Photo by Wobbly Plates at flickr.com
Plates to the left. Cups on the right. Stack the bowls above. There seems to be a secret code of uniformity in cabinet organization. But, when you have a family of five squeezed into a 2-bedroom apartment, sometimes you have to buck the code. Especially when homeschooling is involved. I have three cabinets in which to fit dishes, crafts, cookbooks, homeschooling books, Presidential flashcards, assorted workbooks, and a lengthy list of assorted ribbons, learning tools, and paper towel tubes I am sure are good for something brilliant.
My solution? Simplify. I moved the dishes. I let the kids each pick “their” bowl, plate, and cup, and set them in the drying rack. Every other dish I stacked and stowed below in the cabinet that was formerly a catch-all for everything crafty. Now, those are the only dishes we use. We eat. We wash. We stack. We repeat. This leaves the most accessible cabinets available for things I really need, like a Rapunzel coloring book or science kit. At first it was really odd opening the cabinets and seeing a bowl of beads and some popsicle sticks, but it is proving to be a fantastic idea. Cleanup is easier because we do it immediately after we eat. I always have an empty dishwasher for any big items since everything else is getting washed right away. The kids wash their own dishes (and the surrounding counters sometimes) and my craft supplies are less jumbled. Awesomeness.
The takeaway? Life (and kitchen cabinets) can only be lived one way: your way. I want crayons in my kitchen cabinet? Perfect. My sister-in-law has ribs on Thanksgiving? Fabulous. I use scissors to cut my pancakes? Ingenious. We aren’t here to figure out how to live our lives the way other people do. We are here to figure out how we will take this body, this mind, this house, and this life and create something absolutely uniquely completely us–and allow everyone else to do the same. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to use an IKEA bag clip to fix my daughter’s hair. Is that a problem?
QUESTION: What is your best mothering idea that is uniquely you?
CHALLENGE: Share one of your mothering ideas with another mom and see if you can’t help lighten her load!
This has been an awesome article to read! Clever! Very clever! I love it!
My own unique mothering idea…hmmm…
We rollerblade in a line, all of us, like a big long train, while giving shoulder massages to the person in front of us. We have 6 kids and we live in Japan so we really stick out when we do this, yet it’s wonderful! Our 5 year old usually is the caboose.
I like this…it is refreshing to read the confidence in something ‘out of the box.’ Many times mothers do some things to make do, but seem embarassed by it, but this was fun to be reminded why we need to do these things. I can only think of a few mothering ideas….1) We are potty training our 2 year old…and throw away the soiled underware. I just do. I don’t even try to wash it. 2) I find I can usually drop nearly anything I am doing if my kids want to read, even if it is just one story and 3) I make ‘food’ out of my kids with pillows, couch cushions, blankets…(ex. pancakes, sandwiches…anything with layers) they think it is hilarious and it lightens any tense mood we might be having.
Loved this article! Your voice is so much fun. This may seem silly, but one way I’ve organized myself is by making my own mom meals really simple. It’s cut out a ton of stress for me. I basically eat the same easy but healthy food all of the time, and have let go of any pressure to be creative or inventive. I know some people need variety, but when my schedule gets wild and crazy it’s nice to have the go-to foods that I know will keep me strong and I don’t have to think about them.
(Blended spinach/soy shakes, nuked/baked salmon portions, quality tuna from the can (on a plate), low-fat milk, and apples on the go.) Not the most sexy food, but it fuels me well and my mind can concentrate on other matters.