Muffin Tin Mayhem

I've been having trouble with my muffin tins. I think it all started with my husband. Yes, I am going to blame this all on James. I made my mother-in-law's famous banana chocolate chip muffins shortly after James and I got married. I used the normal muffin papers that my mother used when making muffins. After all, I didn't want to ruin the new pans such a short time into my marriage. As a newly married woman, you want to make food your husband loves. I clearly remember sitting on the couch watching James eat his muffin, eagerly awaiting his judgment. The jury returned with a favorable verdict. The only problem was the muffin papers. Mother-in-law doesn't use muffin papers. (Here is where I have to say that I love my husband. He may be a picky eater, but I love him. I gladly amend recipes all the time to please him. And I say this honestly, really I do.) Because the muffin papers bothered James, I quit using them. Since that fateful day more than five years ago, I have been spraying my muffin tins with a non-stick cooking spray. It works pretty well but if I'm not careful, I have to scrub them.
Sunday I decided to make an angel food cake for our small group. The box goes to great lengths to make sure you make the cake properly. You may not use a bunt pan or an angel food cake pan that isn't the right size because the batter expands and will overflow. Since I don't have an angel food cake pan I decided to use my bunt pan and also make some cupcakes, which the instructions allow.
At this point in the story, I must interject another story. A few days ago I reached up for the can of non-stick cooking spray. Something had happened to it and I realized this when oil poured off of it and onto myself and the floor. This meant that the can is empty and I haven't remembered to get more while at the store since then. I have instead been using my silicone pastry brush and oil to coat things like the waffle iron and casserole dishes.
Back to the cake story. The box says that non-stick cooking spray is not required. "That's good because I don't have any!" I filled up my bunt pan and muffin tins and started baking. The muffin tin on the bottom rack was soon burned. (Gas oven, heat comes from the bottom.) The other pan of cupcakes turned out a little better. However, since I didn't use muffin papers as the box recommends or non-stick cooking spray, taking the cupcakes out of the pan was a little difficult. Angel food cake tends to mush when touched. We had severely misshapen cupcakes. I saved those for Asa. The actual cake turned out fine.
I believe that both of my muffin tins I used Sunday are ruined. Luckily I have one more that isn't quite ruined. I'm thinking of getting silicone pans. Does anyone have suggestions for me?

This morning I made those famous banana chocolate chip muffins in my one remaining pan. I decided that it would be fun for Asa to eat at a different place than the table. His high chair converts to a little chair and a little table, so I converted it for a different "view." Here was the problem: I didn't buckle him in. When he was finished eating, he started walking around covered in melted chocolate chips. I caught him before he finger painted anything.

Asa has been asking questions recently. "Where did it go?" (We often don't know what "it" is.) "What's that?" (Said while pointing to a picture in a book or holding a puzzle piece.) I can see that this is the beginning of the questioning age. It's all in the process of learning. I can't complain.