Imperfect Organization: Children's Dressers

I have 3 boys, 2 cats, and a fish.  I am so glad that the cats and fish don't wear clothes because I can hardly believe how many clothes 3 little boys can go through.  Manasseh seems to think he needs to wear 2 outfits a day (before and after nap) and a pair of pajamas at night (which he takes off before he goes to sleep).  We have cloth diapers, wet underpants, blankets... laundry, laundry, laundry!  Some days I feel like I just can't keep up with their dirty clothes.

A few weeks ago, while folding laundry and watching them play, I got brilliant.  See, I hate folding laundry.  It might be my least favorite household task.  I also have some high dislike of putting folded laundry away.  I looked at my capable preschoolers and decided that they are able to put their own laundry away.  Unfortunately, putting their own laundry away means that some of it gets unfolded while it gets dropped into the dresser.  I have to decide not to control their dresses.

*BING* That's organization point #1!  My kids can put their laundry away - that takes away one organizing task for me each day.

The next solution came later that day when Cassius (then 2) was trying to get dressed - because if they can put their clothes into the dresser, they can take them back out.  He was confused about which dresser was his and which drawer had shirts/pants/underwear.  He was overwhelmed by the long stack with 12 drawers. 

I fixed it. 



Now each dresser is color coded - Green for Manasseh, Red for Cassius, and Blue for Azariah.  The clothing pictures follow the color scheme and the words on the drawer are also printed in their favorite colors.

*BING* #2 - The boy's dressers are labeled and color coded.  Cassius now can confidently go to HIS own dresser and get out whatever article of clothing he is instructed to get (this also helps with putting clothes away).  

We have increased independence and responsibility by making these 2 incredibly simple changes to the boy's bedroom.

How do you organize your child's personal space to allow for more independence and responsibility?  

Mama's Thoughts: Shooting

Mama Crum is a pacifist.  I believe that battles can be won by using words.  I want my boys to learn that fighting is not the way to solve disputes.  I think that when God gives the commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," he probably means it.  I don't see him making exceptions in his command.  Yes, I know you can make biblical arguments to the contrary.  I'm not writing to debate about theology though.  I am certain that Jesus was serious when he stated the greatest command is "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself."  

So what's the problem?  I have boys.  Boys are fascinated by shooting.  Monkey learned about pointing at people and making shooting noises while he was in the church nursery.  Yep, I'm positive that's where he learned it.  Everything is a gun, everything is fun to shoot.

Anger, Frustration, Sadness Happen.  How do we teach our kids to deal with it?

I recognize that the boys have no concept about what shooting really is or what it means.  They don't know that it hurts people.  My boys don't understand fighting and war.  They do know that sometimes their friends shoot while playing, and sometimes they shoot while angry.  It scares me to see little boys pretend to shoot while they're angry with someone.  Why?  I've worked in an environment where young boys were learning how to cope with hurts.  When they were angry and pretended to shoot someone, they meant it.  They were practicing hurt in their hearts and with their hands and minds. 

My rule for my own boys is no shooting people.  I know they're going to play guns, even if they don't have any - they will make guns.  They are learning conflict resolution even now.  They are learning to express emotions, to talk about problems, to work things out, and to consult others when they cannot find a peaceable answer.  I wish they would stop play shooting, but I recognize that they are learning to make neat noises and exert power in their surroundings.

Funny Story:

One day while I was in a meeting at church I heard Monkey "shooting" at his brother while they played in the hallway.  I called him into the room to talk with me.  When I confronted him about what was going on, he said to me, "But.. he's a penguin".  Sheesh - he's already looking for ways around the rules!

What are your thoughts on shooting?  Do you allow it?  Do you teach it?  How do you teach conflict resolution?  How do you teach your boys to use their power?

It started with leaves

I have boys.

They act like... boys.

My boys love to examine nature.  They especially love leaves, rocks, sticks and pine cones.  In fact, everywhere we go they are searching for these special treasures. I love this about my boys.  I want to find ways to encourage this curiosity as they grow.  But this brings us to problem #1.

Problem #1

 Our van floor is covered with broken down leaves and pine cones.  The boys bring them into the house and examine each bit as they crunch them into tiny bits on the floor.  I found a rock in the baby's car seat last week - under him.  I KNOW he did not pick it up, I think it was a gift from one of his doting brothers.

The floor in front of Cracker's seat

I love my boys.  They love to get comfortable as soon as they walk into the house.  Some days I have to walk over one or the other just to get inside, because he is taking off shoes or tugging a jacket off.  Unfortunately, at 23 months old and 3 years old, they are not so fond of putting things away all of the time.  Sometimes we're lucky and I get all 4 shoes where I ask them to put them.  Generally they end up in a bedroom or the bathroom or somewhere in the middle of the floor.  

Problem #2

Things get cluttered and messy.  It is hard to find the right shoe or jacket.  Getting ready to leave the house takes MUCH longer than it should because we are looking for assorted missing items.  It makes me crazy.  I like to be on time.  I also like a clean house.  

Solution

I was really annoyed when I found a rock in the baby's car seat.  It's not a BIG deal, just more mess and clutter.  I happened to be sitting near an unused McDonalds bucket and plunked the rock into it.  I thought, "gee, I should get them each a bucket to use for their nature".  That's how it started.  Then, I realized if I put the buckets on a shelf, behind the front door.  We could collect nature, hats, coats, and shoes as they make it into our house.  

I searched our house for a shelf that was the right size and only found 1 that was narrow enough to fit in this space.  It does not look beautiful, eventually we will make a nicer shelf.  The wall isn't finished yet - but look, organized, functional - now I just have to convince my boys to use it.

Bible Verse of the Month

August marked the beginning of new curriculum for the nursery and preschool Sunday school classes in our church.  Each month the classes will focus on a similar theme and share a Bible verse - the same verse and story all month long.

The story this month is Creation.  The verse is "God created the heavens and the earth."  Genesis 1:1

This afternoon I asked Monkey if he knew his Bible verse for Sunday school.

"Yesh".  He said with a grin.

"What is it?"

"Pray and Jesus say, "No Scared"."

Ah so we need to work on that a bit.  At least he's learning something about fear and prayer!

Wordless Wednesday: Boys

BOY PARTY

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