The Top 3 Small Home Electronics Every Solo Parent Needs to Thrive With a Traveling Spouse

Being the keeper of all the to-do lists, the tidier of the house, and the home chef becomes exhausting real quick when you don't have a partner to tag in when they leave for a work trip. Prior to kids, when it was just me, I could fly by the seat of my pants and remember all of my appointments, decide what to make for dinner an hour ahead of time (or grab takeout), and the house never really got too messy. Enter kids.... Whoa! You can't possibly juggle all the remembering, cooking, cleaning, working, and maintaining positive relationships when you're doing it for more than just yourself.

It took me years to find systems that work for our family, and if I'm being honest, it's still a work in progress in some areas. That's a post for another day. Today, I'm excited to share with you the 3 small home appliances I never knew I needed that have made the biggest difference in my day to day routines for keeping up on our home, especially when my partner is traveling for work.

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Amazon Echo Show

Two years ago, on Prime Day, I decided to purchase an Echo Show for my kitchen to be able to listen to music while cooking dinner.

Cooking alone gets really old really fast when the kids are begging for dinner and Dad's not around to offer a distraction. My Echo allows me a quick source of entertainment if the kids are outside, and I get to listen to my favorite music. On the other hand, if they are getting rowdy and begging for dinner, and I need a fast change of pace, I'll turn on some kids music or ask Alexa to tell a joke. Even my 4 year old knows how to ask Alexa to play "Let It Go"! Then she can dance around the kitchen while I finish cooking dinner.

I chose the Echo Show because I wanted to be able to see my Google Calendar each morning as I was getting the kids ready for school. Did you know you can create custom routines on the Echo Show? This means each morning, I say, "Alexa, Good Morning" and she proceeds to tell me the date, weather, and anything on my calendar.

The best part of having an Echo Show in my kitchen is I now have a second brain and her name is Alexa! When I'm cooking and notice I'm low on an ingredient I simply say, "Alexa, add garlic to my shopping list" and my kids have learned to use it too when they notice we are out of something they like: "Alexa, add marshmallows to my shopping list". When I get to the store, I quickly pull up my Amazon Alexa app and view my shopping list. No more forgetting the list at home or dropping it in the parking lot and it frees up some brain space not having to remember all the things we are needing to restock.

Alexa also keeps track of remembering weekly that it's garbage night, library day for my daughter, and other necessary reminders that I don't want to clog my brain. I even add reminders for taking medicine if someone is sick. I love that I don't have to remember to remind my 7 year old on Thursday morning to pack her library book. Alexa holds that brain space for me!

It's truly been a game changer for reducing the mental load!

Shark AI-Ultra Robot Vacuum with HEPA 60 day Self-Empty Base, Bagless and WiFi enabled with Floor Mapping

We have 2 Australian Shepherds and 2 kids. To say a robot vacuum has been on my list of WANTS for YEARS is an understatement! Did I need it? No. Has it been incredibly helpful? Absolutely!

Our dogs leave little dust-puppies in every corner of our home. The kids seem to leave crumbs and dirt in their tracks no matter where they roam in the house.

The robot vacuum is my most recent purchase because it wasn't really necessary up to this point. I had been getting by sweeping the floor every other (or third) day and if I couldn't get to it, I taught myself to just be okay and lower my standards. When I could no longer keep up with the sweeping, I would just put on cozy fuzzy socks so I couldn't feel the crumbs and dirt under my feet.

Since getting my robot vacuum at Christmas, I've been able to increase my standards of how clean the floors should be. Is it perfect? No. Does it do a better job than I was expecting? Yes, of course. So much that I'm contemplating getting another robot to mop the floors!

In full disclosure, I still give a quick sweep under the hard to reach places, like the refrigerator and stove and in the tight corners, before starting my robot, but it saves me a lot of time each week and helps to keep the floors cleaner. I also make a concerted effort when my dogs are shedding their winter coats to use my handheld Dyson to suck up as many of the dust-puppies I can find. This just helps the life of the Shark Vacuum and not having to clean it and replace filters as often.

I sort of feel like Judy Jetson (am I showing my age?!) when I send my Rita Robot around the house.

Get a robot and use your time to get some exercise or go play with your kids!

Ninja Foodi Digital Air Fry Countertop Oven 6-in-1 Flip Up & Away Functionality

This. This is the surprise appliance I have been most impressed with owning. It's my #1 "never knew I needed it until I had it" gadget. I've had 6-in-1 oven for over a year. It came as surprise gift from my husband one day when he was on the road.

I'll be honest, when I opened it, my first thought was, "I don't need another small appliance." If you were to purchase only one new thing for your home after reading this blog post - this is the product!

This little guy is compact, yet does big things in the kitchen. I have used this to Air Fry (most often), Bake, Broil, Roast veggies, Toast bread, and I've even used the Dehydrate option for experimentation to make spinach/greens powder.

When my husband is traveling and I'm feeling lazy, I pop some chicken nuggets in this bad boy and in 10 minutes I have dinner. I've cooked an entire sheet pan meal in 20 minutes. It's a champ at reheating restaurant food to get a better outcome than throwing something in the microwave. This little guy is used the most when I look at the clock and need dinner FAST! It only takes a few seconds to preheat and I'm off to cooking. I love using this in the summer so I don't have to heat up the whole kitchen using the full-size oven.

One of the best features is the space-saving design. When it's cooled down after use, the digital screen will read "flip" and you can flip it up get your counter top space back. For ours, we purchased this heat resistant cutting board to sit on top and we just leave it flipped down because I use it daily. I love the cutting board on top because even with this appliance taking up valuable counter space and can still set things on top, like my recipe box.

This bad boy has received an upgrade and is now available featuring a 9-in-1 option with keep warm and reheat options!

The next time you're feeling overwhelmed with life, take a look around your home and see if there's an area you can streamline or enhance to take some weight off your shoulders. These are 3 simple, affordable products you can implement this month to make your life easier.