Good Enough
When my kids were little, I was always desperately trying to organize and calm the chaos. I set up chore charts with such grand hopes. I created binders with laminated sheets for the boys to check off daily tasks. I bought three baby books and three school scrapbooks that were exactly the same since I wanted everything to be equal. My favorite part was, and still is, setting up the systems. I failed miserably at the implementation which is why those baby books and scrapbooks are still the same- pretty much empty.
The problem was I was purchasing things with certain ideals in mind, not at all being realistic that those ideals weren’t at all practical or realistic. I’ve since concluded that it’s the perfectionist in me that’s makes me put things off until I can do them just right, instead of good enough. In hindsight, I think that was part of my parenting. We’d put stuff off until we could do it ‘right’. The problem is perfect isn’t attainable and there’s never enough time to get it done with such high standards.
So gone are my days of perfectionism, now I’m a big believer in ‘good enough.’ Weirdly, good enough has helped me do a much better job at maintaining order. Giving up those standards has allowed me to just do stuff now even if I don’t have the time to do it in a way I would have previously considered the proper way. I had no idea that letting go of those high expectations would actually be the thing that improved my organization.
It’s like night and day the difference it’s made, but I must remember that I’m still a work in progress. I’m still tempted with new gadgets and the latest time saving gimmick and more often than not, I find out they are a huge waste of time. There have been a few good finds, but for the most part the time spent testing things out could have been better spent.
One thing that worked well when the kids were little was giving them each a color. It didn’t work with everything. I tried to have them just use their color cup, plate and bowl, thinking that I would know the culprit who left their stuff around. I quickly realized that unless I was standing over them all the time supervising the usage, they used whatever color they wanted. It worked better with their towels. I also put their laundry in their color coordinated baskets, which also worked well for the most part.
When I got wind that Trader Joe’s had their cute little mini canvas bags in stock, I hustled to grab a few, thinking they were perfect lunch sacks. I struck out at the first Trader Joe’s and on my way to the second started really thinking about my future purchase. I first planned to buy one in each of the kids’ colors- red, green and blue and decided to pick my favorite for me when I got there.
By time I pulled into the next Trader Joe’s, I decided that I really only needed one for me. I don’t make lunches for my kids anymore, their tastes aren’t the same as mine and when I was really honest with myself, I knew they would be a big waste of money. My kids wouldn’t use them. I walked in and couldn’t find the bags anywhere. As I was checking out, I asked the clerk about them. She let me know that they sold out pretty much as soon as they put them out on the shelves.
I guess I’ll live without the cute little mini Trader Joe’s bag. While it wasn’t my proudest moment driving around town to get a little canvas bag, it did remind me that often how I envision things working for me often doesn’t match reality. I thought my kids would like the cute little bags in their color and it would be a good way to keep their items separated. More likely it would have been the dishes all over again. I’m kind of relieved they were sold out so I wasn’t tempted to just give them a try. We have plenty of bags and lunch sacks that work just fine. My current lunch sack is made out of upcycled billboards and I absolutely love it. Our time is valuable and I can’t get that time back, so hopefully next time I’m tempted with the latest shiny thing, I’ll remember this lesson. At least we’re pretty stocked up with our Trader Joe’s staples.