Don't pass it up, pick it up...

Throughout my childhood, my mother used to annoy me with a little chant that she'd burst into.... "Don't pass it up, pick it up, and put it up!"  (She was a cheerleader in her pre-motherhood life, can't you tell?)    I think she got tired of all the "stuff" laying around the house, sitting on the staircase, hiding in closets.  As an annoyed teenager, I'd huff-and-puff and whine and finally pick up my things and carry them up the stairs to my room where they would promptly go on the floor.  At least once a week, she would venture into the chaos and clutter of my private quarters where she would burst into another of her special verses, "Anything left on the floor will be confiscated forever!"  (This one was sometimes put to her own made-up musical chorus, usually sung out of tune in an annoying mom way.)

Well, as we've read in previous posts, I've grown up.  And, guess what?  I've become my mother.   I can't stand the clutter frequently sitting around the living areas of my home!  While my son has not yet reached the teenage years when I'm sure we will both drive each other insane, he IS at the five-year-old and I don't want to pick up my toys stage.   I usually just poke and prod at him until he helps me throw toys into miscellaneous bins and boxes stashed about our home.  Since he is reading on his own now, though, we worked together to come up with names for each of his storage containers.   I'm now convinced that because he CAN read them on his own that he will start putting his toys away by himself since each precious Batman, lego car, and Wii cartridge has its own special place. 

While some may think that this re-organization of the playroom is just part of my master plan to spend more money at Pottery Barn Kids and Target, (c'mon, those monogrammed baskets and buckets are too cute to pass up!)  I really am hoping to instill a sense of order to the chaos and teach some valuable habits.  I'll do just about anything to avoid singing the "Don't pass it up, pick it up" song that I can almost hear happening a few years from now...in that same annoying out-of-tune mom way!

The result of our playroom "makeover" truly makes me smile on this Memorial Day!