Understand Before Your Reprimand

About a month ago, I asked my son (who is 7) to pick up his room and organize his desk. When I went into his room, his toys were all over his desk. I was frustrated. He had been instructed to put his toys away and instead I saw them all over his desk so random.

A long time ago, I promised myself that I would understand first. So, I held my irritation and asked him, "David, we talked about organizing your desk. Can you please explain to me what organizing you have done?"

"Mom!" he exclaimed, "I did all KINDS of organizing."

"OK. Tell me about it."

"It is organized by color. See! All the brown is together. All of the red is together. All of the black is together . . ." he continued.
I then looked at his desk in a completely different way. He was applying organizing techniques, just not in the way I anticipated.

I learned that day and you can learn from me! I have always said that different people look at the world in different ways. I now know that my son focuses on color first. (His closet is by color too.) Think about your family members that just "don't get it" and decide if they really don't or if they just look at the world differently.

Do you find patters in your organizing or that of others?

Posted April 11, 2008, filed in How I de-cluttered, Before & after photos