Quick Organizing Tip
When you’re parenting a child with ADHD who has “Mess” as a middle name, it’s the little things that count.
I came across an organizing tip that is absolutely thrilling. Life changing! I’ll share it with you. But first, you have to promise not to laugh.
With a child with ADHD creating chaos in a house, stashing, stowing, and sorting stuff becomes a full-time job. That’s why I was so happy to find just one little, itty-bitty but oh-so-satisfying no-cost tip that really works.
It’s for corralling plastic grocery bags. Don’t just shove them in the cupboard under the kitchen sink. Stuff them in an empty facial tissue box. When the box is full, you have enough. Do not — repeat: do not — keep any more. Throw the rest away.
Okay, I couldn’t quite follow those directions to the letter. I had to take it to the next level.
I have an empty tissue box stuffed with plastic grocery bags in each bathroom, where I reuse them as trash bags. If all the tissue boxes are full, any additional plastic bags go immediately into the trunk of my car for drop-off at the public library, where they are reused by library customers.
I know, I know, an even better solution to my plastic grocery bag storage problem would be to eliminate accumulating them in the first place, by packing groceries in cloth or canvas bags. That’s an organizing challenge I’ve yet to master. I have several reusable bags, but actually getting them into the car, and then remembering to take them into the grocery store with me is a skill that, so far, eludes me. I’ll get there, I promise.
Until I do, I’m just happy — unreasonably, disproportionately happy — to have this one tiny challenge figured out. After all, when you’re parenting a child with ADHD who has “Mess” as a middle name, it’s the little things that count.
I think the credit for this tip goes to Real Simple magazine, but I didn’t organize myself well enough to keep track of my source. One step forward, two steps back. Oh, well. My bags are stored away neatly, and I’m happy.
