Lazy Sugar Mama is now over at Casual Parenting!

Missing the laid-back (okay, sometimes downright lazy) parenting (and more) advice that I give? I'm now blogging at Casual Parenting ... come and see me!

Lazy New-Baby Meal

I love getting meals after I’ve had a baby, and I love taking a meal to a new mom. Honestly, I remember meals people have brought me much more than any baby clothes or other gifts. Being all post-partum and hormonal, I’ve been known to start crying in gratitude for a meal from a friend, pal from church, family member, acquaintance or stranger.

Here’s the thing: sometimes I’m just too busy to make a full meal for someone. Instead, I throw together something like this from the store. You can do it however you like.

Meal Option 1: They have to do a little bit of work to get the meal ready, but it’s pretty simple and it’s free for them!
Depending on the size of their family, 1 or 2 large frozen pizzas
A bag of salad
A jar of fruit salad
A roll of cookie dough


Meal Option 2: Breakfast
A bunch of bananas
A box or two of Bagelfuls
A bag of coffee, already ground
A box of cereal
A large container of vanilla yogurt
A gallon of milk

Lazy New-Mom Baby Gift

What do you get for a mom who, say, has just had her fifth or sixth child? What if she’s just had her fifth child of the same sex and clearly does not need clothes or toys? Stumped? Let me help you! Here are some ideas … grab as many as fit your budget and have your kids wrap them up individually, or throw them all in a gift bag and go!

A box of baby wipes

A package of a larger size of diapers than newborn (size 1 or 2)

A gift card for Pizza Hut or another place that delivers

A medicine kit with gas drops, infant Tylenol, Hyland’s teething tablets and nail clippers

Baby wash

Diaper rash cream (they have a new one that’s like a deodorant stick so you don’t have to get it all over your fingers!)

There have been times that I’ve been totally overwhelmed with my own new baby and my husband has been out of town, and my friend with the new baby lives out of town and I’ve just sent a hand-made card with cash. Tacky? Maybe. But my friend knew I was thinking of her and she was able to buy whatever she needed for herself or for the baby.

Pumpkin Pancake Recipe

Wanna know how to make easy pumpkin pancakes? Head to my bevvy of beautiful eHow.com articles here to see the recipe for this gem!

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser

Oh, how I love the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser! It's like laziness in a little white sponge! Instead of scrubbing forever on certain surfaces, I just go over a spot once and it's perfect! This product is close to the heart of a woman like me with 5 kids going behind her trying to mess up her already-messy house!

Go here and head to the bottom of the page for a coupon for this amazing product! Don't worry, it's Mr. Clean's own website!

Happy cleaning, even though we hate it!

McDonald’s for Seven

Do you know how much it costs me to go to McDonald’s for lunch with 6 kids?  And yes, I still only have 5 kids, but sometimes I watch a little girl.

THIRTY-FIVE DOLLARS.

That’s a Happy Meal each for 5 kids (3 of them are 6-piece chicken McNuggets instead of 4), 2 burgers for the big boys, a fruit-and-yogurt parfait for Sam and a grilled chicken Bacon Ranch salad for me with a Diet Dr. Pepper.

It’s a little bit cheaper when I just buy a zillion-piece chicken McNugget, some fries and we refill 2 drinks over and over, but not by too much. Besides, we never hit McDonald’s for a full meal anymore, so when we go, we go big and do Happy Meals (with orders from Daddy to get apples instead of fries and no sodas) and stay to play.

Ah, I remember the days when I had only 2 kids and hit the McDonald’s several times a week for a full-on meal. I know many families hit the Mickey D’s drive-through like a crack pipe and I’m sure it adds up like crazy. No wonder the country is in debt! Our asses are lazy and we’re willing to pay for convenience!

Good thing I wrote an article about stocking up on meals and groceries. Now if I could only get my you-know-what together enough to follow my own advice and actually make some meals in advance and freeze them.

I’m too lazy and would rather spend that time writing.

Lazy Birthday Parties

I got this idea from my friend Ellen. She is anything but lazy, but she is very smart. Trust me, often lazy does equal smart.

Instead of buying cartons of ice cream for your kid’s next birthday party and scooping it out while it melts, consider buying individual ice cream cups. Hopefully the cups will be plastic so you can recycle them. If they are paper, consider composting, if you have the space in your yard.

Or if you’re lazy, just throw them in the dang trash.