One special part of the visit was when my sister, Kristin, came down to Mexico to see how we live. We had a lot of time to discuss and ponder many things as only sisters can, and on the long drive back we came up with an interesting idea.
What if we analyzed and troubleshooted (sp?) our day-to-day lives and fixed problems we see that come up day in and day out, over and over again? So we started making a list, each of us with our own problems, and we noticed something that shouldn't have been surprising. We shared many of the same problems! ...Things like concerns about the kids being exposed to too much media, constant messes in the kitchen, and shoes disappearing right before the family has to rush out the door. After thoughtful consideration, this is what we came up with for.....KIDS LOSING THEIR SHOES
I can't think of too many things more stressful than having to rush out the door only to have a child say,
"Mom! I can't find my shoes!" This seems to happen with school shoes, church shoes, water shoes, flip flops, cleats, boots, ballet shoes, work shoes and every type of shoe in between. And with five kids at home who wear shoes regularly, this seems to happen almost every time we leave. After trouble shooting this problem, Kristin and I decided that we could place something like this....
...by the front door or entrance where the kids come in. On top of this we could place one of these...
...and fill it with some of these...
The only time the kids would get to play with the SPECIAL toys in this SPECIAL basket is when they place their shoes on the SPECIAL rack. You could encourage them to do this right after they enter into the house, or right before bed or bath, whatever works best for your family.
What do you all think of this idea? If anyone tries this, please let me know how it works. I am going to try this right when we return home from vacation, and hopefully we will have family members who are THIS happy...!
We have a similar shoe shelf by our door. I don't know if it is more of a problem with or without the shelf. We have a rule of only having one pair of shoes on the shelf. Do we EVER only have one pair each on the shelf? NO. It is always overflowing with shoes and somehow we still always are missing shoes. Usually one shoe from the pair will be missing. And our little man who is very into shoes right now wears them all over the house. So now the shoes that are supposed to be on the shelf are everywhere. And we find interesting things in them. Like his leftover grapes and toy cars, etc. I am currently scheming to re-vamp my shoe shelf idea. If it works for you, please share your tips and tricks. :)
ReplyDeleteLoved this idea. I will let my daughters know about this idea!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Love it! My mom had a plaque on the door that said...PLEASE REMOVE SHOES. It is a Canadian thing. ANyhoo...love the toy idea.
ReplyDeleteI...for one...am glad your family reunion is over so you can come HOME!
Very good idea! Right now we have a basket by the door that is just overflowing constantly- I tell my big footed husband only ONE pair of shoes in the basket, yet I usually end up periodically moving FOUR pairs back to the closet. :) Figures two awesome women like you and Kristin would come up with a cool idea when together! :)
ReplyDeleteIn my fantasy my home is too organized to need a shelf of shoes. In my other fantasy I have a big mudroom that hides all the necessary dirtyness of life and that would be a fabulous. Unfortunatly current reality is we just go barefoot. Except to church. Since they can't find shoes they have to all wait in the car while I run into the store. And darn, we can't go to the dollar store because it's against the dollar store law to go in without shoes on. I think it saves me money....
ReplyDeleteGreat idea Jen! My problem is that I have trained everyone to take off shoes when coming in the house, but have not place to put them...therefore I always have a pile of shoes by the door you have to step over to get in....I thought your ideas were great! but then again...I always do:)
ReplyDelete