For the last week or 2, I haven't had to remind the Curly Girly Trio to put away their shoes, books and toys nearly as much as I used to. Things have been cleaner and more organized! One would think perhaps I finally shipped them off to boarding school, but actually they are in the state of O.H.I.O.
O.H.I.O- Only Handle It Once. Taking a few minutes now to save yourself time later. Putting things away immediately, so you don't forget and end up having to throw away the cheese that has gone warm.
Genius. My Mom told me about this a few weeks ago, after I was complaining about how quickly the house gets disheveled. I was so annoyed that even after I spent all morning cleaning, I was still tripping over things.
"Ohio, CGM," my Mom said.
"Huh?" I replied, trying not to sound annoyed.
"Only handle it once. Ohio. It's what all the organizing experts say," she replied.
A lightbulb went on over my head.
"It'll never work," I said, sounding a lot more negative than I like.
"It can't hurt to try, right?" the wise mother replied.
Some people are born natural organizers. I am not one of those people. I had to teach myself how to be organized and I think I've done a pretty good job (mostly). My sweet, lovely, smart daughters are also not natural organizers. I am trying my darnedest to teach them, but it is a very slow process.
I decided to start it with myself. I started small. Instead of shoving my sunglasses into my purse when I walked into a store or at home, I decided to take an extra 2 seconds to fish my case out of my purse and put the sunglasses into it. After a few days, I was shocked that I hadn't misplaced my sunglasses at all, and I no longer looked like a fool standing in the vestibule of Target trying to find my sunglasses (I love the word vestibule. It reminds me of Chandler from FRIENDS).
After I realized that this can work, I started with the girls. M came into the kitchen with a toy, mindlessly set it down and started to walk off (I'm not sure why she does this, maybe because she knows it drives me crazy.).
"Ohio!" I cried out.
"New York!" she gleefully cried back.
"No. Only handle it once. Ohio. What do you think that means?" I asked, hoping she'd get it.
"Um. . . When you are holding something put it back right away instead of putting it down?" she answered, uncertainly.
"Yes!"
She then picked it up and continued on her way. It worked!
Later, I explained to the Curly Girly Trio that we would be living in a state of Ohio, without even leaving our home.
"So, if I'm doing homework, Ohio would be putting it away as soon as I'm finished?" B asked thoughtfully.
"Yup, it might take more time now, but guess what'll happen tomorrow morning?" I replied.
"I won't be late trying to find my homework!" she answered.
The next morning, I found B sitting in the living room reading a book.
"Are you ready for school?" I asked, sure that she was still going to have to run around to get everything she needed.
"Mommy, I put everything away yesterday and I'm not in a rush this morning!" she exclaimed. It worked again!
Instead of yelling at them to put their things away, all I do is call out, "Ohio!" and they immediately walk away with the item that needs to be put away. Dishes are no longer left in the sink, but actually put into the dishwasher (not always rinsed, but we'll work on that next). As with everything that I've gleefully exclaimed works, we are in the honeymoon phase. I'm just hoping once the newness and fun of shouting, "Ohio!" wears off the lesson sticks and there's a lot less tripping over things and wondering where the homework is.
