We are all busy. On top of working, most of the readers here I know are parents who have their hands full. Parenting is 24/7 job all in itself! That is why I am telling you it is okay to take a break. It is okay to let somebody else do the heavy lifting, so you can spend more quality time with your family instead of standing in line at grocery store telling your kids for the 100th time that they can't get the candy that's right at their eye level. Here is a list of services all Chicagoland parents should be using to save their sanity:
- Peapod. This is the best grocery service. I've personally been using them for years! You can pick your own deliver times and exactly what you want. I find their prices pretty comparable to other local grocery stores. Another bonus is that you can use coupons! No more kids begging for stuff or going “off list”.
- Chime. If you’re not familiar with the service,Chimehandpicks the best sitters in your neighborhood through an extensive vetting process, and makes it incredibly easy for parents to source, book and pay top-rated sitters through its site or mobile app. Chime is a great option when you're in a pinch and your regular sitter isn't available or if you don't know who babysits in your neighborhood. Since this is such a great service, I have arranged for all of you to get $50 off your first Chime booking! Use promo code: THOUGHTSwhen you checkout and this code expires7/31/16.
- Netflix. If you need 5 minutes to yourself, Netflix is a great streaming service. They have a ton of great kids programing that will allow you to watch with them or steal away for 5 minutes and take a shower!
- Amazon Prime. I don't know how I ever lived without this service. They have same day shipping if you need it! I love shopping online and never leaving my living room. Best of all is the free shipping. It is well worth the yearly cost.
- Waze. Waze is the world's largest community-based traffic and navigation app. Join other drivers in your area who share real-time traffic and road info, saving everyone time and gas money on their daily commute. Bill and I both use this app everyday. I tend to use it because I have no sense of direction. Bill uses it for the fastest way to get home every day.
All 5 of these services you can't live without! Have you used any of these services? Are there any other you'd recommend?
I don’t live in Chicago, but I’m all about Netflix and Prime. I think those two services will serve anyone well no matter where they live.
We don’t have Chime and Peapod here, but we have the other three. I definitely enjoy Amazon Prime’s free shipping.
I order from Amazon but have not joined Amazon prime. I wish Amazon would have left the free shipping for orders over $25 dollars in place though, it seems the only way to get free shipping with them now is via prime… I have not tried any of the others I pay for cable so I haven’t yet felt the need to try to netflix. I have been meaning to try Peapod I am not even sure they have it around here I will have to check.
I never heard of Waze, but next time we head down to Chicago I will definitely have to check it out! We went down (from Milwaukee) to visit the Shedd Aquarium in Feb. and Chicago traffic is 500 times worse than Downtown Milwaukee and St. Paul Minnesota combined. haha.
It is! I think you can use Waze pretty much anywhere!
These all seem extremely useful. I’m not a parent, nor in Chicago, but I’d use some of these myself!
Great list. We use Netflix and Amazon Prime all the time. They are really great services.
I use a few of these services even though I’m not in Chicago. Netflix is awesome.
I also enjoy Amazon Prime too. Two day shipping is the best. I have used prime pantry a ton too. Ordering groceries is easy too.
I’m not in Chicago but I use to live close to it. Even though I’m not from around there, I still use some of these. Netflix is number one! We love Netflix in our house.
I have heard of 3 out of the 5. The grocery delivery service sounds wonderful! I will have to see if there is something available like this in my area. I always come home with way more than I planned!
We use a lot of these in Wisconsin as well! I actually just looked into Peapod, but doesn’t deliver to my area 🙁
These all seem like great apps for Chicago parents!! Great roundup!!
Absolutely love Netflix and I’m not a Chicago parent. 😉 It has something for everyone and helps me a lot when I need to get work done and have my daughter stay still.
We do enjoy Netflix and Amazon Prime. I’m very much familiar with the other services but does sound something we busy mamas would love.
I tried the amazon prime for a while but I discointued since I don’t shop that often.
Great list! I don’t live in Chicago but I subscribed to Netflix and Amazon prime, couldn’t live without.