Help Your Children
Get Organized
by: Susie Glennan
Ingredients: Shouldn't we be able to give our children instructions on how to
organize, and then, voila, they would know how to do it?
Unfortunately, organization is not that easy. Organizing is something that has to be
learned over time.
If children see their parents always organizing, they will begin to learn by seeing and
helping. Then, when children also have one project to organize such as their own bedrooms,
then over time they will really learn and understand the ways and means of doing.
For example, my parents never told me HOW TO. They did everything themselves. I was a
terrible type B messy when I was a child, all the way up until I moved out. When I got
into my own home, THAT turned me into a type A compulsive. This was now my own home that
my friends were going to be coming in and out of, and I didn't want them coming in and out
of a mess. It would reflect poorly on me.
Encouraging participation is a very big deal in training our children. If they are not
allowed or taught to participate and learn to organize when they are young, it will be
hard to get them to do so later on.
Teach your children HOW TO access what they need. For example, start in a bedroom:
1.Put everything that is out of place in a pile on the floor.
2.Sit on the floor with them and show each child how to sort.If
necessary, make little cards that say...
KEEP
MAYBE
THROW AWAY
SELL AT GARAGE SALE
You get the picture. Now put each card in front of a large box. Also
have ready a variety of empty containers, boxes, bins and so on in
different sizes.
3.Encourage each child to sort through those items they know they are
going to keep first. Then they will see the piles and clutter go down faster. For example,
have them put all their Legos in this pile or Barbies in that pile. Then allow the
children to choose storage
containers for those items, fill the container, and put it away.
Another suggestion is to have your younger children follow you around the house while you
clean, sort, and organize. I had six bins all the same size on the two lower shelves when
my children were small and I ran a daycare center. At the end of the day, they each took a
bin and filled it with like items.
Also, when my oldest daughter was little, I bought her a cute little outfit that included
an apron, dust pan, broom, feather duster and bucket. The set was HER size and she loved
it. When there were things that needed to go into another room, I put them in her bucket
and told her which room to deposit them into. She also got to dust things on one side of
the room while I cleaned on the other. I'd tell her what a good job she was doing and
fight the urge to do it better.
Following me around for so many years while I cleaned did keep her from making other
messes in other rooms, but most of all made her a
participant instead of a bystander.
If you have a son, you can find or make more masculine cleaning tools for him to use, such
as a regular small broom instead of a pink one. My son also followed me around for years
while I fixed the sprinklers or did other things in the yard. I saw the rewards of my
patience when my youngest son just came to me last week and said, "Boy mom, Josh is
really good at fixing things! He just fixed the sprinklers that were broken and
stuck."
Let your children live what you want them to learn! They will learn to
organize much more easily by watching, helping, AND doing things
themselves, than when you just talk at them or do the work for them.
Copyright © 1999 - 2001 Susie Glennan
bio: Susie Glennan is a wife of 20 years, mom
to 3, ages 12, 14, and 16, Home Maker, Nurturer, Teacher, Author and owner of The Busy
Woman's Daily Planner. She teaches time management seminars, offers 1/2 hour FREE
consultations, and will help you set up a schedule that's right for YOU. You can
reach Susie at susie@thebusywoman.com or
800-848-7715
Go to www.thebusywoman.com for more articles and
products to help you, "Simplify Your Life."
(Doing business since 1990.)
website: http://www.thebusywoman.com
