Glass Houses and First Stones

It drives me crazy! This morning, I went into Sammy’s room and all of his clothes were (once again) hanging out of each drawer, and every drawer was open. This is their standard location so I’m not sure why I am consistently shocked and dismayed by it. I’m also a glutton for punishment.  Knowing where his clothes would inevitably end up, I stilI spent the day organizing the boys’ drawers.  I put pants here, shirts there, shorts there, sweatshirts here... you know, trying to make it easier for them to get dressed without the typical screaming that comes with the “I can’t find it!” dilemma. But once again, there they are. His dresser is like a multi-leveled clothing waterfall. There have been time outs, rewards (bribes), removal of TV, frustrated threats of “you are going to stay in this room all day until this mess is cleaned up!!” But so far, none of it has helped. Perhaps I am not consistent enough. Perhaps this boy really needs to wear five shirts each day to reflect the mood of the moment. But it drives me crazy!!




So, I go through my day. I drop the boys off at school and put Andrew down for his nap. I go into my own bedroom. And there it is. That same multi-layered clothing waterfall. Why have I never noticed before? Probably because I know why my mess is there. I, of course, was looking for those comfy workout shorts and nice-fitting top to go with it. I was in a hurry to get dressed before Andrew found the Halloween basket on the counter and decided to raid it. I had good reasons for my disastrous pile of clothes on top of and hanging down the sides of my dresser. Slowly however, glass houses, first stones, and eye planks came to mind. I spent the next half hour cleaning up my dresser, and trying to think of a new way for both of us to be motivated to keep our clothing IN our drawers.