"That's mine!"

I'm working on giving our bland (new and pretty but not very coordinated or colorful) kitchen a face lift.  I hope to have the entire project finished by the end of the week to share with you Saturday.  Unfortunately you won't be seeing any big fun projects from me this week because my time has been spent on the kitchen.   

I just solved a major problem in my house today!  My daughter and her BFF, the little girl I babysit in our home twice a week, always get into major fights over snacks.  Before today I would let them each pick a color in the morning and coordinate all their items for the day with their color (plates, bowls, cups, utensils, etc.).  IKEA has a great selection of bright colored plastic dishes so coordinating everything for the day was easy.  Recently the girls have been getting into major arguments because they want to change their color choice during the day.  This morning I decided I would try something different.  I printed file folder labels with pictures and names.  I figured it would be great for the girls to start seeing their names more frequently but until they could completely identify their own names, a picture would definitely seal the deal!  No more mixing up snacks and drinks!  There is no way these smart little girls can try and convince me they accidentally picked up the wrong cup!

Everything was labeled today and it worked perfectly!  

This is a great tool for babysitting days but I will likely start carrying around a sheet of my daughter's labels in my bag to help her recognize her drinks and snacks.  Juice boxes and plastic cups always get mixed up when there are more than a few kids at a play date!  Why did it take me so long to come up with such an easy solution??