It’s Never to Late to Make a Change for the Better

I was at a birthday party recently where a couple of the moms were talking. One mom mentioned that she was starting her children 11 and 13 on chores. The other mom thought that this was entirely to late to start them out on chores. She already had her 4 and 5 year old doing them daily.

I thought about this conversation again today as I was struggling with my own morning routine that seemed to be failing miserably, or perhaps it was the lack of a routine. As I vacuumed and picked up I thought you know both of those moms were doing the right thing. It is never to late to make a change for the better.

It is never to late to start teaching the importance of family responsibility. It is never to late to set higher standards for obedience. It is never to late to read more to your children. It is never to late to begin good habits for yourself. And, it is never to late to revamp a failing morning routine.

I am reading an organizational book right now that talks about focusing on the 20 percent in life that really matters to you then the rest of the 80 percent will fall into place. The author says to make small changes daily until you are at the place you want to be. If I sit down and map out the things that are important to me, then try to make one change a day towards getting those things accomplished I will find myself on the path to making change for the better.

As I thought of this I realized that no matter how bad today went tomorrow is another day where I can try to do better at the things that matter. Like getting myself and my kids off to a better start with a good morning routine.

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.