This is one of the funnest summers I’ve had in years. For one, I was 100% in charge of my time. That meant I could go to the pool whenever I wanted during the day… and it also meant I had no paid time off. Such is solopreneur life!
As a mom of young children in the U.S., it also meant summer-camp logistics (cue the Shining theme song). Despite the weekly Monday-morning confusion of figuring out where the kids were supposed to go, what the drop-off and pickup times were, and what that week’s camp theme was, we still had some awesome times. A big reason why was Claude taking over the nitty-gritty details of the fun.
I will never go back to being “fun mom” without AI. Honestly, I’m not sure “fun mom” can even exist without it. Special activities—even the enjoyable ones—require planning, task lists, coordination, and a dozen other details that slowly drain the joy out of everything. Without help, I’d just cancel it all and end up on the couch doomscrolling.
Here’s a list of some of the summer activities Claude planned for us:
A sleepover and homemade pizza party with six kids
A group craft using puff paint and fabric markers for custom t-shirt designs
A backyard birthday party (complete with grocery list, seating floor plan, food and beverage layout, and water games)
A block-party plan that included a flyer design and QR code for potluck sign-ups
A teacher thank-you gift for 13 teachers that a 4-year-old could help make and stayed under a $25 budget
Looking at that list, you’d think I’m the Mary Poppins of motherhood. I am most definitely not. Guess how many times I’d hosted a sleepover, thrown a block party, or made homemade thank-you gifts before this summer? ZERO. With a little AI help, I elevated my mom game to the stratosphere. I just hope my kids don’t remember this too clearly, I don’t want to be held to “fun mom” expectations every summer from now on. Just kidding… or am I?
Here’s an easy way to plan a budget craft using AI:
Open your LLM and describe exactly what you need. Example prompt:
“Easy craft for preschool teachers (13 people), something a 4-year-old can help make, $25 budget. Check pricing on Michaels.com.”It will give you several options. Pick the one you like.
Once you’ve chosen the craft, go to your favorite craft-store website. If you’re ordering for pickup, set the site to your local store.
Ask your LLM to find the recommended items on the site and add them to the cart.
You can do this from the desktop version of the LLM or, even better, from a browser extension. I’ve found the LLM has an easier time adding things to an online cart when you prompt it from the browser extension.—To use the extension: download it, open the craft-store website, open the LLM side panel, and paste in the final craft details from your earlier conversation.
PS: I also spend my weekdays helping software and services companies untangle operational risks while undergoing acquisition / M&A. Questions about this post? Email me at [email protected]
