This is another installment of Tuesday's Tips, dedicated to kid's plastic ...
With 5 kids, I was seriously at my wit's end with the number of cups cluttering my house. We have a "you can get water anytime of the day by yourself don't bug me about it" rule. While this is well and good and allowed me to be lazy taught my kids a sense of responsibility and self awareness, it led to each kid dirtying approximately 42 cups per day. They would almost always forget where they left their cup or whose was whose. And you know, heaven forbid they potentially share germs with a sibling. Oh. my. ewwww - the world might end (insert eye roll). Somehow this germaphobia never seems to bother them when they'd like to wrap their tongue around my Diet Coke bottle???
Insert brilliant mom tip #1: Color coded cups (& bowls and plates) found here. Now, every kid has a color, they know their color and they can always spot where their cup is. The color coded plates and bowls has made serving snacks and meals so much easier. We don't have assigned seats around here and we often eat snacks outside. My kids can instantly see where to sit and whose snack is whose by finding their color. Every kid has two sets. If both sets are dirty, they find one out of the sink/dishwasher and wash it.
Tip # 2: Keep all kids cups/bowls/plates easily within their reach. This not only helps for self serving, but also allows little hands to help do chores. The color coding allowed me to weed out approximately 80% of the plastic clutter and my drawers went from this ...
Tip #3: The drink counter. When it's not meal time, kids are to put their drinks on the drink counter. I picked a small, out of the way counter next to the fridge for our assigned drink counter. Kids (and adults) can keep water there all day and they always know where to find their cup. This keeps the table/center of the kitchen less cluttered and me less insane.
What about you? What are some of your favorite de-cluttering tips?
Insert brilliant mom tip #1: Color coded cups (& bowls and plates) found here. Now, every kid has a color, they know their color and they can always spot where their cup is. The color coded plates and bowls has made serving snacks and meals so much easier. We don't have assigned seats around here and we often eat snacks outside. My kids can instantly see where to sit and whose snack is whose by finding their color. Every kid has two sets. If both sets are dirty, they find one out of the sink/dishwasher and wash it.
Tip # 2: Keep all kids cups/bowls/plates easily within their reach. This not only helps for self serving, but also allows little hands to help do chores. The color coding allowed me to weed out approximately 80% of the plastic clutter and my drawers went from this ...
(before)
to this ...
(after)
(say it with me now .... ooohhhhh, aaahhhhhh)
(say it with me now .... ooohhhhh, aaahhhhhh)
