There is peace to be found in an organized home. There is comfort and calm to be found in an organized home. This is why the home organization industry is a $12 Billion dollar industry. Sure, tidying up may appease your need for order, but it is so much more than that!
Where is my other shoe?
“Mom! I can’t find my other shoe!” “Mom, I’m missing my library book!” It’s tough to maintain a calm composure while screaming in your head, “I didn’t wear them” or “I am reading my own book and didn’t read yours” (and then there’s guilt for what you silently said in your head…). Teach them early and it will set them up with success for life. Take a little bit of time to work together to designate set places for all things. Make a space on a shelf where all library books go. After reading, insist that the book goes back to its place. After a while, it will feel wrong to just lay it down somewhere. Shoes go in the closet, or by the door, or in the cubby. The car is emptied out each and every time you get home. Work together! You are a team. Building these habits will create calm when heading out the door.
Outfit Drama Mitigation
Do you have a Kiddo that has very definite ideas when it comes to what they wear? While it may be frustrating, there are ways to give that independent Kiddo freedom to choose while avoiding the morning outfit struggle. Take time on the weekend to look at the weather for the week and choose outfits for each day. Use a hanging organizer or cubby to designate which outfit is for what day. Consider having a backup outfit set aside just in case they change their mind one day. This practice not only adds calm to your mornings, but it also encourages their independence in getting themselves ready! You’ve not relinquished all control; rather, you have guided your Kiddo in making good choices of which they can take ownership.
The Toy Trap
Is the toy situation getting out of hand? Even educational toys take up space and need to be purged from time to time. Scheduling time twice a year to organize and purge makes the daily task of tidying so much more manageable for you Kiddo. Yes, your Kiddo, not YOU! If everything has a place, even the youngest of children can tidy their own space. Put on a “clean up song”; choose a song they know well and love. Give them that amount of time to tidy up before moving on to their next adventure. You have given them ownership of their domain while cleverly sneaking in an act of service that will become habitual! Here’s a challenge for you….if the cleanup is acceptable, if they did their best, leave it. Resist the urge to make it perfect. You have plenty of your own chores to fuss over.
Team Work
Your family is a team. Just as a coach cannot play all the roles on a team, neither can you. You were never intended to do so. Kiddos love to be helpers and you are making them better humans by giving them responsibilities! You’ve got this. “Cheers” to smoother exits as you scurry out the door.
By Christy Grailer
