Running a household with a SEND child means every day comes with its own set of challenges.
So, I’ve learned to embrace a little laziness, or as I like to call it, genius, when it comes to managing our home.
Just the other day, a family member was visiting, and as we sat in the garden enjoying the sun, I ran the outside tap straight into the dog’s water bowl.
He laughed and said, “I don’t know if that’s lazy or genius.”
I smiled and said, “Honestly, it’s both.”
When you’re juggling appointments, therapies, meltdowns, life admin, and all the rest, making life as easy as possible isn’t about cutting corners, its about doing whatever works.
Here are some of my favourite “lazy genius” hacks that save me time, energy, and sanity:
💜 Robot hoover to the rescue: or “Corey” as my son likes to call it, yes our vacuum has a name! I declutter once a month, then Corey handles the daily mess. It’s like having a little helper who never complains or takes breaks.
💜 Strategic spares everywhere: I keep toothpaste, a hairbrush, deodorant, and other basics downstairs, so I’m not running up and down stairs during busy mornings or stressful moments.
💜 No kitchen bin? No problem: Emptying the bin used to be one of my most hated jobs, the smell, the overfilling, the mess. So I got rid of it. Now, I take the rubbish straight outside once a day (I still recycle).
These small adjustments might seem minor, but they add up to big relief. They help me conserve energy for the parts of parenting that require my full attention and love.
Parenting a SEND or disabled child is parenting on another level. And on this road, sometimes genius looks like a shortcut, and laziness is just good sense.