Make mornings easier! Yes, please!

I'd like to say I'm so incredibly organized that I have time to get everything done before we start school, but I'm not that mom. I try really hard, and sometimes, I succeed. Those are really good days. Then there are the other days, the ones with last minute research, making calls, paying bills, or hunting down things for projects or experiments.  It happens, even when I try hard to have my act together. I admire the women who can do it all ... a lot. Kudos to them! They are my heroes!

For a while, I've let the kids be responsible for their breakfast. Does that sound harsh? I hope not. I thought I'd put some breakfast stuff on the counter for them, but this is where I ran into a problem. It's one of those "in theory, it's great" ideas, that doesn't quite work out as you've planned. I gathered all the stuff in a basket. However, the sides of the basket were so tall you couldn't tell what was in there. Not such a great idea.

This is where my toaster oven comes in to save me. I know this seems completely random, but it's when this idea started. Last week, this appliance, which takes up valuable real estate on my counter but hasn't been used a lot, decided to go nutty and smelled like it was thinking about starting a fire. I'll have no wacko appliances in my kitchen, so it's been banned. Voila! I have some freed up counter space to make our breakfast routine easier. I decided to gather all the supplies and put them together. The only thing I'm not putting over there is the toaster (not crazy toaster oven, but regular toaster) because I think it's totally acceptable for us to walk those six extra steps to make toast. Right?

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OK, can I just say this project wasn't as easy as it sounded when I announced to everyone I was going to make my mornings easier on Friday? Ha! I'm not sure what I was thinking because not one brilliant idea happened over the weekend. Maybe I'll remember that the next time I want to make a grand announcement, promising something wonderful a few mere days away. Or that I actually have a life besides getting this post out on a Monday morning. I juggle a lot of stuff, remember? Anyway, that counter space turned out to be as grumpy as my ousted toaster oven. First off, I had planned to have my coffee maker over there. It didn't happen.  Truthfully, this mom doesn't really care about what's for breakfast as much as getting her caffeine fix. It's what keeps me going. But, the coffee maker wouldn't fit, and my plans went awry in a hurry. Finally, after I'd gotten everything finished and took a step back, this space looked like there was a bunch of stuff on my counter that I failed to put away!  Yikes! That was NOT what I was trying to achieve!

So here's where I am right now ...

Does this just look like a jumbled mess on my counter? I'm not sure if I love this solution or if it'll make things better. We certainly can see things and get to them without rooting through the basket, but I'm not sure if it's in a good way. The only saving grace is that you can't see it when you walk in the door. My refrigerator is hiding it. Also, don't judge our breakfast choices. They aren't always the best, but I've taken a "just get it done, so we can get started" attitude towards the first meal of the day. When they were closeted in my basket, there wasn't any problem with judgement. Success? I'm really not sure, so we'll just use this for a while and see. That's life. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you don't. If it doesn't work, I'll be back to the drawing board, thinking of another solution.

I snapped a few extra pictures when I was working on this project of things I'd like to share. Even if my project wasn't a success, these things make me smile ...

My "fun find" bowl. It's beautiful, isn't it? And cheery! Plus, I love it next to my stacking bowls

My smoothie cup has a sweater made out of repurposed, felted wool. I know it's silly, but I like to drink them out of the metal cup. That metal gets really cold, so I made the sleeve for it because I'm kind of a wimp. Also, drinking out of that container reminds me of those metal cups we used when I was growing up. Does anyone else remember the ones that were all different colors that also worked well for cookie or biscuit cutters in a pinch. No? Maybe not, I might be dating myself there. Anyway, here it is ...

And, last but not least, my current coffee choices ... yum! I'm caffeine girl, remember? This just makes me deliriously happy ...

That's it for now. I'm not sure if I've been successful or not, but, again, that's life. I'm not sure what I'll be talking about on Wednesday, but, even if I had a clue, I wouldn't tell you. That way, no one will be disappointed. See? I learned my lesson from last week's post! That's something, right?

Until next time, let's try to keep things simple!