How to Survive as a Parent (There’s a Hack for That) with Kate Bast

On today's episode of the "Helping Families Be Happy" podcast, host Christopher Robbins, co-founder of Familius Publishing, husband, father of nine, author, fisherman, backpacker, and aspirational musician based in the Central Valley of California, is going to talk to Kate Bast. She is a TikTok content creator, who now lives in California with her husband and toddler. Kate brings to life some of the best parent hacks and many activities as she navigates the wild ride of parenting. Kate is the author of The Familius Book 115 Hacks and Hactivities for Parents. The book was released spring of 2023, and today we are exploring how to help survive as parents.

Episode Highlights:

• 01:31: As per Christopher, it is wonderful to have an expert in managing and working with our many humans.
• 01:39: Kate has almost a million followers online, where she helps them to simplify the day, make it more fun, make it more organized, and many different things.
• 02:03: Kate shares her ordeal as a new mom and how she started documenting ways to make parents' days easier.
• 02:55: Kate talks about Ice Castle painting, where you take a sandcastle mold, fill it with water, put in your freezer and then when you need 20-30 minutes of a little bit of peace, and you give some paint and paint branches and kids paint the ice castle.
• 05:07: Kate has nine children and has explored the toddler years multiple times.
• 05:37: Kate shares how kids always gravitate to the things you wouldn't expect them to.
• 06:09: Kate shares how they use wipes to play little games with the kids. 
• 07:37: Kate says you need little hacks in your back pocket which you can pull out when necessary.
• 08:07: As per Kate we are right around the corner from lots and lots of beach days is there are a few things you can do to make a beach day go better because these days can either go one or two ways.
• 10:23: If you have baby powder and you take that baby powder and you shake it on your feet, all the water dries up.
• 13:25: A lot that Kate is seeing on the Internet is talked about on social media, and there is a big gap with the support needed too, for those other years. 
• 15:23: It seems very extra to do all these things, that actually can make your day so much easier, says Kate.

3 Key Highlights

1. Kate shares different kinds of creative games that one can give their child to play.
2. Kate shares some favorite hacks that can help parents make their day go a little smoother.
3. As a parent have a positive attitude. Travel a lot with your kids and try to be really positive, says Kate.

Tweetable Quotes

• "I was at home with a six-month-old at the very beginning of the pandemic and we were struggling to get through the day." – Kate
• "If you keep your pots and pans at the bottom level, then they can spend all day playing with those pots and pans." - Kate
• "We would go to the beach no matter what happens, you get that sand on your feet and on your ankles as you're walking back to the car. Even after you have rinsed off, you still get back the car, and you have sand on you." - Kate
• "A little bit of preparation goes a long way in helping everybody's day in the house go better." - Christopher

Resources Mentioned

• Helping Families Be Happy Podcast Apple
• Podcast Editing
• Kate Bast: TikTok Instagram
• Familius.com