Monday, December 1, 2008

Day 11: Tupperware.

I have a tupperware cupboard. The door is currently not attached to the hinges--compliments of my two year old son. So it sits there. Open. For the whole world (or anyone who happens to come into my kitchen) to see. I know that some intrepid souls have neatly organized tupperware cupboards and drawers. They have expensive plastic containers--maybe even name brand tupperware. The lids are probably stacked neatly. It is easy to find the match.

My tupperware cupboard is nothing like this. It is a helter-skelter affair, with the dishes shoved into a box and the lids tossed into a large metal bowl that says POPCORN on the side in red writing. (I don't know. You tell me.) The containers are of various makes--there are two official Tupperware containers that I got for my wedding. The rest consist of any and all of the following: large Yoplait yogurt containers, black takeout bowls from the local Chinese place, generic plastic containers bought at ShopKo my freshman year of college, Cool Whip containers, and some fancy "stain proof" ones that we picked up somewhere. Possibly at Big Lots. The matching lids, if you can find them, are generally warped from being overheated in the microwave. There's one particular gem of a lid that has it's little "easy open" tab broken off, making it nearly impossible to get it off the container once it's been jammed on.

Sitting here in my kitchen, at the end of the day, I find myself staring at this cupboard. The end of the line for stuff no one else would keep. Even to let macaroni and cheese go moldy in at the back of the fridge. I think "Maybe I should get one of those nifty AS SEEN ON TV plastic container sets. The kind that come on a little lazy susan and each lid fits each container." My mom would remind me that I should only be storing things in these containers--never heating things in them. Because I'm going to get cancer from the chemicals, that's why.

But this cupboard fits my life. It fits my marriage and my mothering style. Oh yeah, and my budget. So I'll probably just make it work, re-organizing and re-shuffling on occasion when my previously mentioned two year old pulls every single thing out to bang on with a spoon. Until then, maybe it'd be easier to just fix the cupboard door.

6 comments:

John Atkinson said...

Dear Becca,
It would be wonderful to have a two year old play with cabinet stuff again. But it's your side bar that caught my eye, the Once Upon a Time.... In the 1950s I wanted to read and couldn't. I never dreamed of becoming a published author, but I did. If one works hard enough and never stops trying, dreams can come true. I read several of your blog post. You have found your voice. Bravo! Hang with it! Best, Timekeeper

Anonymous said...

Hi Becca,

your post got me smiling, which is a hard thing to do at 10:20 in the morning after I didn't get enough sleep and even a 25 minutes bike ride through the frozen German countryside didn't manage to wake me up. Lovely, lovely post! Keep on writing.

Oh, and listen to you mom about not heating stuff in plastic containers. She's right, this time.

Cristina

Eve said...

Becca - Such a relate-able post for me! My tupperware containers are all stacked precariously in a shelf and the lids are shoved in an old coffee maker box in a totally separate cupboard! I think you have the right idea with the cupboard door open to the public for all kinds of uses! Love the realness of this entry! More!!!!!

Dr. Alfaro said...

I just found your blog from The Meanest Mom. I never read comments, but I thought I should say something today. Then I saw your post and thought, "That girl is funny!" That led me to your blog and now I'm posting a comment twice in one day! UNHEARD of!

I too am the mother of a two year old (girl) who loves nothing more than to climb onto the counter and into the "Tupperware" cabinet. Thanks for letting me know that my Land o' Lakes bowl and I are not alone... I am confident that even my little one and I could make a mess of the neat bowl/lid organizer, so although I covet one myself, we'll just stick with sour cream containers and blistered rubbermaid. Then I don't feel so bad when the mac & cheese DOES mold and I toss the container too!

Bryce said...

Becca!
Thank you so much for lighting the fire again! It never went out, but it has undoubtedly been rekindled. You'll find the assigned post on my blog in a jiffy.
Thank you very much, my newly found writing buddy and mentor (will you? *kneels dramatically).

Bryce

Kristine said...

Becca! (I've never called you that before...sweet!)
Bryce told me you wrote a post about tupperware. I HAD to come read it! :)
I just want to let you know that our tupperware storage drawer is pretty much the same way! I don't think we even have matches for each container! Plus, it doesn't really help when you have a three, four, and six year old that seem to do and play with what ever they want, and our "official" dishwasher unloader puts those random lids on the counter (after they have been cleaned) because they apparently don't know where they go...until they eventually get rewashed or put "away" in some random place because you tell the official dishwasher unloader to put them away a million times...haha! It's a fun little cycle! That's life though! Very fun, indeed!
(Sorry if that didn't make sense...it sounded better in my head.) ;)
-Kristine