Labels in the fridge - too much?

[MrTango]

We're sincerely thinking of doing the same thing with the pots and pans cabinet.  My mommy's helper has issues with putting the pans back, and it drives me bonkers.   She's very sweet and eager to please, but needs written reminders to help with certain things (like closing the dryer door so the light turns off. We leave the washer door open so it doesn't mildew, so I see where she's coming from.)

We do this.

My PT housekeeper ignores them.  I've been so incredibly frustrated by this - but she'll take care of the dog at no notice, or pop over because I need someone to wait for the repairman, so I let it go.

It drives me nuts when things are in the wrong place!

Oh, totally.

Because of some past work-experience, LadyTango has a strong aversion to washing dishes.  I don't mind it, but in order to fairly divide the labor, that means that once dishes are clean and dry, it's LadyTango's responsibility to put them away.

It seems like after almost 7 years of this, I still find myself hunting for things that I think should be in one drawer, but she thinks should be in a different drawer.

[QueenofAllThings]

Joraemi -
We have the same family! It frustrates me, but I realized two things. 1. It's easier for me to put the item back where it belongs than try to force them to do it my way. They don't see a problem, so why would they change? 2. This is important. Before you know it, they move out. And the fridge is all yours again. Bwa ha ha ha....

[Only me]

Hi

This is an interesting thread as my roomie puts his stuff on the fridge door in front of mine, and I usually can't find anything. So I just got a new fridge delivered yesterday, so its a whole new adventure for me.

I got the fridge, with bottom mount freezer, so that its easier for me to put stuff away. Although he's much taller than me, I have a hard time bending down a little to get milk, etc...from teh fridge.

On the bright side, I came home last night and he's got the fridge with all the wrappings & tape off and put in the garbage, has agreed to install the ice maker when it comes in and is wanting to know when I'll be able to arrange the shelves like I want, so that he can start using it. (So yes he's stoked about the new fridge also).

ONlyme.

[TootsNYC]

oh, I wanted to do this so badly!

The P-touch labels would work PERFECTLY. You could put them on top of the glass shelves.

I only wanted to label about 4 spots (the eggs, the milk, the water pitcher).

My husband told me he'd peel them off if I did it.

So, I don't think it's over the top. 

[betty]

Are you sure the rest of the family knows that there is a system? Before you label things, maybe have a fridge meeting with your husband. Tell him that you put things in the same place all the time. Ask if those places work for him. Then tell him you'll be labeling so the teenagers can use the system, too.

I ask because I just had this conversation with my husband. We've lived here for 15 years. For all that time, glasses have been put in the cupboard with one style on the left, another in the middle, another on the right. That way it is easy to get the kind of glass you want. My husband put the dishes away and all the glasses were mixed up, so I asked him to please put them in correctly. He said, "I didn't realize there was a system! But now that I think of it, it is always easy to get the right glass..."

[VorFemme]

VorGuy wants everything in the FRONT of the shelf - so the butter & jelly go in the front at breakfast, the catsup goes in front at lunch, and the steak sauce at dinner...which means what I really need is a fridge with a Lazy Susan to spin around instead of rectangular shelves.  If I make pizza, then the cheese, garlic, onions, jalepeno peppers, pepperoni, and such need to be in the front.  Every meal the list of what he's looking for and ALL of it should be at shoulder height in the front - so he can find it easily.

VorSon has a different list of what he's looking for.  So do I.

Sadly, I haven't see any fridges with built in spinning shelves.   Maybe I need three glass fronted refrigerated shelves installed across the width of the kitchen - we are all roughly the same height NOW (that may change as grandkids come to visit or old age creeps up on us).

[Luci45]

Have you visited my pantry? It does work, except when someone says, "Where are the Baggies?" I just look at them and don't answer.

I thought the fridge was obvious -- not so!

Best wishes. You are my new hero.

[camlan]

VorGuy wants everything in the FRONT of the shelf - so the butter & jelly go in the front at breakfast, the catsup goes in front at lunch, and the steak sauce at dinner...which means what I really need is a fridge with a Lazy Susan to spin around instead of rectangular shelves.  If I make pizza, then the cheese, garlic, onions, jalepeno peppers, pepperoni, and such need to be in the front.  Every meal the list of what he's looking for and ALL of it should be at shoulder height in the front - so he can find it easily.

VorSon has a different list of what he's looking for.  So do I.

Sadly, I haven't see any fridges with built in spinning shelves.   Maybe I need three glass fronted refrigerated shelves installed across the width of the kitchen - we are all roughly the same height NOW (that may change as grandkids come to visit or old age creeps up on us).

So put some Lazy Susans in the fridge. There's no law that says you can't. Or use plastic bins to corral like things together--all the condiments, all the salad dressings, all the stuff for pizza. It might be unorthodox, but I'm all for doing what works.

[VorFemme]

VorGuy wants everything in the FRONT of the shelf - so the butter & jelly go in the front at breakfast, the catsup goes in front at lunch, and the steak sauce at dinner...which means what I really need is a fridge with a Lazy Susan to spin around instead of rectangular shelves.  If I make pizza, then the cheese, garlic, onions, jalepeno peppers, pepperoni, and such need to be in the front.  Every meal the list of what he's looking for and ALL of it should be at shoulder height in the front - so he can find it easily.

VorSon has a different list of what he's looking for.  So do I.

Sadly, I haven't see any fridges with built in spinning shelves.   Maybe I need three glass fronted refrigerated shelves installed across the width of the kitchen - we are all roughly the same height NOW (that may change as grandkids come to visit or old age creeps up on us).

