One of these days I’m going to be an organized person. I’ve recently realized the necessity of order and organization in relation to shoes. No, it wasn’t taught to me by teaching, graduate school, study sessions lasting months and covering thousands of pages of material, a masters thesis, or even a dissertation proposal — it was shoes. The shoes, of course, belong to our son. How, you wonder, could a child teach me anything about organization with a pair of shoes. The answer is that he didn’t. He taught me about organization with one shoe (not a pair).
Being responsible for our son during the day is a joy. It really is. I’ve had to increase the amount of time it takes to prepare to leave. I used to be able to just walk out the door. No more. Diapers, wipes, crackers, water, books, a ball or two, an extra pair of clothes, etc. — all of these items must be checked, refreshed, and taken anywhere. When I need to leave the house it is quite the task. Since our son is such a good walker now and is occasionally spending some time with friends it became important to bring shoes as he would be doing something while we were out. The trips became more than errands and turned into events for our son. One day I couldn’t find two shoes that matched.
Since that day we have removed books from our bookshelf to create a dedicated “baby” shelf that holds all of his items. His shoes immediately find their way to that shelf when we return home. If they don’t find their way to the shelf then I’ll be preparing to leave and run out of time because I can’t find a pair of shoes. This is how our son taught me about organization with one shoe. Thanks son!