Lessons of Home Organization

I am always reading and looking for home organizing tips. As the mother of two under the age of four I feel at times that my home needs some extra help. However, home organization takes on an entirely different slant when applying to the mother of a toddler. It’s more about keeping important items out of the reach of little hands and making sure that little ones stay safe. You could pretty much divide the house into two levels, waist up and waist down. Everything waist down must be childproof. Waist up is then left for decorating and essential items placed strategically higher than little hands can reach or climb up to.

This realization hit home once my one year old finally reached that stage where she was able to reach my bathroom drawer and pull things out. After a couple of weeks living with the frustration of finding my toothbrush in the hallway or having to search the toy box for my floss I finally decided the situation was serious and I needed to take some action.

First I pulled all of my essentials out of my drawer. Then I found one of those picnic baskets that are designed to put on the picnic table and hold your silverware, plates, and napkins. I found the different size compartments perfect for holding my toothbrush, toothpaste and hair supplies. It now sits on the bathroom counter out of reach from my daughter (at least for now.)

After organizing my essentials I looked in the drawer and realized that everything else in there was unnecessary. So, I began to toss! I was feeling really great about getting rid of so much stuff. Once my tossing frenzy was over I found myself with a much cleaner drawer that held only a few items in it. What a great accomplishment I thought.

Well, it wasn’t more than a few days later when my daughter found those few remaining items and started pulling them out. After picking these things up from various rooms in the house I decided it was time to once again evaluate my drawer.
In the end I left nothing in the drawer. I moved some things and threw out the rest. With all of the information and media marketing on home organization and storage solutions I found out that living with a toddler is truly the best teacher on how to simplify. I definitely hope to use my drawer again someday, but for now I find great peace in knowing where my toothbrush has been.