Does Messy Matter?
b'Does messy matter? In our kids\\u2019 rooms, in our front halls, in our kitchens?\\n\\xa0We\\u2019re not talking about hoarder-level mess; we\\u2019re talking about the tendency toward entropy and chaos in any house with multiple children who play two travel sports and/or bring home backpacks brimming with loose slips of paper every afternoon.\\n\\xa0Margaret\\u2019s house is pretty messy, and that stresses her out.\\n\\xa0Amy\\u2019s house is pretty neat, but keeping things that way stresses her out.\\n\\xa0In this episode, we talk about how to manage both our household chaos and our expectations around it. We discuss:\\n\\xa0\\n\\xa0why keeping the toy room too neat may stifle your children\\u2019s creativity\\n\\xa0the value of a decorative box\\n\\xa0the importance of (once in a while) going \\u201cback to one\\u201d\\n\\xa0why making beds is either the most important thing you can do OR the biggest waste of a daily minute\\n\\xa0\\n\\xa0Here\\u2019s links to some further reading on the topic that we also discuss in this episode:\\n\\xa0Laura Vanderkam: The Magic in a Messy Playroom\\nAlison Gerber for Apartment Therapy: Dirty Little Secrets of Tidy Families\\nGretchen Rubin: Drowning in Clutter? Observe the One-Minute Rule\\nalso Gretchen Rubin:\\xa0what she\\u2019s found to be the most popular happiness-making resolution\\nABC News: Study Says Tidy or Messy Environment Can Impact Decisions and Behavior\\nLauren Cunningham for Her View From Home: I Keep a Clean House. Can We Still Be Friends? \\nWe want to hear from YOU for an upcoming episode! What\\u2019s the \\u201chow old is old enough to\\u2026\\u201d question you\\u2019re struggling with at your house?\\xa0Maybe it\\u2019s how old is old enough to get a phone\\u2026 or how old is old enough to babysit\\u2026. or how old is old enough to walk home from school alone. Tell us in the comments- or click on the gray microphone on the right sidebar and leave us a Speakpipe message!\\n(photograph by Sue Barr)\\n\\xa0\\n\\xa0\\n\\xa0\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices'