Things My Parents have Taught Me

I'm starting a new column. It will be called: things my parents have taught me.

Fairly often I will be doing something around the house and hear my parents' voice in my ears.

Sometimes it's an admonishing tone as in:
"Don't leave those children in the bathtub unattended."

Most of the time it is simple advice or instruction that I have heard them say over and over and over --because it took that many times for me and my siblings to get it.

Here is one of my favorites:

"Always leave a room cleaner than when you entered it."


Let that sink in for a second.

If everyone adheres to that "rule" then your house will always be clean. Not everyone adheres to it at my house. In fact, I don't think I've ever told anyone at my house about it... yet!

One way I have applied that is when I walk into a room to put something away, I look around and grab something else out of the room that doesn't belong in it.

Talk about saving steps!

It's brilliant.

Mom did you come up with this on your own???

It also trains you to be: observant, intentional, slow enough paced in life that you have time to be tidy, considerate of others living with you.

Thanks Mom, thanks for saying it a million times. Thanks for training us to pick up our junk.