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Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Dish Cupboard allows for table-setting

Q has a low cupboard at our house for her dishes. It's "roughly organized," meaning that each item has a place to go, but we are also understanding that she is a one-year-old, so if she just places her bibs in the correct basket, we're happy! We'll work on folding next year. :)
On the top shelf is a long basket that fits the little plastic shot glasses she drinks water out of at meal times. We also have a little metal espresso pitcher that we used to fill her little glasses at mealtime. For now we only pour in small amounts at a time, so that if she spills it's no big deal. We are already beginning to give her more water at a time and the next step will be to teach her to pour it in herself.
We also have a little basket that holds her utensils. For now her forks and spoons are in one basket together. Older children could have two small baskets--one for forks and one for spoons. Her placemat fits next, and then there is a basket for her bibs.
On the bottom shelf is a big, long basket that holds bowls on the left and places on the right.
At mealtimes I give her instructions for one or two items to get at a time, and she is able to put all of the items she needs for mealtime on the table. She also brings her booster over to the table (we take it off between each setting because she's a little goat and can climb onto the table when it's in place) and after we settle her into her booster, we set the table together, placing each item in its correct spot on her placemat. She can also help put away her things when we unload the dishwasher or put away clean laundry (bibs).

I scrounged up different baskets we had around the house to use in her cupboard.

A next step will be to add a little basket of cloths to use for cleanup.

Lovely Design has a wonderful article on organizing a dish drawer and even a tutorial on making boxes to hold your dishes!
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