If you haven’t yet entered the Pine IV Denim Giveaway, do it now because it expires at Midnight tonight! Hurry, you know you want those jeans…
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From the monthly archives:
September 2008
One of the greatest things that my house has is a convenient, large pantry. Shortly after marrying Mike and moving into this home, I spent a day organizing the kitchen cupboards and pantry. I designated spaces for everything—plates, bowls, glasses, mugs, large appliances, small appliances… you get the idea. But soon after, with the abundance of wedding gifts we received, the pantry turned into a catch-all place for items without a real home. It turned into an absolute, unorganized mess. I couldn’t see what food we had or what food we needed. And I certainly couldn’t find the dishes that I’d stashed away in there, either.
In addition to this problem, Mike and I had another problem. We were eating out way too often. We were both working full time and I was commuting 2.5 hours every day, in addition to my 9-hour workday. So we fell into a habit of eating out for convenience’s sake and continued that habit even after I started working from home.
With a baby on the way, I figured that now is the right time to get back into the habit of making good, home-cooked meals, like I did in college. But the first step in that direction had to be tackling the pantry.
So this Saturday, I did it. I really wish I’d taken before pictures. After several hours of sorting, organizing, and purging, I ended up with a pantry that was more than half empty! What was most surprising to me was that my “purge” pile wasn’t that big, after all that work. The space in my pantry was taken up mostly by disorganized and homeless items, not by extra garbage items.
The next step after organizing the pantry was stocking it with the right things. Now that I could see what I had, I could also plainly see what I was missing. So I googled “well stocked pantry” and found this site that listed items to have in a well stocked kitchen. I wrote down the ones that I felt applied to Mike and me, and we set out on our shopping adventure.
A fair amount of time and money later, Mike and I had a well stocked pantry. I had to keep telling him (and reminding myself) that now I wouldn’t have to make a separate grocery trip every single time I wanted to make something. I had all the basic ingredients and would just need to shop for fresh food every week, and some supplies to maintain my stock.
I highly recommend checking out the site I used and seeing what your pantry and kitchen might need. Yesterday, I started flipping through some magazines and I was delighted to read the recipes and realize that I could do about half of them without having to make a trip to the grocery store.
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I like to work…in fact, I may even love to work…and always have. I gain an incredible sense of satisfaction from hard work, (which actually falls right in line with the self-reward system I’ve created!) and I attribute this to all those family work days growing up.
Every Saturday we did “chores”, accompanied by whatever music (Beatles mostly) my parents blasted throughout the house. Somehow it made everything more fun–even cleaning that messy, messy room I waded through every day as a teenager. While I’m sure I dreaded it at the time and probably gave my parents some flack, I am wholly grateful now as I try to instill the same sense of satisfaction in my own kids. “Try” being the key word here 
So on Saturday, as the kids and I cleaned the playroom and rocked out to Santana & the Beach Boys, I was very happy reflecting on this childhood tradition. Watching Farmer Brown (with some help from E.) dance on top of the toy bin to “Soul Sacrifice”, while little brother ran around the room with glee, was absolutely priceless. I think the only way to help children learn to work and gain responsibility is to make it an enjoyable process along the way. The classic line from Snow White, “whistle while you work” comes to mind…
It’s taken me awhile to figure out simple jobs that are appropriate for young children. Basically it’s been a lot of trial and error, but I think I have a few nailed down. I found these small tasks are far less daunting for my little kids to undertake than say ‘cleaning their rooms’. Oh the whining that ensues!
{photos via declutterit and martha stewart respectively}
1. tidy up the playroom
Just about every kid knows the “clean up” song…wasn’t it Barney that made it famous? And cleaning one’s toys is at least a weekly occurrence for any child. I once read an ingenious suggestion about making playroom “clean up” time super easy for kids: Using a polaroid or digital camera, take pictures of a sampling of the toys that belong in each bin. Then place the pictures on the appropriate bins indicating what is inside. Not only will your littlest ones understand what goes where, but visiting friends will also know exactly how to help out too. For example, if you have a “doll bin”, take a picture of the doll and one outfit. If you have a “train” bin, take a picture of a few trains and tracks. Keep the pictures simple and uncluttered so the younger children are able to comprehend the idea. The photo I included above shows the same system, but with clothing instead.
2. dust baseboards
Wow, those fluffy, white, feather dusters are loads of fun to play with…I mean dust with…on a rainy day! If you have wood blinds or shutters, allow the taller kids to dust these as well. It’s so easy and truly, they think it’s fun. No joke
3. sort laundry
I bought a large, easy-to-carry, laundry bag at IKEA for $5 and I store this next to my kids’ dirty laundry bin. When the small basket is full, the kids can load up the laundry bag and easily tote (or drag) it to the laundry room, where they sort the clothes. They put the “colors” in one bin and the “whites” in another. They get such a kick out of themselves when they successfully discern what goes where.
4. empty the dishwasher
The kids put away the dishes within reach and then I put away breakables and such that are stored in higher places. Often the silverware drawer is a mess (because little people can’t exactly see where silverware is being placed!), but I don’t mind because I think it’s fantastic that they are trying. Building them up along the way and telling them they are doing a great job (versus “fixing” their work) increases their self-confidence and makes them more likely to enjoy contributing in their own way.
In my experience there are many a clever blogger out there so please feel free to share any ideas you may have in the comment section…
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