How many drinking glasses do you need?

This will be a quick project. Won't take any time at all. Couldn't be easier. You'll be out of here in five minutes or so because there is just one question and one simple reference back to the times tables.

Ready? 
 
How many people are in your household? (We'll take care of guest glasses later.) Now multiply that number by two. Tada! There's your answer! One glass is in use for the day and the other one is either in the cupboard or waiting to be washed. Done and done. See, wasn't that easy? You're welcome.

Wait, what?

You say that people in your home want a clean glass every time they get a drink?

But, um. doesn't that mean your sink and/or dishwasher and/or countertops are constantly filled with dirty cups? Doesn't that require - correct me if I'm wrong - a mass assortment of drinking implements meaning that your cabinet is overflowing with big cups, little cups, travel cups, travel cups without lids, plastic, glass, BPA-free cups, not to mention God knows how many of those plastic cups with logos? All so your little loved ones can use however many cups their little hearts desire?

And you're OK with this?

Because there is another way to live and it's fairly easy to get to. 

First, teach the kids how to rinse out their cup. Keep a step stool by the sink.  A half decent rinse works just fine; the cups will be fully washed at some point, besides a few germs never hurt anybody. Rinsing your own cup is the foundation of reducing kitchen clutter and mess, 

Then choose a place where the kids can put their rinsed cups until the next time they need them: in the drainer maybe, or on the counter next to the water perhaps.

It will take about 21 days of enforcing this for it to click and for the kids to rinse on their own. Don't give up. Stick with it. Don't get angry. You can do it rah rah! After all, you have years of cups ahead of you. Years and years and years. Set the precedent now. 

Here's how:

1. Gather up all your drinking glasses - not bar, wine, or martini glasses - unless you're going to imbibe while you work - and not water bottles, travel mugs, or thermoses. Just ordinary every day water/milk/juice/whatever drinking glasses. Grab them from the dishwasher, the sink, under beds, wherever they are, dirty or clean. Spend a minute alone with them. Take a pic if you want to share. 

2. If you have a baby or toddler, pull out the top two cups you like/use the most. Put those cups in the cup cabinet and push the remaining baby/toddler cups to the side.You are not discarding anything at this moment. I mention this because you look pale and the shallow breathing and racing heart that occur with panic is not healthy. Relax. For now, the cups aren't going anywhere. 

3. For the rest of the family, decide if matching is important. If so, pull out all the matching that you have. Are there 2 per family member? Move these to the cupboard. If you don't have enough matching, decide if you want to get some. (They're $1 each at Goodwill, and I've found super high quality ones there.) If matching isn't important, grab two glasses for each family member and move these to the cabinet. Push all the rest over to your These-Aren't-Going-Anywhere (TAGA for short) pile. 

4. Now for those plastic logo cups. I'm not even going to get into microplastics though I will mention that many smart people believe plastic around our food and drink can be harmful. Just saying. That said, I have four plastic logo cups for taking to the neighbor's pool, up on the roof patio, or just hanging outside. I chose our favorite logo cups, the ones that have special memories. Well, as special as plastic logo cup memories can be. Let your spouse and each child choose their own two logo cups and let everyone agree that if they bring home a new one, they'll have to get rid of one. Add these to the cabinet. Move the rest to the TAGA pile.

5. Now for the guests, including kids' friends. Only you can decide how many extra drinking glasses you'll need on hand for guests. How many people do you typically have at a time? How many kids needing drinks? Do the kids need unbreakable? Take the time to think this through because it is sooooo tempting to just give up and jam everything back into the cabinet. Figure out your numbers. Would 12 guest drinking glasses work for 75% of the gatherings you hold? 24? Pick the number, then put these glasses on a higher shelf or in the next cabinet because of this universally-acknowledged  truth: If guest glasses are in the rotation of available glasses, family members will use them. They can't help it bless their souls. And boom! you'll be right back to clutter and dirty dishes.

Repeat the process for whatever cups your kids' friends will use. Put them up high or in the next cabinet. Then when kids come over, you can move the cups down or the kids can use a step stool.  

6. What's left on the counter? Are there one or two cups or glasses so filled with meaning that you would lay down and die rather than get rid of? Can you find another use for them? I have colored pencils, markers, pens, etc in an assortment of favorite chipped/unusable/extra cups. Repurpose if you can't let them go. 

7. Get rid of the extra: 
Option 7a:. Get 'er done 
Box everything up right now before the kids and spouse get home and put in your car. 
   
Option 7b: Better safe than sorry 
Box everything up and store the box somewhere out of reach, then wait. If no one cries or whines or complains over the next two weeks, then sell or donate items.

Be strong. Don't be tempted to keep a bunch of cups just in case. That's exactly how cups start multiplying. It's dark in that cabinet, and boring. There's probably lots of cup hanky panky going on because how else do we end up with so many $@!%& cups? 

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