Does external order help bring you internal order sometimes? You're not alone! Listen in to hear practical guidance to the overwhelm of alllll the cups!

Products to Getcha Thinkin' and Solvin':

Colored Cups... and they're metal, not plastic!

Another unbreakable option!

Silicone Drink Bands

Posca Paint Markers

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Welcome to the Again

podcast summer series.

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I'm your host, Stephanie Hickox, and this

is brought to you by Entrusted Ministries.

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This summer, we've selected some of our

favorite episodes that we think help

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set the tone for biblical motherhood

in our hearts, but also have great

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practical wisdom for you to apply.

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I've shortened these as much as I can,

so you can get what you need as quickly

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as possible and get back to swimming,

splashing, and snuggling those kiddos.

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Whether your summer is a bunch of

schedule managing or a blank open

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canvas to architect, we pray that

you find time to sit at the feet of

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Jesus and to enter in with your kids.

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I am doing something a

little bit different from

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the summer series right now.

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This is not a replay, but there are some

practical tips that I hope solve a common

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problem and bring some peace in your home.

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We don't wanna oversize things,

but God is a God of order.

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And sometimes do you just feel internal

peace when you see external peace

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in your home That's research based.

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And we've mentioned it before

on the podcast, but it's really

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true and I don't think anyone

feels that fact more than moms.

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Also, I have a really

important announcement to make.

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So keep listening to the end.

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This is gonna be a really short

episode, but can we just discuss

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for a second a truly first world

problem, but I think it's a universal

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first world problem of moms.

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The cups on our counters.

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Over the years, we've tried several

different attempts to mitigate the army

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of drinking glasses that is ever present.

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And I found a couple things that

have helped us be successful in this

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realm, and I'm gonna share them.

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Like I said, it's gonna be super

short, but I hope it's super helpful.

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When my kids were younger, I

bought a pack of glasses on Amazon.

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And it just so happened to be my kids'.

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favorite colors.

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It actually came in a pack of five

colors, and then we just devoted the

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fifth color to be our guest cups.

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At any given time, we knew if a

turquoise glass is out, it is rider's.

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If a blue cup is out, it's Everett's.

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If the lime green is out, it's Lincoln,

and if it's pink, it's Adeline's.

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And an orange cup was the guest cup.

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it really did streamline it.

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And then we load the dishwasher at

the end of the night, we would put

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those cups in and then the kids would

get out one fresh cup the next day.

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And I would say for years we

never had more than one of

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those cups out on the counter.

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At the same time, they

just knew the system.

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I do understand for the crunchy mamas

out there that are saying, ah, but

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those are plastic cups, and I get it.

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So I'm not saying it's a

perfect system, but if you are.

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At your max and aren't wanting to

be cleaning up broken glass because

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your kiddos are still little.

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I think that's a great system.

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Of course, we can just let them

drink out of their water bottles,

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but washing water bottles, it is

just a task I wish wasn't in my day.

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So many of them aren't dishwasher

safe or I know lots of moms

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are trying to preserve.

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All those wonderful stickers their

children have acquired, and it just

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feels like it's not as simple as putting

a cup or a glass into the dishwasher.

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As much as possible, I try to keep those

water bottles for when we're on the go.

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But our newest system, now that my kids

are older and I feel much better about

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giving them glasses to drink out of.

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I just bought some new glasses at IKEA

that were really inexpensive, and then

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I found on Amazon these bands that you

can put around the outside of a glass.

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You know, as I'm saying it,

I'm realizing they're pretty

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much glorified rubber bands.

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But you know what?

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It's working for us.

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This package came with more

than we will need, but it came

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with six different colors.

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On any given day, each person in

our family can have one glass out

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with that band around the glass.

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It's simple.

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They're dishwasher safe.

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I am really liking it.

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Before we moved to this we did something

very creative that I really loved.

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We took a couple posca markers, P-O-S-C-A.

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These are basically paint markers

they are kind of expensive.

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But they work really well and I found

that these were so fun for when I was

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entertaining because you can take these

paint markers on a dry, clean glass and

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you can write people's names on them.

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Whenever I will have moms over or

guess over, I'll pre-write their

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names on the glasses you can use a

neutral color like white or you can.

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Spruce it up a little bit more

with more color, depending

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on the theme of the event.

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Everyone always comments and feels like

it's a really special touch and it only

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takes me two minutes max to do this.

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So it's one of my favorite hospitality

tips, but it also extended into

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our Daily Cup usage as my kids were

transitioning to using glasses, they

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could write their name on a cup or

I would write it on, and when guests

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came, they could even design theirs.

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You can imagine with kids, sometimes

it's their name, sometimes it's

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even been elaborate as their

favorite basketball player.

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There's a lot you can do with this.

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Maybe even, you wanna write out

your kids' names instead of it

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being like a sentimental note

that you put in their lunchbox.

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It could be they wake up in the

morning and they see that you have

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written their name out with a little

heart or an I love you below it.

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We find that these paska names,

stamps are very resilient.

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If it does get wet right after

you write it, then it will smear.

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But if you can just wait like 20 seconds

or so after you write it, before you fill

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up your cup, I find that that's the most.

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Time tested approach, and then sometimes

when it comes out of the dishwasher,

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you'll still have to maybe do just

a tiny bit of additional scrubbing.

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But in general, that has been

one of my favorite systems.

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I hope that simple tip can bless you.

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I also can't help but share that

I have been geeking out over here

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because I just have a couple.

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Dream podcast guests.

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But there is one that I cannot believe she

agreed to be on our podcast, and I'm going

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to be publishing those episodes shortly.

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She's a wealth of wisdom, and she's

also one of the most endearing

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women I've ever encountered.

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You will instantly love her and the

interview with her has some lighthearted

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elements, and so it'll be perfect

listening for summer, and it will

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also help set the tone for you to be

intentional in planning out your fall.

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I can't wait to reveal who she is

and to get those episodes to you.

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All right.

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That's it for now, mama.

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Hopefully this was quick,

but incredibly helpful.