Raising Youngins

March 2025

Yes, that’s what my doormat says when you walk in my front door. It may or may not be used as a warning for what you may see, hear and experience inside our family doors. There are handprints all over the sliding glass door, and the walls and.. probably over everything. There are crumbs always under the table because dogs aren’t our thing and sweeping can only be done so many times per day. There are most likely goldfish crumbs on (and throughout) the couch cushions and yes, there are toys everywhere. Hot wheels cars like to pop out at night, especially on the stairs. Stuffies like to lay in weird areas and positions so that their nightly shadows appear like there’s a rodent on your rug. There are multiple matching game cards all through the house. You not only have to match the cards, but first you may have to find them somewhere in the house. I digress… this is not a post complaining about having kids or kid things taking over my household… I prayed for the kids. The rest just comes with them.

Here are a few tips on making your home kid friendly for you and your kids. First, have a kid drawer – within your kitchen cabinets and fridge. We have a big bottom drawer with all the kids plates, cups, bibs, wipes and bowls. They get items out of it, and they put things away from the dishwasher. In the fridge, the bottom drawer is designated for kid snacks. Applesauce, Capri-sun, yogurts, if it’s kid centric then it’s in there so they can grab it when they are allowed a snack.

I have mentioned this in a previous post, but it’s worth mentioning again. When grabbing pajamas at night, lay the entire outfit out for the next day. Underwear, socks, shoes, jacket – everything. Success doesn’t happen without preparation. I try to prepare as much as I can the night before to make the morning a little less hectic. The kids now eat breakfast, clean up their table space and then fully dress on their own. I rarely receive backlash about what items I laid out and if this happens they replace the item with what they had in mind.

Quarters. They are given and taken away often. The kids have piggy banks and earn quarters for putting away silverware and kid items from the dishwasher, cleaning up a room or particular mess, helping clean various things and the list goes on. It’s a small and helpful way for them to earn money for things at the dollar store and, when needed, a consequence too.

I’m definitely not into hurting the environment, but this girl loves plastic storage containers. I guess it’s not harmful if you never get rid of them, right? I have tons of plastic storage containers all over the house. Labeled with Christmas items, a beach box, a purse and tote box (shh!), party bags, holiday items and TONS of kid clothes. The girls’ room has a closet full of containers with organized sizes for the next person to wear. My two youngest even have their clothes in drawer containers with fun clothing pictures of what’s in each drawer. Remember to always have a box ready to throw “too small” clothes into. Then when you’re organizing all the clothes for a size up dresser change, you can integrate the smaller clothes back into the correct boxes.

Pro tip (for now): let the rooms go. My daughter is not an organized person and it doesn’t bug her that her room looks like a cat 5 tornado went off in there 5 times over. My son is a squeaky-clean wild man who puts everything in a straight line and quickly vacuums up every mess. (Yes, I purchased him a REAL mini vacuum and it’s amazing.)

Needless to say, this version of your house is only temporary. You’ve heard it before, and it may be frustrating now, but those sticky handprints and little divided plates and the milk bottles won’t be around forever. I prayed to have those kids in my house, tearing through it with race cars, building legos and cutting the small pieces of construction paper for a “3D project”. They call it home and know it’s a safe place where mom and dad love each other, the dinner table is in constant use and the couch is built for snuggles and zero personal space. Welcome to our home. We have kids and we like it like this.