Mommy Must Haves Archives - I Can Teach My Child!

Our New School/Craft Supply Organization

Organization is apparently not my thing. Try as I might, I just can’t seem to stay organized! This presents an assortment of complications, one of them being I can never find what I’m looking for. This is especially true for school and art supplies. Things seem to get buried in the bottomless pit of “organizational methods” that I’ve tried (and failed at) before. And after Stacie’s guest post last week, I was motivated to get things organized around here…well at least the school supplies anyway.

This is my new favorite organizational tool: an over-the-door shoe organizer! A comment from Kate on Stacie’s guest post last week tipped me off to this idea and it is pure genius! I got my shoe organizer at Lowe’s for $12, but you can also buy them here.

There are two main things I love about this: (1) it is clear so you can see exactly what you’re looking for and (2) it doesn’t take up any space…it just hangs on the back of a door! We have it hanging on our pantry door because we usually do our art projects in the kitchen. Our art supplies are literally 2 steps away and arranged in a way where we can see what we have! I feel like doing a happy dance.

If you’re interested in seeing what supplies we have in our “organizer”, click on the two pictures below to enlarge.

Here are the top 3 rows:

And the bottom 3:

I was so excited about out how organized I was feeling…I tackled my two junk drawers as well! Aren’t you proud, Beth?

On to the rest of my house…or perhaps I’ll just read a book instead. ;)

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Mommy Must Haves: Baby Edition

March 15, 2011 by Jenae — 8 Comments

Now that we’ve made it through the first six months of parenthood, the “stuff” changes yet again as your child becomes mobile.

Several of these items are safety items. Once your baby can crawl (or even roll) across the floor, it’s time to invest in a few of these things!

Here are my “Mommy Must Haves” for 6-18 months.

Evenflo Top of Stair Plus Gate

We’ve had a few different types of baby gates between the 2 houses we’ve lived in since Big Brother was born. This is by far my favorite gate for a few reasons (1) it can be mounted with screws, assuring it is completely secure and (2) it can be painted or stained to match your woodwork (although that’s not required), (3) it is one of the cheaper baby gates on the market ($33.00 on Amazon). We have spindles on the ends of our staircases, so my handy husband just used a finishing nailer to mount a piece of wood to the spindle and then we mounted the gate to that piece of wood.

Another reason I love this gate is because Big Brother (at the age of 3) cannot even come close to being able to open it on his own. It frankly takes a little practice for even adults to open. And it was worth spending the time and effort to paint and install these correctly since they will be up for a long time!

Mommy’s Helper Outlet Plugs 36 Pack

Outlet Plugs are a must. This is a serious safety issue. This is one area that truly terrifies my normally easy-going husband. No matter how much you “watch” your child, take this precaution. They’re only $2.49.

Ultra Secure Cabinet & Drawer Latches

I’m an advocate for putting the majority of chemicals and cleaning supplies up out of a child’s reach as a safety precaution. However, there are some things (like dishwashing detergent that goes under the sink at our house) that just aren’t practical. Even if items in the kitchen aren’t dangerous…I still don’t want my child playing in every single cabinet. We chose the install these latches on several of our kitchen and bathroom cabinets. It makes life easier. And I don’t spend hours fighting with my child when he disobeys my “off limits” warnings over and over again.

Convertible Car Seat

Once your baby has exceeded the maximum height and weight restrictions for the Infant Car Seat, you’ll need to buy yet another carseat. This is going to be your big ticket item. I typically am against endorsing a name-brand item, but I’ve found a few brands to be truly worth their value…Chicco for the Infant Carseat and Britax for the Convertible Carseat. Having been in an accident where our car was totaled and our children walked away without a scratch, I’ll sing Britax’s praises anyday. The carseat shown above is the carseat that we replaced our other two Britax carseats with after the accident (the insurance paid). Britax seats are expensive, there’s no doubt about that. But they’re worth it (in my opinion), especially if you have younger siblings to pass the carseat down to! Do you have to have a Britax seat? Absolutely not. Do I prefer them? Yes. With that being said, you’ll need to figure out which convertible carseat is best for your family.

Exersaucer

I love our exersaucer. I bought it at a consignment sale right after Big Brother was born and it has been one of my favorite baby items. The reason? Because you can put your (mobile) baby into it, knowing that they can’t go anywhere. Of course I’m not suggesting you put your kid in it for hours on end, but for 15 minutes here and there while cooking dinner, it is priceless. Plus, it is entertaining for the wee one. :)

Soft Blocks

Want to know a secret that I’ve learned about babies??? They don’t really play with toys very much in the first 18 months of their life. A rattle here and a book there is about as much as you need for the first year or so. They’d rather interact with people or play with “real” stuff like remotes, pots and pans, etc. But around their first birthday, you’ll want to start encouraging your child to use blocks for cognitive and fine motor development. Your doctor might even ask you at checkups how many small blocks your child can stack anywhere from 18-24 months. I would suggest getting a set of these softer blocks that they can stack first and then getting smaller wooden blocks.

That’s my short list! What is your Mommy Must Have for 6-18 months?