EP 10: The One Where Your Family Gets on Board

“Do you ever find yourself busy running around tidying up and no one else is helping? Yeah, we’re not going to do that anymore.” On today’s episode of Getting Organized for Good, host Corinne Morahan will show you how you can get your family involved in the household organizing and decluttering. Citing studies which illustrate the mental and emotional aspect of clutter, she’ll explain the benefits of organizing, and why onboarding your spouse and children—even if they don’t share your enthusiasm—will make for a smoother household, where everyone feels more peaceful and has more fun. 

You’ll learn some sample scripts to help you make your needs known clearly to each member of your family—after all they can’t read your mind. She’ll explain why it’s OK for kids to push back and why you shouldn’t wait until you and your spouse are on the same page, as well as why you shouldn’t expect perfection. She’ll share her daughter’s after school routine and how she’s saved them both several fights and hectic mornings. 

Corinne will also share a story from her son’s time at summer camp as an example of the values family organizing instills in our children as they make their way out into the world. Learning that they need to contribute to household chores not only teaches them resilience and responsibility, it fosters in them the kind of confidence and empowerment that only comes from mastering new skills.  

Quotes

• “I felt like the responsibility to keep our house and life going was mine and mine alone.” (1:49 | Corinne Morahan)

• “I want you to hear this loud and clear: You do not have to be perfect to be deserving of help.” (2:44 | Corinne Morahan)
• “So many of us want it to matter as much to our partner as it does to us, and that is leaving us broken and resentful. If we are waiting for it to matter to them as much as us to do something about it, we’re going to be waiting a long time.” (6:00 | Corinne Morahan) 
• “People can’t read our minds, the same way we can’t read other people’s minds. How often do we think someone is thinking something and we are way off base. So, we need to be super clear on our ask.” (9:41 | Corinne Morahan)
• “Even though she might push back—and she’s allowed, kids are allowed to complain, they don’t have to do these things happily, they just have to do them. And so even though she may push back, she will still get it done.” (11:57 | Corinne Morahan)