Organizing Your Kitchen

Today I reached a milestone in being a parent. Today was a piviotal day in the kitchen of my home. Today........ I got rid of the barbie plates, twirly straws, princess cups and character mugs. Ahhhh... BLISS! When I closed my daycare center last year, I got rid of all the sippy cups and bottles, but today was the last of the bunch. Well not all, we still need some for sleepovers and movie nights, the coke cups from Vegas just had to stay!

Now, I had more cupboard space! Woo hoo! I knew that I was going to relocate my plastic lunch containers into the new space. I wanted them to be there because it was where I make my children's lunch in the morning, where I clean up after dinner and pack leftovers for later. It was the most convenient space in my kitchen for them. Thats the key to organizing. Keep it accessible, easy and logical.

I like to keep the containers seperated from the lids, it's easier to find matching items and it's easier to keep tidy. Today I used 4 baskets from the dollar store to seperate them. Two baskets were for the containers, and two for their lids. They slide on and off the upper shelves easily and I can see what's inside and chosse the container that I need. No lids falling down, no tubling container avalanches. Instead, tidy, easy to take out and put away...in other words...organized!

I have been meaning to do this for several weeks now, and just never quite got around to it. Everytime I had been using the kid's dishes I kept saying "I really need to get rid of these things" and kept putitng it off to "do later". But by spending 10 minutes today, I took one more thing off the never ending "to do" list in the back of my mind. I even scrubbed the shelves inside. It felt great, and I know tomorrow morning when I make the girls their breakfast and pack their lunches, I'll love seeing my tidy and organized cupboard.

Think about what you could do in 10 minutes. That's all it takes. How about emptying out your cutlery drawer. Clean the tray, wipe out the drawer and put back only the amount you really would use regularly. If you have lots of extras, put them in a ziplock baggie and store them somewhere else for when you have guests etc. Or how about cleaning out the microwave? Put a bowl of lemon juice and water, microwave on high for 1 minute. Remove the bowl carefully and wipe out the inside of your microwave. It will degrease any splatters and smell lemony fresh. Look around your kitchen and make a list of all the little projects you could do in 10 minutes or less. Put the list inside your cupboard door and when you have a few minutes...when you're waiting for the kettle to boil, on hold on the telephone, etc., tackle one of your "to do's". You'll get a lot of satisfaction crossing it off the list when it's done.

Try setting your timer for 10 minutes, and see how much you can accomplish. You'd be surprised what you can do in so little time. If you do this several times a week, your mind and to do list will be a lot lighter!