Kids in the Kitchen
The first thing
I need to say is that I don’t have any children and I have never had children.
However I work with people in my business that have children and I have done a
lot of babysitting. When I walk into a
home for the first time that has children, parents say that the house is like
this because they have kids. I remember when I was in high school babysitting
four children one evening. The house was a wreck and I knew Mom was at the end
of her rope and if she did not get out of the house something bad was going to
happen. I am not OCD or a neat freak by
any means but this was ridiculous. The first thing I did was put the kids to
work. I said we need to do something nice for your Mom so why not clean up the
house? That went over big. So we made a
game out of it. We had a race to see who could clean up faster, we had a Star
Trek trivia contest while we worked and what
do you know, the kitchen and living room where cleaned up. The kids were
in bed and I was watching Johnny Carson when Mom and Dad can home. I was a
hero, but the kids did the work.
The children where between 4 and 8
and able to take on more responsibility. When children are very small parents
have a tendency to child proof the home within an inch of its life but once
they get older there may be a shift in thinking. Now is the time to move the
plates and bowls (yes, the breakable kind!) to the bottom cabinets and the pots
and pans to the upper ones. Presto! Thanks to this switcheroo, kids were able
to unload the dishwasher and put items away.
Children
learn what they see not what they are told.
The best way to have a productive, no stress home is to give children a
set of rules, routines and boundaries in the kitchen as well as the rest of the
home. By learning this they can connect
with food, the home, and cleaning if they know what is expected of them and
when.
We
all know that kitchens can become cluttered and look messy very
fast. It’s a high traffic space that requires solid organization
in order to stay clean. Get the kids involved in the decluttering so they can
learn what is important. Get rid of unnecessary stuff which includes appliances
and dishes. Sort out the things that will go to a yard sale or storage and the
things that will be used every day.
Choose
drawers and cabinets so kids can access what they need without bothering you
while you are fixing dinner and you can still watch what they are doing. Organize the existing drawers carefully with
the children in mind. Choose cabinets
that will suit your kitchen style but will also suit you and your children’s
needs
What started as a bid to get more
help may give kids greater freedom. Sure, they stowed dishes — but they also
retrieved them to set the table or make a snack. They enjoyed getting more
involved, and Mom feels less like an underappreciated short-order cook.
Many hands lighten the load--and to
enlist the maximum number of hands, you'll want to make your kitchen accessible
to even the smallest members of the family. Here
are a view tips for kids to help around the house:
1.
Label leftovers using nontoxic
dry-erase markers to call attention to lunch and snack possibilities in the
fridge
2.
Teach kids to clean up their own
spills with color-coded cloths, hung in an accessible spot.
3.
Store takeout menus and the latest
pizza coupons in a three-ring binder fitted with plastic sleeves.
4.
Buy
plastic bins in a variety of colors and assign one to each family member.
Anything cluttering up valuable space (counter, table, or floor) gets whisked
into the appropriate bin for disposal or redirection by its owner at some later
date. I like this one a lot!
5.
Limit the number of magnets to only
what is necessary like the school lunch menu. Too many magnets make the whole
kitchen look messy. Rotate in and out your kids’ outstanding art work so the
important stuff can be seen.
6. Check out a place for a family calendar or bulletin board.
Another unexpected benefit of our newly kid-friendly kitchen
is that kids can practice hospitality. After playing out in the yard, their
entourage of pals can make themselves at home in the kitchen by helping
themselves to drinks served from the cups alongside the plates and bowls and you will be delighted to
hear your kids turning on the tap and asking their friends, "Do you want
ice with that?"
Stay tuned for more tips and information on organizing,
closets, laundry rooms, kid’s rooms and doing chores along with answers to your
questions.
