I know, this is a massive category. But this minor improvement is specifically the hallway coats/shoes/jackets/hats/gloves. We use a Kallax with drawers for the big kids shoes and winter stuff, but now that the babies wear shoes I needed a place for baby shoes (and hats). I also didn't have a good place for my own hat and gloves and felt like I had stuff everywhere.
Solution: Shoe rack
I let the kids each keep only 2 hats and 2 pairs of cheap gloves, plus their winter gloves, and 1 scarf. Lilah had 4 hats and Isaac had 3 scarves. The extra scarves are packed away in the past&future clothing boxes and the kids can switch out someday, if they want.
I also sorted the kids socks and got rid of every pair that didn't fit or was broken/stretched out. The only problem with the kid sock system is that the kids and I are the only ones who know whose socks are whose. 
My coats/jackets/waterproofs are on the rail. Isaac's jackets and baby jackets are on the top hook, and lilah's coat & jacket are on the bottom hook. The kids socks are in the top drawers of the kallax. The baby shoes and socks are in the right drawer.
Baby slippers and wellies are in the left drawer. Kids shoes are in the basket. I know this will have to change again once the babies shoes don't fit in one half sized drawer... but we are not there yet.
I spend a lot less time looking for stuff now.
Result: A+
Problem: Mealtimes
We started having pretty bad meal times a few months ago. Lots of complaining about food, lots of refusing food, lots of stress and grumps. I'm not sure what started the downhill slide, but we found ourselves downhill. There were arguments over whether making jacket potatoes was too ambitious of a dinner. Andy and I would stare at the calendar during meal planning with almost active dread at the idea of cooking anything. It wasn't working.
Solution: Repeating Menu
I decided it was important to me that kids enjoy food and meal times without fights. This was more important than me eating food I particularly like. For the month of January we are eating the following:
I decided it was important to me that kids enjoy food and meal times without fights. This was more important than me eating food I particularly like. For the month of January we are eating the following:
Monday: Soup, bread, and cheese (Tomato soup for the kids)
Tuesday: Jacket Potatoes (with beans and cheese for the kids, potentially chili or tuna for adults)
Wednesday: Pasta (with cheese for the kids, and another sauce or veg if I can for us)
Thursday: Tray bake (potatoes and sausage or chicken and potato or another tray bake)
Friday is usually Macaroni and Cheese or Pizza - except this week when we are having chocolate chip waffles (at the kids request).
Sunday we will try to make something that gives us some leftovers for the week.
Also, I am trying to eat veg with every meal. Others don't have to eat veg. I buy prepackaged green beans and broccoli and steam them. It's working ok.
Result: A- (Because I will get bored)
Problem: British Bathrooms don't have plugs
Okay, this one doesn't have a solution. WTF British bathrooms??! They say it's a electrical risk to have plugs in a bathroom but I do not understand where I am supposed to dry my hair.
Solution: Buy a better hair drier and dry my hair in my room
I've set up a hair drying "station" in my bedroom but I don't want to dry my hair in my bedroom. The lighting is not good, and it's next to the baby room so I can't really do it at night. I also feel like the bathroom is where a hair dryer goes.
Also, my hair drier was from a free pile at work 6 years ago, and I'm wondering whether it's time for me to buy a real hair drier. Is a fancy hair drier worth it? Will my hair look like the photos if I get a Shark speedstyle?
Result: B- (because this isn't really a solution, it's just a different idea)
Problem: I don't take vitamins and I should.
Solution: I should take vitamins
Result: F. This is not a solution. I need to figure out a way to remember to take vitamins.
Do you have any recent problems and solution wins? Do you remember to take vitamins?
Bravo for the A+ mittens/socks/coats storage solution. That's no easy feat to stay on top of in a six person house.
ReplyDeleteAlso bravo for the KISS (keep it simple stupid) meal planning approach. It's just the truth that little kids are not great dinner companions, and there's no reason for the adults to stress. Yes the downside is that the adults will get bored (speaking from personal experience), but you can always skip jacket potato night if you get a last minute inspiration to do something different.
