Fun In The Making » reuse dinnerware http://www.funinthemaking.net Just another WordPress weblog Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:50:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Mixed Matched Place Settings For Your Family: Teaching Responsibility To Children One Meal At A Time http://www.funinthemaking.net/2009/11/14/mixed-matched-place-settings-for-your-family-teaching-responsibility-to-children-one-meal-at-a-time/ http://www.funinthemaking.net/2009/11/14/mixed-matched-place-settings-for-your-family-teaching-responsibility-to-children-one-meal-at-a-time/#comments Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:27:15 +0000 jane http://www.funinthemaking.net/?p=673 As a parent, are you tired of finding dishes all about the house? Do your kids claim that they aren’t theirs? Avoid squabbling and teach responsibility by providing unique dinnerware to everyone in your family. A fun thing to do is to go to yard sales or thrift stores allowing each member of your family to pick out a plate, cup or glass, bowl, fork, knife, spoon (anything they will need). That way they will like what they have. Don’t get carried away and get lots of accessories; start with the bare minimum. The key is to use one of a kind items so kids will not mistake another’s for their own. Also, you don’t want the kids reaching into the cabinet for another plate when they can’t find their own. After each use, everyone should wash their own dishes by hand.

I’m trying to teach responsibility and self reliance to my children without a lot of nagging. It’s been two weeks and I’m seeing an improvement.

Mix n Match place Settings

Set your table with mixed and unmatched plates and cups. Most of the tableware in the above photo came from the thrift store.

You might also try this technique with bath towels. Even if your kids don’t have to wash their own towels, they won’t be allowed to keep grabbing a new one while leaving the old one on the floor somewhere.

On a side note, I threw a dinner party one time and used mixed matched plates because of the large amount of guests. It turned out to be fun; I let the guests pick where they wanted to sit.

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