To each her own

Above my kitchen sink are long open shelves made of wood that Dan robbed from the barn when we were remodeling the Woodlawn kitchen. Smack in the middle of those shelves, right above the sink sits four rows of drinking of glasses. We've got all kinds--a few leftover from my wedding registry, colored ball jars, IKEA "we need more glasses" cheap ones, and all the Preakness glasses Dan gets for the girls each year at Christmas. 

We've amassed quite a collection, so you'd think when a person goes to the sink at lunch to grab herself a glass of water, she'd have a whole plethora of glasses to choose from. 

Think again.

My kids have drinking glass issues.

Need some orange juice for breakfast? Grab a glass off the shelf. Come back fifteen minutes later for 3 tablespoons of water to wash down your vitamin? Heaven forbid you use the same defiled glass! Grab another! They're all right there! Easy access! Just prop open the sink cupboard. Stand tippy-toed on the bottom shelf and pull one more glass down from the shelf. There are so many to choose from! Need a morning snack and a glass of milk? Well those glasses from breakfast are disgusting by now. No civilized child would drink from such nonsense. The only polite thing to do would be to get another clean glass from the shelf. 

Maybe, if they rinsed out their glasses and put them in the dish rack right below the shelf, it wouldn't be such a big deal. Or maybe if they opened up the dishwasher right beside the sink and put them in the top rack, it wouldn't be such a big deal. Or maybe it would. Because at the end of every day I'm staring at a rack full or sink full of kind of but not really dirty glasses.

Then, this simple picture from SmallThings popped into my head and I thought, I HAVE FOUND MY SOLUTION.

A few moments on Amazon, a quick trip through the Target "hook" aisle (which is particularly extensive this time of year) and now we have the solution to the using-fifty-bajillion-glasses-in-a-day-problems. 

On the kitchen island, directly behind the sink I hung four "command strip" hooks (so I wouldn't damage the paint on my island in case I decided this wasn't where I wanted them.) On each hook now hangs a coleman camp mug* for each child, with their initial blazoned across the front in gold. If it has a "B" on it, Birdy assumes it's hers. (Note: This applies to all things. Not just mugs.) Big E for Emma. Little e for Elizabeth. M for Mary. The mugs are right at their level. And they fit practically perfectly under the lip of the butcher block counter. 

Need a drink? Grab YOUR cup. Rinse it out! Stick it back on your hook! Need a drink again? Grab YOUR cup. Rinse it out! Stick it back on your hook! Drink until you can drink no more. Just grab your cup!

People. This is working. I am getting to the end of the day and my dishwasher isn't just full of glasses. Even better they are doing it without my even having to ask which means I have reached success level.  

My work here is done.