A Thoughtful Place

A Thoughtful Place is a Tennessee based lifestyle blog about design, fashion, gatherings and the occasional from the heart post.

The Pink Towel Tip

by 36 Comments

A while back, I hinted at my pink towel tip in my kitchen and never revisited the idea. It’s such a simple solution but as a mommy it has changed my life {ok . . . maybe not drastically, but it’s been great for us}. And I am feeling really silly if I am the last one to realize the power of a pink towel {blue for my son!}. IMG_6771 If you have children or have little ones that visit very often then you know that you are almost ALWAYS serving up snacks and meals. And if you are constantly feeding little ones, then you are endlessly washing sticky hands and scrubbing peanut butter and milk off of sweet faces.  Because of this, I was doing a crazy amount of laundry with all of the kitchen towels that ended up wiping a mouth or messy hands. After wiping the hands or mouth, I knew I didn’t want to use that towel to dry our clean dishes or wipe a counter {I am not big on paper towels so they aren’t really in the kitchen}. While in my daughter’s bathroom one morning, I looked at her hot pink towel and it finally occurred to me  . . . we should be using one towel for each little one a day. So now I have a pink towel and a green one {or blue depending on the laundry situation!} for my son. After scrubbing their hands and faces a million times a day, they go and wipe their hands and mouth on their own towel. I especially dig this during cold and flu season. No need to be sharing those germs throughout the day.   IMG_6776 {and I will admit the photos taken for our kitchen remodel looked cuter with one towel hanging then two which is why you don’t see both . . . just keepin’ it real, people!} So there you have it. That is my pink towel mommy tip. I no longer have ten dish towels that I am constantly stacking on the counter to be cleaned because I don’t know whose mouth has touched them. And I promise you, I am not really a germaphobe. This actually stemmed from me stomping around wondering why I had ten or twelve kitchen towels in the wash each night.  Of course the color has nothing to do with it, it’s more the fact that we know we will not mix them up with our kitchen towels. Plus, my kiddos know which one to grab when it’s time to clean up! I would LOVE to hear of any simple simple mommy tips you have discovered! I would be happy to feature your idea if you have one to pass along. If you do, please email me at athoughtfulplaceblog@gmail.com.

Comments

  3. Posie Patchwork says

    So cute!! With 4 children i'd need a towel rail in the kitchen, but they're all in school now, can't tell you the difference in how less often i wipe the counters down each day.
    Mum tips, possibly my favourite when they're getting wrestless (& still works on teens) is "just add water". They could be cranky, bored, tired, happy – give them a glass of water to drink, or a shower or a bath or a swim, let them splash around in their knickers with a bucket of water with some food colouring in & tell them it's paint (they can paint your pavers, fence, walls). Love Posie

    Reply

  5. Simply Brookes says

    great idea. I love silly little tips like this…I try to incorporate them in our own household. I have three daughters so I have to change things up a bit. Any tips for three pinkies?

    Love your blog. Visit daily.
    Would love a stop over at mine if you have the time.

    See you tomorrow.
    Wendy

    Reply

  7. Simply LKJ says

    That's a great idea Courtney. As you know mine are waaay too old for mom to be washing their faces anymore, but wish I'd thought of that when they were little. I did however on many occassions when they were too old for diaper wipes (and I hated the expense of all the wet ones) carry a moistened wash cloth in a ziploc in the car or my purse for quick clean ups.

    Reply

  8. Rene says

    This is a great tip Courtney. And it is ok to be a germaphobe. The cold & flu season can really put a damper on blogging and we don't want that 🙂 I still love your pretty kitchen.

    -Rene

    Reply

  12. Meet Vanessa says

    I LOVE this tip! I am a new mommy to a 2 month old son and have been feeling this way with burp rags!

    I'm adding you to my blog roll….btw, your kitchen is gorgeous!

    xoxo,
    Vanessa

    Reply

  13. Marissa Waddell says

    Genious. My biggest problem is washing about a hundred million cups that were each only used for one little sip of water. Growing up, my mom had a different colored cup for each of us so she only had to wash one per child. I think she was on to something.

    P.S. Your kitchen is dreamy. I love it.

    Reply

  17. Alex and Ashley says

    I have to confess that I am guilty of coveting today!!! Your kitchen makes my heart go pitter patter every time I see it… yes, I love it that much! One day when my husband is settled in a permanent job outside of the military I hope to have my dream kitchen!

    Reply

  33. Michelle @ Ten June says

    can I use this idea even though I don't have kids? One for David, one for Maggie, one for Tucker…. LOVE it. One day when I hve a bun in the oven I'm going to make you type me up a list of all of these good tips!

    Reply

  35. Trisha Moller says

    Hi! I just came across your blog. I love it! I too use the towel trick! Everyone thinks I'm a bit nutso with organizing etc. but once we got sick with two little ones, I was hooked on TWO rags! It all started with a extra set of "yellow rags" (too many bath wash cloths) that were used to wash up my first son. We even had a song to go with it that even my nephews loved to sing! Since then, we had to replace the dingy rags and also have another son, so usually it's dark vs light blue. It's an easy habit to get into! And now that my older one is 4, he can clean himself and knows where to go etc. THANK YOU for sharing!!

    Reply

  36. KatieBelle says

    I have three children born close together. When they were tiny, I assigned each child a color. Red (sometimes pink) for Rose, Green for Robbie and Blue for Emmaline. Each child has their own towels…in their own color. We home schooled and I used the same idea for their grading binders and subject file folders. About 6 years into this, Rose decided she liked blue better, and Emmaline wanted pink. So we changed (although Momma was getting confused sometimes!!). Now they are older teens and we still use this system. Now I know who left their toothbrush out or hasn't picked up their bath towel! 😉

    Reply

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