Out of order

The month before a wedding is usually a busy time to all those involved. It was no different for my son and his fiancée. Both had work, school and a new apartment they were making into a home. Often, each one would find themselves at the apartment alone for a few minutes here and there. Both were very excited about moving in after the wedding.


One day, my daughter-in-law had a little extra time. She used it to put her kitchen together. She was delighted with the results! Her very own kitchen- I remember that feeling, don’t you? Anyway, she left feeling pleased and satisfied.

Imagine her chagrin when upon arriving at the apartment a few days later she found that my son had redone many of the cupboards!! She was crushed! She felt like a loser who couldn’t even put soup, corn or sugar away right! It was devastating!

I heard the story a few years after it had happened. Upon hearing it, I dropped my face to my hands and mumbled my apologies. She looked surprised as she replied, “Why are you sorry? You don’t even know what he did.”

Lifting my head to look her in the eyes, I said, “Oh, yes, I do. He lined up all the cans of corn together, then beans, applesauce, etc. Didn’t he?”

The answer, of course, was yes. She had never seen it done that way before and he had never seen it done any other way. In our family, when organized in such a way, putting the food away after shopping was easy enough for a toddler to do. So, often, it was the toddler’s job. They could match the pictures and stack cans. What toddler doesn’t love that?

It also became easier to send a non reading child for what was needed. They could see the pictures.

The biggest benefit of all was how easy it was to see what was needed at the store or for dinner by just a quick glance at the shelves! When possible, I keep all my food in a closet or small room rather than spread out in a bunch of closed cupboards. I do this so I can see it all at once. This does not apply to much used items like baking things but again, all my baking things are in one or two cupboards. I can make chocolate chip cookies while standing in one spot. I’m not looking thru cupboards for the items I need.

These simple habits have saved money and sanity many times over the years. By the time, my daughter-in-law shared the story with me she had seen how well the plan works. I apologized to her for having been so anal about it during my son’s growing up years. I now apologize to my other daughters-in-law as well as any future daughters-in-law. And to my children, there is no right or wrong way to stack cans, there are no can police that will come to get you, different is just different!

That’s the view from my side of the street today, what’s yours?