It’s the parent trap: so much to do, so little time. It takes a supermom to get everything done, from caring for the kids and conquering clutter to keeping the kitchen clean and putting dinner on the table.

“It’s so easy to get overwhelmed,” says Julie Edelman, author of The Ultimate Accidental Housewife: Your Guide to a Clean-Enough House. “Your family’s health and well-being is important, but so is yours.”

Edelman and other cleaning and de-cluttering experts offer their simple, inexpensive strategies to help you multitask and take shortcuts on tedious chores. This way, you can spend less time with the vacuum cleaner and more quality time with your family.

Keep a Clean and Healthy Kitchen

1. Prevent a pileup. Clean after every meal, suggests Deb Lillard, author of Absolutely Organized: A Mom’s Guide to a No-Stress Schedule and Clutter-Free Home. Wipe tables and counters, put dishes into the dishwasher and sweep the floor. Keep disposable plates, flatware and cups for nights when you’re too worn out for dish duty.

2. Catch up while you wipe down. When you’re chatting on the phone with a friend, grab some disinfectant wipes and clean three key spots that people notice: the stovetop, the sink and the fridge door. Not only will this help your kitchen look neater, but can also help with cold prevention.

3. De-gunk your stovetop. Have your kids make a paste of 1 part baking soda to 3 parts water, then use a sponge to scrub off hardened bits of food around the burners, says Edelman.

4. Raid the fridge nightly. Every night before bed, look in your refrigerator. If something is going to spoil soon, move it to the front to remind yourself to eat it or toss it.

5. Zap microwave germs. Bring a cup of water to a boil in the microwave. The steam will loosen dried particles so they’re easy to wipe away.

Lighten the Laundry Load

1. Label laundry baskets. Give each family member a basket with his or her name on it. Dirty clothes have a place to go (besides the floor), and it’s easy for clean clothes to go back to their owner.

2. Play ball. When it’s time to sort, ask your kids to separate whites, darks and delicates into three different hampers by making “baskets,” says Edelman.

3. Make folding fun. Choose one TV show you love and only allow yourself to watch while folding clothes. Stack folded clothes directly into each family member’s basket.

4. Consolidate bedding. After you wash sheets, store sets inside unfolded pillowcases to make changing sheets a cinch (and minimize clutter in your linen closet).

5. Invest in help. Ask the kids to deliver baskets of clean clothes to the proper rooms. “For an incentive, I keep a piggy bank on top of the washing machine for any loose change I find in pockets,” says Edelman. The person who is most helpful will score a cash prize at the end of a laundry day.

Corral Kids’ Rooms

1. Get in the zone. Divide the room into zones: reading in one corner, arts and crafts in another, for example. This way, your little ones always know where to go for these activities and where to find and put away toys.

2. Buy bins. “Kids’ rooms are my biggest challenge,” admits Lillard. Label see-through storage containers (for toys, books, stuffed animals, dolls) and ask the kids to decorate them. Straightening up is faster when children can see where everything goes.

3. Control artwork overload. Give each child a desk with drawers for collecting paperwork and drawings. At the end of the school year, go through the drawers together and decide what to save in scrapbooks or memory boxes.

4. Chart progress. Make a pre-bedtime chore checklist to help children remember to put completed homework in their backpacks, pick up toys on the ground and put dirty clothes in the hamper.

5. Recycle old toys. Every few months, box up a third of your kids’ toys and store them in the closet. You’ll have less to organize, and old toys become interesting again when they reappear.

Even if you can incorporate only a few of these tricks, it will give you the opportunity to spend less time on what you don’t like and more time on what you do.

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It’s that time of year again: Summer’s coming to a close, which means that the first day of school is around the corner. Whether your children are starting at a new school or returning to their stomping grounds, heading back into the classroom can be stressful. To make things easier on your entire family, try these moves to ease back-to-school stress.

1. Hit the playground. Before school starts up again, take your little ones to the school’s playground and let them run around. It will help familiarize them with their soon-to-be surroundings; the unknown is scary for kids. If your kid is starting at a new school, it’s also a good idea to take a classroom tour with her.

2. Make a play date with a classmate. Check with the school, a teacher or your neighborhood association to find other kids who will be in your child’s class and schedule a meet-up. That way, they’ll both have at least one familiar face in the classroom.

3. Adjust sleep schedules. To make the transition easier for you and your kids, a few weeks before school’s start, try to wake your children up closer to the time they’ll need to rise to get to school -- and set their bedtimes accordingly. Your kids should ideally be on their new schedules the week leading up to their first day.

4. Stay positive. During drop-off, reassure your child he’ll be safe at school. Remind him that his teacher will take care of him until you come to get him. Make sure that he knows the pick-up plan -- and don’t be late! If he’s still having a tough time saying goodbye, resist the temptation to compare him to other kids (“Look, Matt’s doing just fine”). And to avoid adding more stress to the situation, don’t shed your own tears in front of him -- wait until you’re out of sight if you’re feeling choked up.

