Tackle it Tuesday – Teeny tiny
We're pretty busy around here so today's tackle is a tiny one that should bring big rewards, especially for me. The trouble with having so many bodies around is that any semblance of organization and tidying is pretty much destroyed with the passage of the next 24 hours. Here is a slightly longer term solution.
Choose the drawer in your kitchen with the highest traffic, the one that everyone needs to use frequently.
First weed the drawer of all non essentials. Try and put like with like.
Have a trial run to see what you can fit in one drawer easily and discard the rest for another time. Take a large sheet of coloured paper and draw around each item with a black marker pen. Alternatively photograph each item but this can be problematical due to scale. [and expensive!] Laminate the paper cut-outs so that it will last longer and be easier to clean.
Line the drawer with 'grip liner' to reduce clanking.
Clean all items and replace in the correct position in the drawer.
Finally label the drawer with something relevant.
Some families may benefit from a few additional steps.
Sometimes numbering the empty spaces also helps, as can the name of the item written on the relevant cut out. Many children can read either words or numbers. For example, they may not know what a tin opener is, but if it is matched to a number and shaped cut-out, it is far easier to identify.
On completion photograph the contents of the drawer and enlarge to A4 size if possible. Laminate and mount on card and place on the wall of the counter behind the corresponding drawer. If this offends your 'perfect kitchen' image, you can always stick it on the inside of the door below, which can also be useful for smaller children who are better matched in height to this visual aid.
Alternatively, place the 'cheat sheet' in the drawer itself over the contents where it can be removed and held as a ready reference guide. Often physically holding the card, something tangible, in one hand aids eye tracking and referencing back.
This is also handy if you have additional spare bodies floating around your house such as therapists, baby sitters and miscellaneous experts.
There are any number of adaptations to suit the individual needs of your little helpers. For instance, part of the reason for covering the paper icons with sticky back plastic is not only to keep it clean but also because the texture of paper is abhorrent to some people.
Other children may find the reflective nature of the laminate equally as offensive. Some children respond positively to certain colour preferences e.g. pink becomes a magical co-operative hue but black means that no-one will dare go within shooting distance.
There are many fringe benefits to this approach other than tidiness and cleanliness.
Additionally, children learn competency, which boosts their self esteem. They learn that they are contributing to the household in a useful and helpful manner which also adds to their feelings of belonging to a unit.
Many of these kitchen items are words that they have no interest in learning. Even though they are still unlikely to 'want' to learn them, quite often they learn them incidentally by doing, if not accidentally, or what is often termed 'kinesthetic' learning.
They can tell that they have completed a task without help [or not very much help] perfectly and gain the satisfaction of a job well done, and task completion can often be a huge hurdle.
What I like about this task is that it is cheap, easy and relatively quick but with many long term benefits for everyone.
So now that we're finished! Could you open the fridge, pass me a beer and number 17 please!
Cheers dears
Cut and paste
from this little
boxy thing below
September 23rd, 2008 at 2:18 am
Wow, you ARE organised! I couldn’t possibly do this, as I only have one drawer in my kitchen, which EVERYTHING has to be crammed into. But maybe I should do it for my desk drawers, that’s a different story!
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:10 am
I need a beer after reading that! You are a very organized woman!
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:09 am
At Boeing, we call this 5-S’ing. (Pathetically, the only S I can remember at the moment is Sort… oh, there is also Simplify). All the mechanics’ areas have these on their pegboards, tool boxes, etc. (usually not pink though
In the office areas, we have drawers and cabinets labeled.
So now you’re all ready for corporate America…
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:40 am
Impressive Tackle! Great idea – now…I just have to squeeze in some time between diaper changes to do it
September 23rd, 2008 at 7:09 am
Love it! We could use some organization in my house. Thanks for the great tip!
September 23rd, 2008 at 8:36 am
This is such a good idea. I taught my children organization in a similar way. Great tackle. This week I tackled laundry. I do hope that you will stop by to check it out. Have a blessed day. you get it all done.
September 23rd, 2008 at 9:22 am
Great tackle!! I love the shelf liner in a drawer tip! I use it and find that I am reorganizing less!
September 23rd, 2008 at 10:03 am
What a great idea! Have a great Tuesday.
September 23rd, 2008 at 10:04 am
That’s amazing organization there! Do you offer your services to those of us who can’t find a darn thing in our homes???
September 23rd, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Oh my: we operate on the “stay out of my kitchen and everyone will live” rule. I must admit, the children and I have no problems finding any item in the house – and we just moved [again]. My husband’s brain does not work properly, as he can neither follow NT logic for where to find the garlic press nor, apparently, Autie logic (”DAD, it in the utensil drawer! That the EVERYTHING drawer – it have scissors and tape. You not follow instructions, Dad.”)
But this demonstrates truly amazing organization. I can’t aspire to that!
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Wow! That is very organized!
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:07 pm
And yeah I do have to agree this comes in very handy with a family with a child like ours. Great job!
September 24th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Love the #17 at the end! I seriously need to look at helping (pushing) my son to be more independent. It is so easy to keep seeing him as such a little guy when he is growing up.
September 24th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
[...] There’s many a parent raked by guilt with sleepless nights full of ‘what ifs’ and ‘if onlys.’ Here are a few of those thoughts. 1. I should have rigged up the microwave with crime scene tape. 2. I should never have knitted that baby blanket. I’m sure I poked something crucial. 3. Hair dye and vanity, that’s all I’m going to say on the subject. 4. I knew that cell phone was a mistake. Surely I fried every functioning brain cell too. 5. Orders to ‘rest’ should be accompanied with a free pass to a baby sitter. 6. They did warn me about Caesar Salad but I couldn’t resist the craving for anchovies. 7. I should never have drunk the water and breathed the air in Silicon Valley. 8. I blame the blue cheese myself although I swear it was only a crumb or two. 9. I should have made him swear that the fruit punch only contained fruit and no hidden punches. Can you trust anyone these days? 10. I blame the YMCA. It was a mistake to take that Aerobics instructor course. 11. I should have had those metal filling ripped out pre-pregnancy but hindsight is always 20-20. I wonder why it wasn’t covered by my medical insurance? 12. Alternatively I could blame the hospital. How stupid to give a warning about carrying heavy objects! What newly born object doesn’t want to be carried! 13. Yes, regrets, I have more than a few. If I had my time over, I would do things differently. For my baby shower gift I’d have fessed up and asked for a “laminater.” [...]