Being a mom isn’t easy—often juggling household chores, caring for children and a job—but one woman from Connecticut is always thinking of ways to make motherhood just that little bit simpler.
Mom-of-four Shannon Doherty, 39, has recently delighted the internet by sharing a simple hack that will stop dirty feet touching car carpets. During the clip, she can be seen holding a plastic blue shower caddy and a football. She then places the caddy in the footwell of her vehicle for her daughter to put her dirty soccer boots in.
Doherty, from the town of Darien, told Newsweek: “I actually bought the extra large shower caddy by mistake. I had it in the car to return after a soccer game and then I thought—let’s use it for the cleats! It was so smart and easy!”
Prior to this, Doherty, who uses the TikTok handle @athomewithshannon, used to clean the inside of her car “almost every day” as her children play “tons of sports.”
The video is captioned: “Who knew a SHOWER CADDY could be the BEST MOM HACK EVER!? Trust me—this is a game changer for all those muddy cleats and sneakers!” It seems to be a hit online. To watch the clip, click here.
So far, the video, shared on September 27, has amassed 4.3 million views and more than 163,000 likes.
The clip has been inundated with positive messages from other parents who wished they had done something similar.
One user said: “That is genius,” and another said: “Omg, that is the best idea ever.”
Other parents have shared their tips too, and one said: “I had my son take his cleats off and then I put them in a little plastic container like that in the trunk of my car.”
Parents turning to the social media app for tips isn’t a new phenomenon. The hashtag “mom hack” has racked up over 7 billion views and “parenting tips” has 8.8 billion.
It’s likely parents with teens aren’t the only ones in their household who use the app, which offers a huge variety of content. The videos can range from short and snappy to longer clips, making it very easy for users to lose track of time.
In March, TikTok announced new features aimed at helping parents manage their kids’ screen time. According to the official TikTok website, caregivers are able to customize the daily screen time limit for their teen and mute notifications to ensure their child isn’t distracted. The third feature is a screen time dashboard that gives a breakdown of total time spent on the app and how many times the app was opened.
Update 10/05/23, 3:30 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with original content.
If you have a personal dilemma, let us know via life@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice on relationships, family, friends, money and work and your story could be featured on Newsweek’s “What Should I Do? section.