Kelly Ripa gives good advice when it comes to maintaining an orderly household. She recently opened up to People Magazine on how she and her husband of 18 years, Mark Consuelos, keep their brood of three (daughter Lola, 13, and sons, Michael, 17, and Joaquin, 11) organized among the chaos.
“Everything I’ve learned that is beneficial to me, I’ve learned from a fellow mom,” the 44-year-old tells the magazine. “We’re in outer space as parents! We are in uncharted territory.”
The Live! with Kelly and Michael host said that when she was growing up there was no social media, or distractions like kids have now. “We had one phone, it was in the kitchen, and if we wanted privacy, then we would have to stretch the phone cord as far as it could go down the basement stairs.”
Ripa proceeded to share some valuable advice when it came to her only girl, Lola. “My daughter always says she wants more privacy, and I respect that, I understand that,” she says. “I said, ‘If you want to keep a diary instead of Instagram, then you will have privacy. I will not read your diary, but if you’re going to be on Instagram, I’m going to read that, because that’s not private. That is social media.’ That’s how we work it out in our house.”
Her biggest tip for working parents is staying organized with a traditional calendar. “I know it sounds old-fashioned, I know it sounds simplistic, but it really does help. To see a calendar say, ‘Don’t forget you’re taking the bus home today.’ ‘Don’t forget you have a hip-hop lesson today.’ ‘Don’t forget you have wrestling today.’ It really paints a very clear picture, and that has been the single greatest lifesaver, instead of me just sort of trying to remember stuff in my head or writing it down in my iPad where only I have access to it.”
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