Sunday, January 29

Simple Sanity

Do you ever have little things that just grate on you day, after day, after day, after day? Sometimes I'm so used to something annoying me that I don't even realize it is any more. I just grumble and move on without trying to find a way to fix it. But I've found that sometimes a really simple change can make things better.

One example was deciding to keep the diapers in the laundry basket instead of putting them in a drawer. Seriously, I got so annoyed that I had to open the drawer to get a diaper. It was so simple to decide to keep them in the basket when they come out of the dryer, and it saves a few drops of my sanity every single day.

We just recently made a few simple changes in the bathroom to save our sanity. I will say, it took us over a year of living here to realize how easy it would be fix these things. What can I say? We're just on the ball sometimes. Here are a few things we did:

1. Replace the toilet paper holder thingy ma-gig  -
When we bought this house we inherited two bad toilet paper holders. The one in the downstairs bathroom was broken so that if you pulled too hard it would fall off the wall in three separate pieces. We looked at replacements a while ago but were too stubborn to spend $30 on one. So instead I just worked on my unrolling skillz so that it worked okay most of the time, but it wasn't a foolproof technique so I was still unnecessarily frustrated on occasions. The upstairs bathroom had a holder that squealed so loud when you rolled it that it woke the baby. Literally. Enough said. That one came off the wall within a week of Baby B coming home and we just went with the super classy "toilet paper sitting on the back of the toilet" approach. Then one day we stumbled across this little guy at Ikea. For $4. What?! Um, I'll take two please! Both problems solved, just like that.

2. Replace the bins by the door -
We have very little storage in the bathroom. Just a medicine cabinet, the sink cabinet, and this shelf by the door. I had put these bins there when we moved in to organize things a little, but they stuck out too far (yes, for a whole year). Not a big deal aesthetically, but if you don't push them in just right they are actually in the way of the door. The door will somehow close just fine, but they totally block it from opening back up. Which happened twice in the last week while I was outside the bathroom (we have to keep the door closed. you'll see why.) Obnoxious. But as usual I was too cheap to spring for something new so I just bided my time...

...until I found these babies in the Lowe's Clearance sections. $3 for the pack. Sold.
I actually bought two packs so I still have two baskets left over. See how much farther back the sit? Problem solved. I also like that I can organize things better with these by dividing into four smaller containers. Things just got jumbled together in the bigger bins I had before. Now I'm thinking it would be nice to tuck another shelf in between the layers so I don't have to move the top baskets to see in the bottom ones. But that's an idea for another day. :)

3. Install a permanent curtain rod -
When we moved in we took out the glass doors (best choice we've made in the bathroom) and hung a tension pole. It fell down. A lot. Sometimes when we pulled the curtain open, sometimes when we hung towels over it to dry. And when it fell, it scratched the paint off the walls. This was so easy - we just bought these metal brackets from the closet section at Lowe's and used them with the rod we already had. I think it was like $4. Problem solved.

And while were talking about the bathroom, my mom got me this for my birthday. You know you want to use it.

Note to self:  Keep the bathroom door closed. Why? For one thing, I found out Baby B can open the toilet lid. And here's his other favorite past time....

Sigh. Such a funny boy. :)

Have you done anything to make life a little easier lately? Any time saving or stress relieving tips to share?


  1. Always distracted by the cuteness of Baby B. Now what was I going to say? Oh! You find the best bargains. Love those Lowe's baskets.

    My latest annoyance solver was to get a sock organizer for my dresser drawer. Dresser doesn't sit near a window or lamp--can't tell dark brown from navy from black--so now I have a section or two for each color. It only took me seven years to do something!

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  3. RE: toilet paper. If you put the roll on the spindle so the toilet paper goes "under" rather than on top and hanging down in the front, it is harder for children (and pets) to unroll it. True, they can easily flip it up to unroll it, but that takes longer to figure out. Another hint: if you change the direction of the roll, don't let the little one see how you turn the roll; otherwise, he will figure out the secret much faster.

    1. He already learned to open the toiled lid by watching me do it once! He is a genius, after all. :)