Organized Family Ideas

It is very difficult to have an organized family.

Organizing is something that is individual. It is a way of thinking and acting to make your own life run better.

So if you are in a family you will have extreme difficulty in getting all your family members to be organized in a way that suits you.

My website is about what a person can do to make their own life better. It is not about demanding others do what you want. I am pointing out ways of thinking and actions that work for me and that I know work for others to better their lives.

Since my other love besides being organized is freedom and being left alone to live my life I cannot justify ever demanding others do what I insist they do.

I just cannot make that leap.

So even though I know what works for me and what would work for my kids I do not insist that they do exactly what I want. I am no hypocrite.

I do model for them. I show them. I explain what I do and why. They are free to determine for themselves if they want to use my methods or some other method to be more organized. They can choose to be organized kids or not.

So back to the organized family.

There is really not that much you can do.

If your wife is a collector and has a lot of clutter you can either choose to live with it or leave her.

If your husband will not help around the house you can either do the work yourself or leave him.

There is just no way to get others to change without them wanting and being willing to change.

Insisting that they change to better suit you is not right. It is all wrong.

You can make it worth their while. You can pay your kids to keep their rooms cleaned. You can show them how much more time they will have for fun by being more organized.

The other option is to demand that they do what you want and make their lives miserable. That seems wrong to me.

Your best approach is just to be super organized yourself and get what you want in that manner. If your family will not help you, that is their loss.

I guess if I knew then what I know now about clutter I would not have got married to my wife because she had a huge amount of stuff before we were married. There were a lot of reasons I wanted to be married to my wife, but the amount of her stuff was not one of them.

I just assumed that she would be happy to get rid of it to make me happy. Wrong. She never got rid of anything. Once I did throw something of hers out and she was just so enraged. It was like I did the worst thing imaginable. It was an awful awakening for me.

A better way to deal with a family that is disorganized and to have an organized family is to avoid doing all the extra things that families are supposed to be doing all the time. Things like:

1) Going to church every week and extra times during holidays.

2) Having your kids in all kinds of extracurricular activities.

3) Volunteering for your kids school.

4) Volunteering for groups of any kind. If you want to accomplish something just go ahead and do it yourself. If you are really concerned about having an organized family you will spend the majority of your time on family type things.

5) Preparing elaborate meals. Most people, especially kids do not really appreciate fancy meals.

6) Keeping your house spotless. A little dirt does not really hurt anyone. Excessive clutter is the real eyesore and causes most of the problems in trying to have an organized family.

7) Having an immaculate yard.

8) Having a yard at all. Kids do not really play in yards that much. A little grass is nice but it really is not necessary.

9) Being in adult activities that take a lot of time and that are constant. Bowling leagues, volleyball leagues, softball leagues, other things like that take a lot of time.

10) Insisting your children continue activities that they have started. Some sports and groups like scouting seem to imply that once you start you will be a member for years. Let them quit once they are done with it.

11) Thinking how it was for you as a child will be how it is for your child. Times change dramatically. You have to change with them. I am most concerned with providing for my kids, keeping them as safe as I can and letting them have some opportunities for fun.

12) Thinking that you will be able to do all the things you want to when you want to do them.

13) Putting things on hold or on layaway at the store.

14) Saving all your child's toys for your future grandchildren. Besides taking up a lot of space in your home, you are trying to control your children in the future.

15) Driving all over town, shopping chaotically before Christmas instead of making a Christmas list.

16) Thinking that you do not have to get rid of things if your goal is being more organized.

Eliminating things that take a lot of time is really the best way to have an organized family.

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