In the 36 years we've been married, we have spent countless hours searching for keys. That was easily remedied by hanging a set of hooks that are designated for keys. No one is allowed to put their keys anywhere else. I even had to impose this rule for our adult children and their spouses when they visit. Life is too short to spend it looking for keys. When our kids were little we once lost a set of keys at my in-laws' house. One of the toddlers had been carrying them around and playing with them. After many hours of searching, they were found inside of a pair of cowboy boots in a bedroom closet. From that day forward, keys were no longer toys for the babies.
Now that the key problem has been successfully solved, there are places in our home that have become "drop spots" for a variety of things. The worst, and the one that's making me crazy right now, is the dining room table. When the kids lived here, we ate dinner at the table every night so it was not a problem. We had to clear it every night before dinner. Now that it's just the two of us, we eat in the living room in front of the television so the table doesn't get cleared regularly. We come in from the garage, through the kitchen, and drop whatever we're carrying on the dining room table. I can't blame it all on Grandad, we both drop stuff there. Here's what is on and around it tonight.
- a stack of t-shirts I picked up Saturday at Goodwill's half price clothing sale (to be upcycled for my Etsy Shop)
- an old non-working VCR that Grandad took out of our bedroom two weeks ago
- two bags of candles from Bath & Body Works sale last weekend
- a Tupperware cake-carrier that's been wating about a month to be returned to storage
- one of my sweaters which needs to go back to the car
- a new jacket that needs to be put away
- a bottle of Tylenol that should be in the medicine cabinet
- a metal repair kit that my son left there when he was home last about three weeks ago
- two baseball caps
- my purse
- the bag that I take to school when I sub
- a couple of empty plastic grocery bags
- a couple of reusable shopping bags that I made last week
- several note pads
- a few receipts that need to be put away
- an e-mail that Grandad printed
- the dirty t-shirt and shorts that Grandad wore to mow the lawn on Saturday
- a folding cooler and a clock that we got last week at our electric co-op's annual meeting
- and, on the floor right next to the table, Grandad's huge Crocs (size 15 shoes are a tripping hazard)
I don't really have a solution for this other than discipline and bitchiness. I will have to discipline myself not to drop and leave things there or to clear it off every night. And, if Grandad doesn't take the hint, I'll have to get bitchy about it. I'll let you know how it goes.
