Children's Understanding of Space & Organization - General/Family Life

This post isn't a knock at the school districts nor an attack at school systems in general, it is a direct appointed opinion based off of witnessing other parents/parenting styles at play in society. This post is my take on the fact that I believe the success rate of the academic life of a child depends on how the upbringing of that child is/was. If you're asking, "what do you mean?" Then here we go!

I started noticing with a more critical eye how other parents and specifically mothers were, since my children were born. It was a re-evaluation and recalibrating of thought process and systems I was going to put into action, but the core belief and the core foundation of what leads my parenting style is both biblical as well as evolving the past parenting styles. It's kind of sad really, because we literally cannot raise our kids the way our parents raised us unless you started since pregnancy! One of the main contributors as to why we can't raise our kids the way we grew up is that the world we grew up in no longer exists.

I never understood the completely disarrayed houses of family's whether they had one child or ten! My mother and her mother and the mothers before those, all instilled the rule of "you play with one toy at a time, and you pick up what you aren't playing with." Granted I won't lie its harder and harder to remind for some reason as children get older, but I don't care if I'm a damned tape recorder as long as it stays in their little heads! Also as a rational OCD working professional who likes documentation and logs or a data entry logging archive, I decided very quickly how I wanted to reinforce certain things, so hence all the organization and different home pictures I've taken of the years.

The method to my madness is to be able to reinforce visually that they can't refute or deny because they lived it and I raised them in it, so it's not just a story or she said baseline of correction and discipline. They can actually see what I'm discussing or arguing or disciplining them about firsthand because they weren't slobs before and I never raised them that way. Some of you "free spirit" parents will most likely read this and think "but their just kids" - yea and then when they're slobs or can't take care of themselves make sure you have that mirror nearby to look at yourself...

Now I do fully understand that not all families are blessed with big spaces or separate rooms and so forth, which is why the size of your home has to come into play in how you organize things for your children and your parenting style...I always had and will always have my daughters sharing a bedroom until the appropriate time, same with their toys room or area of play-but what they will never have is that the family room or where family members stay to visit be basically another toys room for all their toys and books and items thrown everywhere! Heck no! So shared spaces and environments was a first in my book and striving for a visually vast space was always my goal so that they felt it big enough to play separately and be able to see all that they had to play with. 

My second goal was to always provide them their own space to call their own with the responsibility that came with that space. Mommy would help and they understood it, but it was always up to them, and it was their first chore always. My mother was a huge help to reinforce that home rule while they were growing up, and she was helping me while I worked outside the home. Kids flourish when they are given a responsibility and do it well; shoot even when they don't do it well it provides them the ability to cope with their own sense of failure but that they can try again later and do it better once more.

A different home with a more confined space but that's alright considering how they were trying to place focused attention on tasks AND were specifically playing with very little categories of toys. This toys room and the daily life was definitely more outdoors and in the family room for their growth in this home, I remember vividly...

What we always end up doing is after a move, everything is placed in their designated rooms and storage areas but then soon thereafter once the entire house is situated in the daily functions and all boxes have been unpacked! 

I start to look into organizing/reorganizing or perhaps just trying to find a better flow for the children to continue to progress in their little lives. So, I've always placed close attention to what they play with and what they don't so as to find the right bins, storage containers, give away/donate, or just repurpose on a shelf somewhere else. It may start a certain way but then the end result is more functional and cleaner for them.

Now we're coming into the actual toys room. This was always one of the best lit rooms of the entire house, not just saying that either. I was determined to ensure that the lights were in the right locations for their photometrics of the light rays for both reading and play!

Below is when we cleaned out and cleared out material, items, and toys that were just not used any longer and could be donated. A little more uniformity and balancing out of how much "ownership" from each sister had in the room. 

What our children start doing since birth become the habits (whether good or bad) that as a parent we discern if its right or wrong to prepare them and guide them, because if they grow up unprepared (organized, clean, tidy, etc) it's no one's fault but your own... 

Sincerely,

A Distinct Woman