5. Pay attention to his complaints. It takes a child about two weeks to adjust to a new situation and for the back-to-school stress to lighten. So if her whines and complaints about school persist much longer, you may want to consider consulting a child psychologist.

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With summer coming to an end and the first day of school on the horizon, now’s the time for back-to-school shopping. Along with the usual notebooks and pens, experts recommend a few staples, such as pocket-size hand sanitizers and boxes of tissues, to keep your kids safe and healthy. So before you hit the stores, consider adding the items below to your school supply list.

1. A padded backpack. Kids choose their backpacks for color and style, so it’s up to parents to ensure they make the safest pick. A heavy or ill-fitting bag can pull on muscles and ligaments, says Dr. Danielle Cooley, an osteopathic family physician and assistant professor at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey School of Osteopathic Medicine. That can lead to neck and back pain -- and, over time, even spinal problems. When choosing a backpack, Cooley recommends looking for:

· A padded back. The cushioning helps to protect the back and relieve the strain of carrying a heavy load.

· Wide, padded straps. “Narrow straps dig into the shoulders,” says Cooley. Adjust the straps so that the bag rests in the middle of your child’s back. A bag that hangs too low on the spine can lead to misalignment, pain and posture problems, such as sway back, explains Cooley.

· Multiple compartments. Extra pockets help evenly distribute the weight of the books and supplies. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, a full backpack should weigh no more than 10 to 20 percent of your child’s bodyweight (for a 60-pound child, that’s around 10 pounds). So encourage your daughter to swap books in her locker between classes.

2. Sunscreen or sun-protective clothing. “Don’t forget the sunscreen for those bright days, especially at the start of the school year,” says Dr. Lisa Martin, an associate professor of pediatrics at Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine and a pediatrician at Loyola University Health System in Chicago. Recess tends to be scheduled between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., when the sun’s rays are the strongest. And just one bad burn can double your child’s chances of developing melanoma -- the most dangerous form of skin cancer -- later in life, reports the National Cancer Institute.

But before you slip that sunscreen into your kids’ backpacks, check with the school administration. Because the FDA regulates sunscreen as an over-the-counter drug, some districts require a doctor’s note or don’t allow children to apply it at school. If that’s the case, make sure to apply a sunscreen of at least SPF 15 before sending them off in the morning.

3. Medication refills. If your child has a condition that may require treatment in school (such as asthma or food allergies), make sure to have a new refill to give the school nurse at the start of the school year. “You don’t want them to have an expired medication if there’s an emergency,” says Martin.

4. Alcohol-based hand sanitizer. The average child comes down with six to eight colds a year, and many of those viruses are spread in the classroom, says Martin. The best way to protect against those germs: Teach kids to wash their hands after bathroom breaks, recess and gym class, as well as before eating.

Unfortunately, many children forget that lesson. In fact, a University of Pennsylvania study found that only about half of middle- and high-school students scrub up after using the restroom! The solution? Pack pocket-size containers of hand sanitizer in your child’s backpack, so she can fend off germs throughout the day.

5. Tissues. To prevent the spread of germs, make sure your child always has a box of tissues on hand (bonus: they come in fun back-to-school designs, so your kids will be excited to use them!). And teach him to sneeze or cough into one: In two out of three cases, people sneeze into their hands, show researchers from New Zealand. But that practice contaminates the hands, which may infect all the surfaces your child touches in the classroom. (Caught without a tissue? Remind him to sneeze or cough into the crook of his elbow.) Your kid can also use those tissues to wipe down his desk daily.

6. Insulated lunch bag. A turkey-and-cheese sandwich is a brown bag staple, but it can also turn into a breeding ground for bacteria if it’s not kept at the proper temperature. Because of their developing immune systems, children are up to five times more likely to develop a case of food poisoning than the average adult, reports research in the journal Pediatrics.

That’s why it’s important to keep their midday meals cool. Pack their lunches in an insulated bag, and store them in the fridge until they head out the door. “Using an ice pack can also help prevent food-borne illness,” says Martin.

7. Breakfast staples. While you’re scrambling to get used to your new school schedule, make sure a healthy breakfast isn’t lost in the morning scramble. Studies show that kids who fuel up before their first class learn -- and retain -- more than those who skip the meal. And what you put on that plate makes a difference too: Dining on oatmeal boosts brainpower more than eating a sugary cereal, according to a Tufts University study. That’s because oatmeal delivers longer-lasting energy, which may help your child pay closer attention in her morning classes.

Martin recommends stocking up on portable breakfast staples that your kids can grab if they’re running late. A few options: drinkable yogurt, fruit, whole-grain cereal (pre-portioned into bags) and breakfast bars.

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