Susan has this thing she does called “the Rule of Fives.” The Rule of Fives isn’t implemented all the time — it’s more like martial law, something that’s declared only in times of need. When the living room gets so full of kid toys, dirty clothes and who knows what else, Susan declares the Rule of Fives. When the Rule of Fives is declared, Susan refuses to walk through the living room without picking up five items and putting them where they go. It doesn’t matter if it’s five pieces of clothing, trash, or whatever. The idea is that everytime she walks through the room, five things get picked up.
Today, I am implementing the rule of five-hundred-thousands. My goal is to pick up 500,000 things every time I walk through the living room. My goal is to have the living room clean, or at least presentable, by the time Susan gets home late tonight.
I’ve found baskets work wonderfully. I have baskets with handles, and after the grandkids come to visit, I just sit down in the floor and put everything within my reach in a basket. Then they go to the kids room until the next visit. No sense putting them away, because the kids just go get the basket and dump it in the floor the next time they come. Instant chaos, and almost as quick a cleanup. I used to try to sort them, cars, little people, animals for the zoo, etc. Forget it. The only things that get sorted are legos into the big hamper, foam dominos into the square basket, books on the shelf (or into a big basket.) Life is so much easier! Maybe you need to buy some baskets!
Mom
That’s funny about the baskets. If you look around our house, we have baskets everywhere for just that. Problem is, we never sort stuff out – we just keep buying more baskets!!! Mason’s room is almost full of them.