Sometimes it seems like my kids spend half the summer in their bathing suits.  Between weekends at the lake, trips to the pool, and afternoons jumping through sprinklers in the backyard, my kids enjoy more than their fair share of water fun. 

Of course, the downside to all this aquatic activity is the piles of soggy suits I find all over the house.  I can’t count the number of times I’ve found a sopping wet suit in the back corner of a closet or in a heap on the bathroom floor.  Not to mention the time I’ve wasted hunting for misplaced suits when we’re trying to get out the door.  I needed a simple solution that would protect my floors from the drips and teach my kids a little responsibility at the same time.

Thankfully, an easy solution was only a few dollars away.  First, I purchased some inexpensive but sturdy suction cup hooks from Wal-Mart ($2.50 for 2 hooks).  Next, I placed the hooks on the shower wall in the kid’s bathroom; one hook for each child.  I wanted the hooks to be accessible for all of the kids, so I positioned them fairly low on the shower wall. 

The results have been fabulous.  Now, when we come home from a day of summer splashing, the kids know right where to hang their suits.  Better yet, they also know just where to look when it’s time to suit up again.  Friday’s my day to wash the linens (see Mom Game Plan post), so on that day I simply add the swimming suits to my towel load and throw them in the wash.  When I’m restocking the linen closet later that day, I just toss the suits back onto their hooks. 

I know it’s not a particularly creative solution, but it works…and it costs less than $5.  It’s tough to beat that.  Just thought I’d pass it on.

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It’s that time of year again. Time to keep track of dozens of cold weather accessories. It seems like it takes forever to get to the car because you have to factor in all the mitten search time. Rather than continue to waste time hunting, I opted for this easy solution.

We don’t have a mud room I our house, so I’m limited on space to hold things like shoes backpacks and winter accessories. I converted the lower half of our coat closet into our ‘mini mudroom’. Along one side and across the back of the closet I added large hooks to the walls for backpacks and kid coats. On the other side, I added this 3-drawer plastic organizer for all their winter gear.

When the kids come in from school, they unload all their gear in the closet and dump their hats, scarves and gloves into the drawers. The drawers are clear so it’s easy for even my youngest daughter to figure out where her things belong.

We used this inexpensive system all last winter and it worked great. As an added bonus, when Spring finally did come around, I simply moved the drawers to the basement. A few weeks ago when the weather started turning again, I pulled it back out…all the hats, gloves, and scarves were inside and ready to go. It’s simple, inexpensive, and totally kid-friendly. Just thought I’d pass it on.

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It’s inevitable. You want your kids to be independent and get themselves dressed, but all too often they wander out of their room with some of their clothes on backwards. A simple magic marker trick helps my kids with this common problem.I teach my kids to look for the dot rather than just the tag. It’s easier for them to check the front, so I use a brightly colored permanent marker to make an eraser-size dot in the waistband of their underwear, pants, tights, shorts, and pajamas. When they’re getting themselves dressed, they just look for the dot and remember to put it close to their belly button. As a side note, I also use a thin-point magic marker to write sizes on the back waistband of any untagged items like tights.Like the shoe arrows I mentioned in a previous post, this is a very simple little trick that will save you time and your kids tons of uncomfortable mistakes. Just thought I’d pass it on.

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Thanks Erika, for you question about the details of the dresser system I listed on a previous post http://meckmom.blogspot.com/2006_02_01_meckmom_archive.html>. Here are few of the specifics.

I have 5 plastic drawers in each kid’s stack. I’ll list them from the top down.

· Shoes & Accessories
This one holds all those miscellaneous items like belts, slippers, hats & cover-ups. It also holds any shoes they don’t wear regularly. The shoes my kids wear on a daily basis (generally 1 or 2 pairs of casual and 1 pair of church) are kept in a big basket by the door.
· Underwear
This one is divided with foam core dividers (see previous post) into three sections. The first section holds undershirts and swimming suits. The middle section holds underwear. The last section holds socks and tights.
· Shirts
· Pants
· Pajamas

Dress shirts, jackets, and dresses hang on the rod above. My kids have fairly wide closets so I’m able to put two stacks facing each other in a closet with just enough room between for the drawers to open. However, when we had an apartment with smaller closets, I slid these under the beds and stacked one next to the crib.

As for the labels, I printed them on full-sheet sticker paper (I like Avery). I use laminating film (the cheap kind you buy in a roll) to cover and protect the label edges. I usually cut it about 1″ larger than the label on all sides.

These drawers offer one more bonus in my house. There’s about 8 inches of clearance between the back of the drawers and the side of the closet. I use that space as temporary storage for all the outdated clothes. Whenever I’m putting away laundry and come across something that doesn’t fit or is no longer in season, I just toss it back behind the stack.
Once a quarter or so I pull the drawers out and retrieve all the old clothes. I pack them by size into big tubs, label them, and stash them in the basement.

If you’re one of those people that can’t sleep at night because there’s a pile of unfolded clothes lurking behind your dressers, then this part of the system won’t work for you. But it works great for me :). Just thought I’d pass it on.

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 We all love the easy on/off shoes. However, no matter how much velcro and stretch they put into them, the hardest part is usually figuring out which is which.

I found this bright idea in Family Fun magazine. A mom contributor recommended putting arrows inside to help your kids figure it out for themselves.

I found a magic marker and did this to all my 3 year old’s shoes. I can’t believe the difference. She grabs her shoes out of the shoe basket, points the arrows together and then gets them on all by herself. This is a bright idea I’m sure I’ll hang on to.

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This is not a novel idea, just a new twist on an old one. I really wanted my kids to be able to get themselves dressed in the morning, but found the current systems were not designed to be kid-friendly, they were designed to look nice in perfect magazine closets. I created this system as a handy alternative.

I bought a rolling under-bed wrapping paper box from WalMart. I created the dividers by trimming a sheet of white foam core posterboard and then attached them with clear packing tape. I also covered the edges with clear packing tape to add durability. I printed the labels onto white cardstock and then attached them to both the bottom and side of each section with clear laminating film.

On laundry day, I sort the kids clothes into baskets. They pick the shirt, underwear and socks they want to wear each day and I help them find the pants to match. Whatever is left in the basket gets put away in their drawers and the bin rolls back under their bed.

This solution is great because it’s completely kid friendly. Nothing has to be neatly folded and it’s all within reach of even the smallest arms.  Just thought I’d pass it on.  You can find the free file download for the ‘days of the week’ labels below.

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I’m not a big fan of dressers. They take up a lot of room in our tiny bedrooms and they’re tough for my little kids to use. The drawers are always heavy and most of them are out reach for my little ones. I bought 5 of these plastic drawers for each of my kids and stacked them in their closets. They’re easy to open and see through so my kids know just where to find what they need.

My kids have a tendency to dump everything out when they’re digging for socks, undershirts, tights or other little items. I created these easy dividers for their underwear drawer to help them keep things organized. I bought a sheet of foam-core posterboard and trimmed it to the size of my drawer. I then used clear packing tape to affix them to the front and back of the drawer. I also covered the cut edges (on the top and bottom of the divider) with packing tape to keep them from getting worn.

I’ve used these drawers for years and think they were worth every penny. My kids are 3, 4 & 6. Thanks to these simple drawers, they’re all able put away their own laundry and pull out the clothes they need. Just thought I’d pass it on.  You can find the free file downloads for the various colors of drawer labels below.

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