Labels & Reminders - Day 16 of 30 - Things That Make My Life Easier

Each day I talk about one thing that makes my life easier as a neurodivergent mother raising neurodivergent kids while going back to school full time in my 40s...in French.

First, let's talk about labeling.

I think if I were to calculate the efficacy of labeling in my house, I'd find that dishes get put away where they belong roughly 70% more often because of it, and with a lot less yelling on my part.

Truly.

Labels are reminders, in my household. And boy do we need a lot of reminding.

Listen. I don't label because Home Edit makes it look good. I don't have the pretty handwriting. I do it because it helps me manage my cognitive overwhelm. I already have the attention span of an ant, so imagine what my fridge looked like every week after a grocery haul without labels. It was a disaster. Vegetables in the fridge doors, milk in the drawers (our milk comes in plastic bags up here in Canada). None of us could ever find what we were looking for.

See? I don't have the Home Edit's cool handwriting. But that's okay. We can still find what we're looking for.

Now I label everything, including the shelves (the top shelf labels remind my kids which portion of the fridge they are each entitled to for their own snacks and goodies - and it keeps them from fighting). The drawer labels remind me not to store garlic on top of the clementines. Because yuck.

I label what-goes-where in my desk. I label what-goes-where in my cupboards. I label the chapters of my books, y'all. Yes, I've been told I'm a little intense.

But am I more organized? Yes. Do I get as irritated when my kids ask where something goes? Not really. It probably means I haven't labeled something well.

Most importantly, have I decreased the number of foot-stomping-rage-rioting meltdowns we all have in this house because one of us can't find something? Abso-fricken-lutely. SO WORTH IT.

So what kinds of labels do I use? Whatever I can find. Paper and scotch tape, a random packet of sticker labels from my last move, duct tape or masking tape with marker. Painter's tape is really handy because it's bright so you'll pay attention to it, and it removes easily when you want to change things around.

Now let's talk about my 2 favorite list reminders:

• Lunch Box Reminder

  You can print your own copy if it rocks your boat (see below). I tape my list to the inside of my cupboard and when the kids put together their lunches in the morning, all they need to do is mentally check-off each item going.

  
  

• Home Exit Reminder

  Leaving the house is a rush? Are you sure you have everything ? After forgetting school IDs and bus passes, I put this reminder together. So simple, so effective. Click on the version you want and it'll open up a pdf in a new window you can download.

Click on the image above to download the version with text

Click on the image above to download the blank version

And last, but not least - one of my favorite reminders of all:

The Pill Reminder Thingy-ma-doodad

I believe it's just called a Visual Pill Reminder. This thing is great. You can glue it to a pill bottle (reuse the bottle because you can't re-glue the reminder once you pry it off), or slip the elastic around the top. Once I take my vitamin/supplement/medication, I slide the little button over for that particular day of the week. No more guessing "Did I take it this morning?"

Seriously. Game changing.

Honestly, labeling and using visual reminders has been one of the greatest gifts I've myself as a neurodivergent mom. They keep us ALL on track. 12/10. Would recommend.

-Jaren