Is it just me or do you have a hierarchy of mugs?

[BellaBearisWideAwake]

And is it something you share or do you seethe when someone helps themselves to the wrong tier?

eg mugs you don't mid being taken outside/mugs for builders

mugs just for real coffee

mugs only YOU can use

or is it just me?

[DottyDot]

of course! I have my very favourite mug which no-one else can use and I nearly always use every time.

Then the next two which are identical and also only for me to use

Then mugs for dp

Then all the rest

Fortunately, dp understands this system very well and no-one else gets to use my mugs!

[nickelbabysnatcher]

no.

I have my mug and other mugs

but I always have to use the right size mug.
DH has got a couple of weird mugs that are just a silyl size, and I refuse to use those.

[barmbrack]

Yes we do, and ours are in pairs too.

So if I have the pink cupcake mug, DH has the blue one.

We even have a pair of 'sunday' coffee cups.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

I have:
1)mugs that I have never ever used cos they are a bit posh.
2)mugs that we use - they are cracked and chipped but we are used to them
3)random mugs for the builders we have in.

When building work is finished we are chucking out category 2 and using the posh ones for ourselves and the random mugs for future random tradesmen/camping etc.

[BellaBearisWideAwake]

yes to the weird size ones - DH has a bucket he uses when he is working from home, I can't drink tea that quickly!

latest craze is very thin rimmed cups. builders chipped one.

[GetOrfMoiLand]

Oh GOD yes. Mug hierarchy and prejudice is completely normal.

I have - 6 differently coloured Le Creuset mugs, which are the mug aristocrats in this house. DP and DD don't use them, because they know a nervous breakdown would ensue if they smashed/chipped them. They are also not allowed to wash them up. These are the mugs which are used when guests come round. I always have the orange one, DP has the turqouise one, DD has the granite one, other colours are allocated as and when (christ, just typing this out makes me realise how insane I am getting).

2nd division mugs are the pastel coloured tin ones from Waitrose, these used to be best mugs until I got the Le Creuset ones at christmas. I look at them slightly disdainfully now. DP and DD are allowed to use these without stress as they are metal so thus unbreakable.

There are some naff character mugs which are shoved at the back and barely used, but I cannot get rid as they were presents.

Also have a set of white argos mugs which are used for plumbers etc, and which I long to smash to smithereens as they came along with DP, and were bought by his ex girlfriends.

I think I have issues.

[notrightnow]

Oh yes.

1. Mugs that anyone can use.
   
2. Mugs that we use for coffee in the morning and the person making the coffee gives the other person the 'best' one.
   
3. A mug that I only use for tea, never coffee, and no-one else can use.
   
4. A mug that no-one uses even though we like it because there is only one of it (the pair got broken).
   

Daft, all of it!

[stinkyfluffycat]

Definitely not just you. I have 4 favourites and am so sad that my boyfriend know which mug to look for if I say 'my 3rd favourite' etc..

[BellaBearisWideAwake]

No no, you are completely normal

my mum bought DH some beautiful mugs, but only two. One is now chipped (said to the builders not to use but they did and broke it). So now only one. Found out how much they cost and almost fainted. So not replacing it.

Wish I had a cupboard full of beautiful matching thin rimmed mugs so I don't have to sort out of the dishwasher into groups before I put them away

[StealthPolarBear]

I have my favourite mug, 8 identical mugs which are almost my favourites, another one which is the same as favourite mug in another colour, then all other mugs. DH has a favourite mug, and is also partial to one of my 8.

[CuppaTeaJanice]

I quite enjoy giving workmen really inappropriate mugs.

One was a staunch Liverpool supporter - he got the West Ham mug. The guy who brought his bull terrier to work got the 'Cats rule - dogs are stupid' mug and the 6'4" electrician built like a brick shit house got the delicate pink girlie mug.

Nobody gets to use my goblets though.

[barmbrack]

GetOrf, glad it isn't just me with mugs allocated for members of the household .

My mum likes the thin rimmed ones so we have a pair just for her (can't buy mugs in 1's. That would be wrong)

I bought DH a pair of 'Big Love' mugs from Bridgewater for valentines. They are our current number 1 tea mugs.

