Do you spend a lot of time looking for certain things? Always lose your car keys/pacifiers/credit card/anything else?
Item One: Hair Rubberbands
It’s been almost six years since my first daughter was born (although it’s only been about four years of ponytails or pigtails), but I only first realized the best place to keep hair rubberbands this week.
On the handle of the brush.
I’ve spent my whole life looking for rubber bands. When I shared this revelation with the other Between Carpools girls, I received these responses:
Renee: Good one. Been doing it for years.
Leah: I’ve been doing it for years too 😉
Then why didn’t they share this tip with me? Well, since then, I’ve begun keeping a bunch of rubber bands around the handles of the hairbrushes. Now I no longer need to go searching for a rubber band just when I’m ready to wrap one around a ponytail (like I do in this post).
Item Two: Pacifiers
After that, rather than wait until I have my own revelation of where to keep pacifiers so that they don’t get lost (because even after six pacifier-devoted babies, I haven’t figured it out), I posed the question to all the girls.
If you open up drawers in Renee Muller’s kitchen, you’ll find that one has a special spot for pacifiers. I really wondered how they all land there in one spot (instead of being all over the house). I likely have 100 pacifiers hiding in various spots in my house. Right now, I use these for my 18-month old and these for my newborn.
So, I asked them: how do you keep from losing pacifiers?
Leah: I keep on clips/strings. Do you?
Victoria: I don’t like keeping a clip on my baby (then I just lose the clip too).
Renee: Simple. Own 200 of them.
Leah: Well, that’s your next solution.
Victoria: I tried that too! I stocked up the drawer. But then they just get depleted, one by one.
Esti: With my last pacifier kid, I kept one clip on the stroller strap and one clip on the car seat strap, so we at least had those crucial places. Then we had a bunch in upstairs and downstairs baskets.
I like this tip! Rather than a pacifier following a baby around (and falling out of their mouth and rolling under some piece of furniture, never to be seen again), the pacifier stays in the baby’s “spot.” I’d also add one on the bouncer/swing and crib. Then, leave the pacifier behind if moving the baby from car seat to bouncer, etc.
Item Three: The Credit Card
I know that I really should put my credit card back in my wallet after a purchase (as advised here), but honestly, I most often simply throw it into my pocketbook (or even worse…do you throw it into the dashboard after filling up on gas?).
But now I’m really loving keeping the card in my Between Carpools iPhone stand and cardholder. It’s so convenient! Missed our giveaway? You can find an iPhone stand and credit card holder here.
Item Four: Of Course. The Car Keys.
I wish there was a solution to this. How many of you still own your spare key?
I always put my keys in the first kitchen cabinet, the one that’s closest to the front door (it happens to be the cabinet where my dairy dishes are kept). Leah says she always puts her keys in her junk drawer for the same reason. It’s the first drawer upon entering the kitchen.
For this to be foolproof, one needs to make it a habit.
But it can backfire. Daughter takes key because she needs the keychain to see how to spell “Victoria” because she wants to write Mommy’s name (find the key in the crayon box). Son takes the key because he left his hockey stick in the car (find it on his night table).
One more key tip. Get a really big keychain. Big things are harder to lose.
What’s the solution to all of these? You can also try Tile, a tag you can keep on your keys, phone, wallet, or whatever you tend to lose!
Do you have a foolproof tip for not losing your stuff? Share it in the comments!
See this post for more ideas on organizing hair accessories.
I also keep the pacifier clipped on the car seat strap, mainly because when traveling it’s really simple to reach behind me and put the pacifier in the baby’s mouth without having to feel around for it.
Ponies on the brush, love it!!
I have a decorative hook by my front door and it’s where we hang our car keys. Works great
I bought this gadget on amazon for keys that goes hand in hand with your phone (because i tend to loose my phone as well). Basically, you have an app on your phone where you can go and ring your device that is attached to your keys. And if you loose the phone, press on the device button and the phone rings! Works great and keeps me from loosing 2 important items 🙂
Pacifiers were only used for sleeping (when they weren’t newborns anymore) so they stayed in the crib in their rooms with a spare in a box in the diaper bag for when we were out. Had a few extras that stayed in the kitchen from when I washed them
My pediatrician once gave me a tip that if by six months old you limit the pacifier to the crib, car seat, and scary places (i.e. dr office), the child will be more likely to give up the pacifier by 2-3 y/o easily. So keeping the clip in the car seat, stroller, and crib is a great idea for that.