Courtesy of Janine Clements
- I work full-time, manage our household, and parent two teens, so my schedule is packed.Lately, I've been turning to ChatGPT to lighten my load.The AI tool has given me meal plans, activity ideas, and suggested ways I can connect with my kids.
Between working full-time, managing the household, and parenting two teen girls, I feel like I'm constantly chasing my tail, struggling for inspiration, and feeling out of my depth. Cue ChatGPT — my new secret hack for being a better parent.
Whether it's coming up with options for family dinners, tips for our next family vacation, or advising on parenting challenges, this AI platform has been a lifesaver for me and my family since I started using it over a year ago. It's helped me be more organized and save time, effort, money, and, on occasion, my sanity.
I use it for brainstorming parenting strategies and solutions
The teen years have to be one of the most challenging, lonely times you can go through as a parent. There's no manual, and, although there are plenty of parenting books, I've increasingly turned to ChatGPT as an instant sounding board for whatever is going on in my house.
It's like having a free parenting coach to guide me through the twists and turns of life with teens, from helping set ground rules for going out at night to getting them off their screens to drafting notes to teachers.
Recently, I directed ChatGPT to suggest ways for me to reconnect with my 14-year-old as she was spending a lot of time in her room. It offered some great advice, including listening more than talking, showing interest in her life, and collaborating, not dictating. I started planning lunch together once a month so we can have one-on-one time and she gets time to talk about what she wants to.
It also helped me develop a set of rules to get my family off their phones, like putting them into a basket from 6 to 8 p.m. every night and making our family room a phone-free zone.
ChatGPT
It helps keep our household running smoothly
Managing daily life is an area that ChatGPT has made a thousand times easier for me. I use it for everything, from creating chore lists for my kids to providing ideas for healthy snacks.
It's been particularly useful for meal inspiration as my picky family members make me want to tear my hair out. Between one not eating pasta and another loving it, and one only liking certain vegetables, while another is vegetarian, I'm often low on enthusiasm and inspiration for cooking dinner, so I turn to my helpful little assistant in my phone, and it always has ideas for me when I ask.
With a few simple prompts (along the lines of "create an easy meal plan, Monday to Friday, for a family of four for a month" or "come up with ideas for family-friendly sheet pan dinner ideas for the month"), I can get a printable monthly schedule of meals that cater to our different tastes, with a list of ingredients to buy each week. I stick it on the kitchen wall and check meal planning off of my to-do list.
It's ideal for coming up with boredom busters and family bonding activities
I've spent hours trawling the internet to find things to do for my hard-to-please family, whether it's what to do when my teens are bored, movies we'll all enjoy watching, or indoor activities for the cold winter months. This is where ChatGPT comes in very handy, as it's a huge time saver and can generate idea after idea in seconds.
When I wanted ideas for teen bonding activities, it gave me suggestions I would never have thought of, including volunteering at an animal shelter, doing a thrift shop challenge to find the coolest item for $10, and creating vision boards.
It's way more intuitive than Google because you can refine your prompts as you go along and you have almost instant access to a list with hundred suggestions to choose from. It avoids having to trawl through a list of articles that Google provides if you use it to search for the same thing.
ChatGPT is a great virtual assistant
Whether it's making travel plans or coming up with creative birthday suggestions, ChatGPT has been a goldmine of information and ideas for me.
On a trip to London this summer, I used the platform for inspiration for cool, unique places and Insta-worthy spots that my teens would love. Its recommendations, which included Camden Town Market, the Leake Street Arches graffiti tunnels, and a canal boat ride, were spot on and something I didn't see listed altogether when I searched via Google
I also directed it to create a treasure hunt for my daughter to find a special birthday gift. Ordinarily, it would have taken me hours to come up with the clues, but I got a response in seconds. All I had to do was print them off, cut them up and hide them.
Thanks to AI, being the mom of two teens definitely feels less overwhelming. Although I know ChatGPT, or any other AI platform, shouldn't replace a parent's own judgment, it's lightened my load, helped me handle parenting headaches, and made everyday life just that little bit easier.
