The Clothes Closet

Lately I have let Ricki take a lot more responsibility concerning folding her own laundry and putting it away in her closet. Unfortunately, this invariably results in the closet becoming a big unsorted mess within short order. So every once in a while I go through the closet, refolding and arranging the clothing in a semblance of order.
Than, Saturday night (after straightening up in the living room), Ricki decided (again on her own), to “arrange” her closet. When she finished, she called me over with pride to show me her handiwork.
She had put the winter clothes on the shelf that is easiest to reach, and her everyday clothing way down at the bottom. Her bras (which were currently all in the wash or the yet-to-be-folded-laundry had not been assigned a place at all. The closet NEEDED some intervention on my part.
But I didn’t want to crush her pride at her own initiative, nor to give her the feeling that the job was “mine”.
So after a few well-accented “oohs and ahhs”, I pointed out to Ricki that it would be to her advantage to place what she needed most on the shelf which is easiest to reach. But I made it clear that SHE would decide which place on the shelf we would place each type of item. So as a team we rearranged the closet, me making a few general points, but encouraging her to decide the small details. It worked well, and today I see a more careful stance being taken by my daughter as she puts the laundry away. She now puts each item into the correct area, rather than chucking it in haphazardly (just to get the job over and done with…). GRIN