Parenting hacks that make life with children a bit more manageable for moms and dads are abundant on social media platforms Instagram and TikTok. Self-acclaimed "Best Dad CEO" Eddie Alvarez has developed his own hack that will dupe children into eating homemade food when they are craving some fast food.
Alvarez told "Good Morning America" that he had the idea when he was at home with his kids one day. The children were driving him crazy, saying they did not want his homemade burgers because they liked the McDonald's ones better. It hit him that if he wrapped them like they were McDonald's burgers, his kids would not even realize it.
Alvarez shared a video of him making the burgers and sneakily wrapping them in the pale yellow parchment of McDonald's. He obtained those wrappers during a previous solo lunch trip to the Golden Arches to fool his children into thinking the food was from McDonald's.
Video of Alvarez's hack goes viral on TikTok and Instagram
Alvarez said with a laugh that his hack worked surprisingly well until the kids started asking for the happy meal toys. The video has gone viral on TikTok, amassing more than 5.1 million views on the social media platform. The clip has also proven to be a hit on Instagram, racking up 1.9 million views thus far.
@bestdad_ceo It worked until they asked where are the happy meal toys ️ #fastfood #parentinghacks #parentinghumor #dadmoves ♬ I Wanna Go Home - Fat Cat
Alvarez, who first learned to cook from his mother, said in the interview that he cooks every night for his family. He added that he was always the one that would cook and barbecue in college.
He said that both of his sons, who are five and three years old, usually would order plain cheeseburger happy meals with chocolate milk. As for dad-approved parenting hacks, Alvarez suggests sneaking in healthy food options that their children won't notice.
Alvarez said that one of his favorite food hacks is putting spinach when he makes his sons' smoothies. He explained that you couldn't taste the spinach at all, and it just makes the smoothie green. Alvarez calls his creation the monster smoothie, which has proven to be a hit with his children.
Dad keeps baby clean with a genius parenting hack
Another parenting hack that has been making the rounds was shared by @iamventuredad in a video on TikTok. Toddlers are known to make a mess of things, mostly their clothes, because of their curiosity.
The TikTok user had a rather funny way of keeping his toddler clean to ensure there is not a ton of laundry come the next wash. The father was able to achieve this improbable feat by dressing his baby in shopping plastic bags over the child's outfit for the day, according to Jacaranda FM.
He called it a play apron. The video has gone viral on TikTok, with the clip amassing 200,000 views. He wrote in the caption that he found a use for all the bags under the sink.
