Works for Me Wednesday

Managing Sippee Cups

When I had toddlers who drank exclusively from sippee cups, I purchased 4 or 5 for each child and wrote their names on the cups with a permanent marker. Every night I would put all of cups in the dishwasher or hand wash them (believe it or not, I used to not run my dishwasher every single day!). Each morning I would refill all 4-5 cups per child with water, diluted juice, or milk and put each child's cup on a separate door shelf of the refrigerator. Done! No more fixing sippee cups all throughout the day.

Now that my children are older, they choose one clean cup each morning. I have their names written on these cups with a permanent marker. After each meal or whenever they have a drink, they place these cups in a certain spot on our island. They use the same cup all day. If I didn't do this, I would probably have 25 dirty cups by the end of the day, plus I would have to run our dishwasher more than once a day.

Another tip.....I keep all of our sippee cups, plastic drink bottles, plastic drinking cups, and plastic bowls and plates in bottom drawers in our kitchen. This allows my younger children to unload the dishwasher--the unbreakable items are stored in an area that they can easily reach. This also allows them to get a cup or plate on their own.

One last tip....to prevent me from having to run the dishwasher more than once a day (I run it at bedtime), we use paper plates for either breakfast, lunch or sometimes both. For dessert after supper, my children know to ask me if they need to use a paper or plastic (washable) bowl or plate. I make my decision based on dishwasher space availability.

For more tips visit We Are That Family.