 20 minutes today and hated every second.”
This article was originally published on Kidspot and has been republished here with permission.
In other parenting news, check out this mum who shared her clever boot hack for keeping cars organised on family days out to the beach.
And another mum claims that her 30-minute shaving foam hack will heal your sunburn.
Plus, here’s one mum’s hack for applying sun cream on kids who hate it & parents say it’s genius.