Number 1 coffee mugs are ones with the DTs footprints on.

[BellaBearisWideAwake]

I also have a 'yummy mummy' mug (it wasa gift honest) that I will only give to a woman who is a mother.

that's a bit sad isn't it?

need a cull, I think.

[MrsKarwash]

I have a new favourite. My mum gave me a Cath Kidston one and I hate how it looks but I love the shape and how it feels in my hand. So what matters most do you think? How it looks or how it feels?

(Has beaten my previous fave, a Keanu Reeves mug I randomly found in the road into a cocked hat...)

[NormanTheForeman]

I definitely have mug hierarchy. I always start the day with the beach hut mug, then progress to the seashore one, then the fishing net one etc, etc. Builders etc are given the old ones that don't matter. Ds know which is my favourite mug, and always puts it out ready for my tea, if he empties the dishwasher in the morning. Dh, on the other hand, has no understanding of this whatsoever, and is totally mystified as to why I get upset if he uses the mug I want to use next!

[BellaBearisWideAwake]

How it feels more importnat,up to a point.

worst mugs are in school staff room, everyone gets rid of their crap ones to school. Did break duty once with a mug saying soemthing along the lines of 'I'm eighteen now, let me go and get drunk' (not word for word, but the sentiment was there' and the kids found it most amusing

or a playboy one, that's great for break duty as well

[BellaBearisWideAwake]

finally got rid of the ones I painted ten years ago when paint your own pottery was new

[BellaBearisWideAwake]

these are in my second to top tier, but not that design

[MrsKarwash]

You've got to love a teacher with a playboy mug!

Just realised that of all the possible identifying info on MN about me, that mug reference is the most obvious

[MackerelOfFact]

I have this too. We have some long white latte-type mugs that came from a charity shop but stain brown whenever you put tea in them, so they come bottom. Only to be used when nothing else is available. Then there are the ASDA swirly 4 for £1 ones, which are a nice traditional mug shape. I favour these for evening and weekend cuppas, they are the chilled-out, no-worry mugs. Then we have some Denby mugs that are like buckets which I nabbed off my parents because they hate them and I lurve them. These are my favourites. A nice weight, nice to hold, and they make a slightly larger than average cup of tea. These are the ones you turn to in times of crisis, when you need a cup of tea and you need it NOW, such as first thing in the morning.

Then we have a few odds and sods which are either mismatched or chipped or both. They come out... well, never really.

[MrsKarwash]

I'm beginning to realise my mum is a mug nut. I have 4 more from her I haven't even taken out of the box yet (and probably never will - hello charity shop!)

[SixtyFootDoll]

I treated my self to an Emma Bridgwater mug ( much to my Mums dismay) it has hearts on it, so in my male dominated house, no one is allowed to use it bar me.
I love it, it makes me smile when i use it. (sad)

[mrsravelstein]

ha, this struck a chord, just this morning i made 2 tree surgeons working in my garden cups of tea... then thought (very preciously) "oh dear, why didn't i give them crappy mugs", as if the fact that they were a bit muddy meant there would be unable to treat my mugs with respect... luckily i realised i was being a bit of a twat before i ran out and tipped their teas into something less respectable

[BellaBearisWideAwake]

Do you know, I could do a very complicated Venn diagram of my mug categories. Two more:

mugs for when you have an NCT group full of toddlers around

mugs that MUST NOT go out in the garden, or be balanced anywhere

[668neighbourofthebeast]

definitely

Massive lovely Jamie Oliver vintagey ones which now inhabit our dresser and are not used for fear of one breaking and ruining the display!

Two Whittard teas ones - tea tastes great in them

6 shitty white ones from Debenhams for general use

2 hideous ugly star sign ones but my late mum bought them for me so they are still in use

6 x 50p Asda ones for the staffroom kitchen

Not as bad as my in laws' mug collection though - they are terribly posh but only use a motley crew of mugs gathered from over the years - totally random but if you use the wrong mug (only a handful for non blood rellys) you get the evil eye.