Let's see what I can remember... Overall, they kept things that kids needed/wanted where kids could easily get them, organized in a way that kids could easily see/understand, thus making it possible for them to put them away. (They could see it, they could reach it, they could comprehend the system for putting it away.) Storage tools included groups of clear acrylic containers for containing a variety of types/shapes of personal grooming items (girls ribbons and clips, etc.) or arts and craft supplies (crayons, markers, etc.). Also relied upon were cubes or cubbies (which, as the mother interviewed was quoted, "imply an organizational system to kids"). Kids can put things away in the way that makes sense to them, and everything is easy to see and to reach. Another great setup they had was a set of four tall built-in particle board cabinets. The door of each one looked different on the outside - some had things hanging on them, like whiteboard or corkboard, or had a different surface. Evidently, having each one look different helped the kids remember what goes inside each one (visually differentiate). Other clever things: no towel bars. Just towel hooks, where kids can reach them, and and extra hook for the bath mat, down low. clear bins for breakfast cereal (like you see in school cafeterias) with stacks of bowls underneath, so kids can get their own breakfast. Each child had their own binders for each year, containing all art and school stuff. Kids helped edit regularly ("do you want to keep this?") and saved things go in clear sleeves. Stored where kids can get them down and look at them, and put them back. Keeping "collections" in clear glass jars with screw on lids, with labels (description, date, possibly child's name). Kids can revisit any of these, take everything out, look at it, play, then put back and put away. I am sure there is also some training of the kids involved in all this, of course. But I really enjoyed reading the article. I think this issue is still on the newsstands, so you could pick it up and peruse.

No pictures, and not that I'm terribly organized, but this is what I do to avoid complete chaos in the small walk-in closet I share with DH. There is an organizer system that was installed by the PO of the house, with the right side having one bar to hang clothes and the left side a low bar and a high bar. I use the right side, and DH uses the left side. (I don't mess with his side. He tends to keep clothes that he doesn't wear for a long time, but he's pretty neat.) Starting from the left, I hang all my tops: Sleeveless Short-sleeved Long-sleeved Then pants Then skirts Then dresses Then evening wear/dressy clothes Sweaters go on the shelf above. Our closet has a pegboard attached to one wall with moveable hooks. I hang the nightgown I've worn the night before and any bras that I've worn since washing them on a couple of the hooks. (Clean nightwear and bras are kept in my dresser.) Shoes: seldom-worn shoes (dress shoes) are in a hanging cloth shoe bag on the other wall of the closet. More-often-worn shoes are theoretically in a bench by the front door, but in practice tend to be strewn about in front of the bench. But we don't have that many shoes, and it's easy to pick them up and put them in the bench.

SD10 has come from a family in Ca. that stops everything for the children. They actually run wild. Not something that I am used to at. Although SD10 is not wild, she is very well behaved, she does retain that "I am the most important person in the room" attitude. She has made progress and as her daddy makes progress (LOL) I think she will do much better. She made a comment after arriving here that sums it up quite adequitly I think. She was dead serious when she remarked..."I'm just not right anymore!"....She had never been challenged before she moved in with us. So here is a 13 year old boy and a 17 year old girl and myself refusing to be told how life works by a 7 year old....pretty funny. Dad would just let her have her way, she ran the show. Having her home for the holiday break is giving me a chance to work on things. She is limited now to 2 hours of TV unless we do a movie or something extra. She and I have played on the Wii together and she spent time at a friend's house. She was drawing in the living room when I came in here to post. I had a long talk with DS16 last night and he is missing the "old" days before I remarried. It has been difficult for him to accept SD's age/behavior. But then of course he was the youngest before she came along. I was quite sad about it, did a lot of crying and then decided that he and I should have a date night every so often. SD and dad could do a date night on the same night and that would give her his undivided attention. As far as extra activities....she is in an extra math and science class twice a week, private violin lessons once a week and church youth group once a week. We do trips to the library.....she loves to read. We also do church every Sunday and she is in Sunday school there. She has a pretty well rounded life. I do want to make sure that I am not picking on her. I know that she is doing what she has been taught and what has worked for her before the remarriage. I have to teach DH how to be part of family and not an outstanding individual so to speak. I don't mean that disrespectfully. Family dynamics from childhood play a big part in it, both on his side and mine. I remember my first SD being the same way and she was an only child not to mention the grandparents favorite. I had never seen adults stop what they were doing to watch a child dance until I met her. She wasn't even taking lessons. I thought...ok...when are we just going to sit and watch her breath!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was raised in a household where kids were to be seen and not heard and most of the time nobody even wanted to see you.

" It had games, blankets, sheets, towels, beach towels, wash cloths, hand towels, wrist/ankle/knee braces, heating pad, poison ivy wash, candles, candlesticks, votives, old cough drops, nyquil...as you can see just about everything." Sounds like this closet became the junk closet, like many people have junk drawers in their kitchens. There's nothing wrong with a catch-all closet, unless you don't like it. What I'd start with is determining what you want to store in the closet. It could be linens, but it could also be anything else that you have to store but don't have room for elsewhere. It looks like you used to store a few categories of things in the closet: 1. Linens. blankets, sheets, towels, beach towels, wash cloths, hand towels. 2. Medicine/first aid supplies: wrist/ankle/knee braces, heating pad, poison ivy wash, old cough drops, nyquil. 3. Decorative items: candles, candlesticks, votives. Or maybe these were black-out supplies? 4. Games. Storing things where you use them is a great idea. You are already doing this with the guest towels and sheets. Can you do this with any of the things you are currently storing in the closet? The games in the family room, the candles in the kitchen or living room? Or you could store all linens in the rooms they are used in (if there is storage space) and use the linen closet for games and candles and decor items. Just because someone decided to call this a linen closet doesn't mean you have to use it as one. But let's say that you decide to make the closet for linens and medicine/first aid. Spend a little time thinking about how you use your linens. Do you and DH use a clean bath towel daily, or use one for three days or use one for a week? How often do you do laundry? How often do you have overnight guests? What else do you use towels for--laying sweaters out to dry, drying a dog, wiping up spills, workouts, etc.? Get a feel for how many towels you use in a week, add in a few spares for emergencies, and you have the number of towels you need to store. Go through the same thing with sheets and pillows. Err a little on the side of too much rather than too little. I live alone and while in a decluttering mood, thought that I only needed two bath towels. Completely forgetting that I handwash most of my sweaters and need one towel to squeeze out most of the water and another to lay the sweater out on to dry. Yeah, that required a trip to the store. For small stuff, like OTC medications, I find it helpful to group them in a container. I like to use those boxes they sell for photograph storage--there are a lot of pretty ones out there. Then label the box. "Cold stuff." "First aid stuff." "Painkillers." "Braces and wraps."