So put some Lazy Susans in the fridge. There's no law that says you can't. Or use plastic bins to corral like things together--all the condiments, all the salad dressings, all the stuff for pizza. It might be unorthodox, but I'm all for doing what works.

I would but he keeps cramming more stuff into the fridge, freezer, and pantry shelves - it's like "stop shopping until we use up what we have" means "only buy three instead of six of what is on sale THIS week".

What's worse is some of the stuff he's overstocked us on is stuff he is the only one who likes it - but he's recently diagnosed with diabetes and can't eat much of it....and for the rest of it, the oven broke Sunday.  Until the parts come in - not much cooking & NO baking going on.

[Bijou]

VorGuy wants everything in the FRONT of the shelf - so the butter & jelly go in the front at breakfast, the catsup goes in front at lunch, and the steak sauce at dinner...which means what I really need is a fridge with a Lazy Susan to spin around instead of rectangular shelves.  If I make pizza, then the cheese, garlic, onions, jalepeno peppers, pepperoni, and such need to be in the front.  Every meal the list of what he's looking for and ALL of it should be at shoulder height in the front - so he can find it easily.

VorSon has a different list of what he's looking for.  So do I.

Sadly, I haven't see any fridges with built in spinning shelves.   Maybe I need three glass fronted refrigerated shelves installed across the width of the kitchen - we are all roughly the same height NOW (that may change as grandkids come to visit or old age creeps up on us).

So put some Lazy Susans in the fridge. There's no law that says you can't. Or use plastic bins to corral like things together--all the condiments, all the salad dressings, all the stuff for pizza. It might be unorthodox, but I'm all for doing what works.

I like the idea of the plastic bin for condiments.  We have lots of odds and ends of condiment-y stuff and it really is a pain, especially on wire shelves when the bottles are too small to straddle two of the wir3es and keep falling over.  And they get buried...so I buy it again.  And then I have two of the darned things. 
A lazy Susan would have thing flying off the shelves, I'm sure, so I would be afraid to try it.  "Wheeee...there goes the catsup... Wheee...there goes the capers...."

[joraemi]

***UPDATE***

SOOOOO - I asked the fam about it last night while we were cleaning up the dinner dishes.  Once the hysterical laughing stopped they universally made fun of me (good natured-ly) and told me I was free to put the labels in there if I wanted, but that they werent going to promise to use them.  LOL

I may just give it a try anyway and just see if it helps.  I'm sure I will hear about it for several days after they go in..."Make sure you put the butter on the BUTTER label so the fridge doesn't implode!". 

Have you visited my pantry? It does work, except when someone says, "Where are the Baggies?" I just look at them and don't answer.

I thought the fridge was obvious -- not so!

Best wishes. You are my new hero.

My pantry is also a minor disaster.  Fortunately, I know that if I ignore it long enough, it will eventually drive my oldest DD to the brink of insanity and one day she'll go off the edge and empty it and organize everything again. She's actually really good at it! 

I also like the idea of a lazy susan in the fridge...may have to see if that would work up there on that top shelf...hmmmmmmmm

[camlan]

Do they put other stuff away properly? The forks in the fork section of the cutlery tray? The glasses on the shelf with the other glasses? The toothpaste in the same spot in the bathroom every day? Why then is it so hard to accept that there are designated spaces in the fridge for certain items?

If you are in charge of buying and putting away the food, you get to call the shots. I'd explain to the family *why* this is so important to you and ask for their help, one more time.

Then I'd work on some positive consequences for those who put things back where they belong. And some mildly negative consequences for those who don't. Like cooking a favorite meal for someone who takes you seriously and puts things back. And a lack of favorite snacks for those who don't. (Not saying to buy snacks they hate, just maybe their 3rd or 4th favorite instead of their top favorite. Mild behavior modification techniques.) Or just run out of things you are sure you've purchased, but can't find, or just stop looking for them if you don't want to take the time. Maybe a meal or two with no mayo for sandwiches and no ketchup for the fries will help your message sink in.

One of my brothers had a bad habit of putting empty or almost empty containers back in the cupboards and fridge. He'd even spread the remnants up the side so that it looked like we had half a jar of peanut butter when there really wasn't enough for a single sandwich. So Mom put him in charge of checking the cabinets and fridge weekly and writing up a shopping list of what we were running out of. Then he had to go with her to the supermarket and buy those things and come home and put them away. Magically, within a month, he was cured of putting empty containers back in the cupboards.

[VorFemme]

Don't quit buying snacks for everyone - just store them in non-standard places until they realize that there is a reason to put things "where they belong".

If the chips are in the tool chest, the chocolate in your sewing basket (now how did that get THERE?), the cookies in the laundry room, and the dip next to the carrots & zucchinni in the produce bin - where they NEVER look - well, putting things up where the label is might become much more attractive an idea.

[TootsNYC]

My pantry is also a minor disaster.  Fortunately, I know that if I ignore it long enough, it will eventually drive my oldest DD to the brink of insanity and one day she'll go off the edge and empty it and organize everything again. She's actually really good at it! 

NOW you are my new hero! Talk about a role reversal!

[snowflake]

I don't see how organizing can be too much.  Really, I don't.  My entire house is labelled and in small compartments.

But then I know I have a problem.   

I agree that it works best if 1) You have general areas and not a micromanaged space and 2) You clear out the old stuff regularly.  If you have two-year-old bottles of hoisin sauce and random dips crowding the condiment spaces on the door, it discourages people from putting the mayonnaise back in the right place.