Everything had its place. Everyone in the family knew where to find the scissors, for example. And when each person got done using the scissors, they would put it back where it came from. Of course, there were times it did not make it back to its place and that would create a certain level of stress in the house until it was found. Having this kind of organization seemed like overkill, but it created peace. A day full of little lost items can make a person cranky.
Organization is a value the kids saw modeled every day. Each child did well in the earlier years, but when they hit their teens, we had one who would not organize their room even with much coaxing. It looked like a tornado hit it. So as mother, I could not help but organize that teen’s room for a time, but we saw it always messed up the next day. Finally, we quarantined that room to be messy, as long as the rest of the house was honored with organization.
We found out that this teen did not care to impress us as parents, but when someone came over that they wanted to impress, the room got organized. Many years later this teen explained that they knew we loved them, so there was no need to impress us. I think that was a compliment.
For us organization in the home has given us peace, honor to others sharing the home, and a general sense of well-being. Today our grown children keep organized homes. It is a joy for us to see this practice passing on to the next generation, and hopefully the next, also.
Nancy Boorujy
Nancy is a fierce advocate for families and the 10GG tools! She was a grateful saty-at-home-mother and is now a grandmother full of parenting wisdom.
