best new apps for moms

For the past few years I've been so fortunate to be a part of a wonderful new and expectant moms community through Bump Club and Beyond. I went from being a pregnant expecting mother who attended the workout classes to an active participant at their new moms brunch. This past weekend I sat on a panel with other fabulously resourceful moms to share some of my favorite new apps and services that make motherhood a little less stressful. While what I shared is great for new moms, they're awesome for veteran parents as well. So listen up because if you're in need of a little bit more time in your life, these apps might just be able to help you.

 

• Instacart: Last year I saw Instacart promoted at my local Whole Foods, but didn't take advantage of this amazing service until I was in a pinch on a Monday where school was closed, I didn't have food for the week and had to tackle some work. In Chicago, the service is partnered with my favorite grocery stores (Whole Foods, Jewel Osco, Mariano's Costco, etc) and delivers your order the same day. You can even pick out the window of time that is convenient to you and the last few times we've used the service they've been on the early side of that window. Quite honestly it's worth every penny if you don't have a chance to get to the store that day.
• Google Express: Leave it to Google to provide an exceptional local same day delivery service from stores like Target, Walgreens, Barnes & Nobles, Ulta and many more. Unlike Instacart, Google Express delivers non-food items that you might need the same day. Especially perfect for those last minute gifts you need to buy for loved ones or when you just can't run out at lunch to buy the mandatory mascara you ran out of.
• Wischen: Gotta give props to the hubby for finding this service. Call it Uber of the house or office cleaning world. Wischen is an on-demand cleaning service that you can book by the hour. You can have them clean just the bathrooms if you want them too (trust me we've done it) and it's great if you also just want someone to come do a quick deep clean that you just can't get to. If you're in Chicago, ask for Ryan - great guy and does an exceptional job!
• Dryv: As working parents we get a lot of stuff dry cleaned, but sometimes the turn around time isn't quick enough or we don't get to the dry cleaners during their business hours. On the flip side sometimes shlepping that stuff to the dry cleaner sounds too exhausting that we just don't go, when we really should. Dryv is an on-demand dry cleaning services that picks up and drops off your dry cleaning for you - not to mention that their turnaround time is pretty stellar!
• Kicksend: My husband's grandma isn't the most tech savvy, but we want to make sure that she sees the latest pics of Liam that she may not see on Facebook or Instagram. Every month, Matt selects a handful of pics from his social album and Kicksend prints, then ships them to his grandma. Literally takes less than 5 minutes to do and a great surprise in the mail for your loved ones.
• Totspot: Us moms know that kids go through clothes by the minute. If you've read some of my past kid style posts you know that I love shopping thrift and consignment stores for Liam's clothes. This great app is a resale service for kid's clothes. There are a ton of great consignment stores in the city, but you can't beat convenience. Take pics of your items and post them for sale or shop the items available on the app - either way it's a great way to rotate some clothes your little one doesn't need.
• Smile Mom: Sometimes you just need to find moms in your community that are in similar life stages. Smile Moms is an app that allows you to find a local community of moms in your area. Find moms with kids the same age or even other working moms...as a mom you can never have too many friends who can understand your everyday challenges.

As moms, actually I should say as parents, you take help wherever you can get it and thanks to technology they've helped multi-tastking become a little more manageable. While we like to think we can do it all, sometimes you need a lifeline and these great apps/services above are great to have in your back pocket because you never know when you'll need a hand.