“Mom, I’m Feng Shuing my room!” hollered my 9-year-old son from the top of the stairs.
Um, what? How does he even know what that is? were among the multitude of thoughts that ran through my head followed by: This I’ve got to see!
So I went upstairs and saw where he had started to move his furniture away from the walls, pull out everything from under his bed, rip stuff off his bulletin board, and make a big pile of what I gathered were the non-Feng Shui-worthy items in the hall (e.g Star Wars Legos, old Valentine’s cards from 2 years ago). In short, he was making a gigantic mess. But isn’t this what I tell my organizing clients when we first start an organizing project which makes their house look even more disastrous for a bit? You have to crack a few eggs to make an omelet.
Nathan was cracking eggs left and right.
He was working off a list he had made for himself (see above pic) with ideas copied from National Geographic Kids’ Almanac 2013.
And 2 hours later, this was the result:
I was really impressed! He did a great job!
Nathan said he wanted to “Feng Shui” his room because the book said it would increase his wealth, give him better luck, give him better grades and things like that.
So the professional organizer in me started thinking that for all of you parents out there struggling with your children’s messy bedrooms: Maybe introducing Feng Shui ideas to them — especially the ones about getting better grades and more money — might inspire them to clean up their rooms more effectively than threatening or nagging them would.
What do you think? Meanwhile, I will let you know how Nathan’s changes to his room affect him a few months from now. I’m kind of curious to see myself!
