Lessons Learned

I have a habit.  I organize.  I organize when I'm stressed.  I organize when I purge.  I organize when I'm happy.  I organize when I'm upset.  It makes me feel better.

But with that habit comes something a little uglier.  Something I'm trying hard to stop.

I get frustrated when my new organization is not followed by everyone in the family.

I think there's no reason why the paring knives can't stay in the middle compartment of the drawer organizer.  There's also no reason why the light sabers can't stay in the hanging shelves next to the bed.

But the answer time and again is the same:  because I never tell them when I organize, and I never tell them the system I use.

And that just doesn't work.  That is called an unrealistic expectation.

But still, the Bigs' room was just a yucky disorganized mess.  So I got them some containers and told them to organize their stuff.

Guess what?  They did it.  Yup.  They went upstairs straightaway and they figured out what would go where.

And guess what else?  That was over a week ago and it is still relatively clean up there.  Tidy Up Tuesday took like 2 minutes because everything was already tidy.

That day I learned that

I cannot expect someone else to know what I am thinking.
I cannot expect my kids to learn organizational and cleaning habits if I just do it for them when they are at school.
I underestimate my children.  A lot.

I need to give them opportunities to grow, and then watch them blossom.