I think that you should treat yourself to a new hairdryer, mostly as a reward for the A+ coat storage in your house. No your hair won't look like the "after" picture but if you're having "ugh my hair dryer is so old" thoughts, it's time to get a new one. For a variety of reasons, we store our only hair dryer in the kids' bathroom, and there have been times when I've had to dry my hair somewhere else besides their bathroom and it always feels weird. How do folks in the UK handle other bathroom electrical needs? I'm trying to figure out where I would charge my toothbrush and Hubs would charge his razor if not in the bathroom.
My solution for making sure I take my vitamins was to get a granny day of the week pill container so that I have a visual on whether I've taken them or not. I was inspired to do this by my birth control pills. I'm not saying that I take my vitamins seven days a week 100% of the time, since the stakes are lower than birth control, but I feel like my average is 6 out of 7 days, so it works pretty well.
LOL at the KISS approach! That's definitley what I'm doing!
DeleteI am so glad to hear that you are also a situational hair drier person! I just feel like my bedroom is not the place I want to be styling my hair. There are weird british plugs which support razors and toothbrushes, but they actually have totally different plugs than normal plugs. It's so crazy to me. Perhaps it's the patriarchy letting men shave in the bathroom but women dry their hair... elsewhere? Even my water pik has to be charged not in the bathroom. Weeeeird.
A pill container might be a good idea, I think I would need a cute one so I don't feel like a geriatric. Or like my dad, who reads this blog and puts vitamins in a pill container as well.
No comment.
DeleteBritish bathrooms don't have outlets?!?! That is a problem! I think that inconvenience alone merits a fancy new hairdryer.
ReplyDeleteLook how neat and tidy your cloakroom is!!!!!! A+ indeed!
Thank you for your hair drier support!!
DeleteMy daughter had a Shark SpeedStyle, and yes, her hair looked like the after. It was great. It died though, and I'm not sure if she burned out the motor by not cleaning the filter often enough or if it was faulty. She recently replaced it with one called Blow Dry Bar, and she likes it even more than the SpeedStyle. I'm shocked that there are no outlets in the bathrooms. Like...shocked!
ReplyDeleteI recently downloaded a habit tracker pdf, which I printed up, and I put things that I want to remember on it. One was vitamins. Wish me luck. I've tried the pill caddy, and I'm sorry to say that for me, it blended into the background and I got good at ignoring it. The problem is that I need to take them with food, I can't take them with just a cup of tea or whatever, or else I get a stomach ache.
Kudos on the awesome coat/hat/scarf/shoe storage!
I think pill caddys will make me feel old haha. Maybe I'll try and get the hair drier with a two year warranty, I would definitely be annoyed if something that expensive broke when my free one has gone on for 6 years!
DeleteI hope your habit tracker works well for you!
Just a week ago we decided we're going to do a 3 (or 4) week rotating meal plan. With gling from 35 hrs/week to full time, I somehow need to find 5 more hours for work every week, and this was one of my ideas. I'm cautiously optimistic. - Kat
ReplyDeleteI am optimistic for you! Have you ever tried a meal delivery service, or having someone come and prepare your meals?
DeleteBoth of those ideas are on my shortlist for what else we could do if we're still struggling in a month or so when work should have settled down a bit. That and hiring a household assistant to help with chores like dishes and laundry and meal prep. Like a nanny but without any childcare lol. But we'll see. Hopefully it won't be necessary.
DeleteI have contemplated the rotating dinner menu many times… my kids are similar ages and I want variety but I do feel like they would do better if we had spaghetti, beans, etc each week so they get used to it.
ReplyDeleteAnd I say no, fancy hairdryers aren’t any better… hair is hair and I’ve never found spending more money to help. I have a Dyson hair dryer my husband got through work and it’s fine, no better than my drugstore one.
Good luck with the food planning. I have always contemplated a 2 or 3 week rotation but I am shocked that a 1 week rotation seemed to go so well, but we've only had 1 week of it so far.
DeleteThanks for the hair dryer intel! I will continue to ponder...
Do you have any recent problems and solution wins? Do you remember to take vitamins?
ReplyDeleteI always remember my vitamins, it's now a habit. I take: B complex, a multi, vitamin D, fish oil, and sometime probiotic pill. B complex helps me with mood since I am in peri-menopause, as well as probiotic helps with gut health. Guts are connected to mood so that helps, too, for my mood swings.I even have vitamins at work.