Mommy Tips

Day to day living in my house is filled with funny preschooler lines ("Mommy, is kindergarten really a garden?), cleaning up messes ("Isaac, let me wipe the oranges out of your hair") and generally a whole lot of chaos. But in my world, if there's going to be chaos, I at least want it to be organized. So here are a few tips I've figured out along the way.

1. The coat/shoe solution.

I was tired of always picking up a trail of shoes and coats every time we came home, so I came up with this first idea. I decided to attatch hooks to the lower half of the door so the kids could easily hang up their own jackets. These are the same hooks advertised around holidays for temporary decorations.There is no damage left if you ever decide to remove the hooks.

It worked like a charm, but I was still left with a pile of shoes on the floor in the closet, and good luck finding your shoe's mate when it came time to go out the door. So I picked up a shoe rack at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for under $10. Here is the after picture. ( I could have dumped the shoes on the floor to show you a before, but sorry- I'm just not that dedicated today.)

The within-child's-reach philosophy has not stopped there. I leave a package of wipes in a basket in the living room so they can wipe their own hands and mouths after eating, and each of the girls have a basket of panties by their beds so they can reach them first thing in the morning. As each of them gets older, I plan to expand this philosophy. It makes them more independent and their mother less stressed.

2. Washing bibs

Any experienced mommy of an infant has figured out that washing bibs with velcro leads to other clothes in the wash being pricked and pulled. I usually would end up washing bibs by themselves or with a load of towels, but then I felt like I was always running out of bibs due to the limited number of wash cycles. So I came up with this next idea. I zip the bibs inside a lingerie bag before washing. (And if you have kids, you have owned lingerie, so there should be such a bag somewhere in your house. Otherwise, you can pick one up for a few dollars at your nearest Target.) This way the bibs can be washed with any load and not damage any clothes in the process.

3. Crumbs under the table. Several times a day. 

You would think I gave birth to calves the way my children graze all day long. So the best $40 I have ever spent thus far is on the Swiffer Sweep Vac. Sorry for the infomercial- I'm not even getting compensated for this promo- but this little piece of equipment has saved me countless hours of cleaning. It's like a dust buster with a long handle. It's much faster than a broom, lightweight, and child-labor worthy. They are excited to do it for me, and so it's a win/win situation.

Hope these tips can help you. I'll have more coming your way soon. So what is your best mommy/life tip that has helped you out?