Grace, I looked this thread up just to let you know that your post has improved my life! LOL. I have struggled with organization all my life. (OK, Let's be honest, I ignore it and those around me struggle.) Anyhow, I never forgot your stacking baskets 'cause I have containers of all shapes and sizes strewn all over my sewing room. So I kept an eye out and the other day I got a bunch of stacking boxes very inexpensive from Big Lots. Mine are seethough plastic and have lids with grooves in them where the bottom of the next box fits right in the groove. You can stack them quite high and they are totally stable. I got two sizes and they are AWESOME and I am THRILLED to have my ongoing projects neatly stacked where I can get in and out of them without digging through piles of cr@p! So thanks for the great idea!!!

I was diagnosed with ADHD with depression and anxiety about 6 months ago, at the age of 60. Your daughter is exhibiting typical ADHD behaviors, the depression is an add-on, not the main problem. (I'm not minimizing depression because it is all that the first responder says it is.) Prozac may help the depression, but it isn't enough to help her manage the ADHD, which will be a life-long effort. Her inability to remember things is typical, as are her poor time management skills, lack of organization and inability to get things done. (Carrying a purse would not necessarily help unless she learned to always put her keys into it. If not, she'd have two things to lose.) She should seek treatment with someone knowledgeable about ADHD. It probably should include medication, but also coaching, counseling and support groups. From experience I can tell you that she is probably trying as hard as she can, but nothing works. Expecting her to manage her life like everyone else does is pointless and a waste of time. She cannot. Her brain is wired differently from non-ADHD people and she has to learn other ways of managing. It will take patience, persistence, support, education and outside help from experts. All of my life I was told that I was just lazy or could do better if I just tried harder. I was told I should be a straight A student because my test scores were so high. I didn't get in trouble in school, but I struggled with organization, getting homework done on time, and class participation. Like many people with ADHD I am very intelligent and capable of hyperfocusing, occasionally, if something really gets my attention. I have raised procrastination to an art form because I just cannot make myself start things and even if I finally do get started, I can't concentrate long enough to finish them. I am easily distracted and sometimes feel my mind drift right in the middle of a conversation. Even when I try to focus, I can't remember details. I have to read sentences and paragraphs 5-6 times to understand them and only a few minutes later cannot tell you about what I read. I have never fit in, even with family, and have few friends. My brain doesn't filter thoughts so I blurt out whatever pops into my head. Tact definitely isn't my strong suit. I avoid social situations because I can't count on not saying or doing the wrong thing. I react to things without thinking first and my angry reactions are often over the top for no apparent reason. Impulsivity and inattention are characteristics of people with ADHD, whose brains cannot organize and filter out the unimportant things from those things that matter. There is never just one thing going on in my head and the noise is sometimes unbearable. Everything is overwhelming and the harder I try, the worse it gets. I have spent my entire life struggling because no matter how smart, talented or capable I was, I just couldn't do what everyone else could. I'd write myself lists and then lose the lists. I'd start washing dishes and notice a spot on the window, so I'd stop and clean the window, and then I'd stop to watch the neighbors dog playing, suddenly remembering I forgot to pay a bill and open my computer, log on and pay the bill. While online, I'd check email and then look up a recipe for something I planned to bake. Before closing down, I'd take a break to play a game of solitaire or 5. Suddenly, 3 hours had passed since I started the dishes and they were still in the sink! Spending is also common. Impulse buying, not paying bills on time, and just generally not being disciplined with money are often present with ADHD. Self-soothing or self-medicating with caffeine, over-eating, alcohol, drugs, etc. is common. ADHD brains need stimulation to stay engaged. This can take the form of external things, like shopping, or internal stimulation, like creating conflicts with others. I could go on forever, but the best thing I can say is to please, educate yourself about ADHD and try to help your daughter learn about it, too. You can't force her, but reproaching her for her failures is doing nothing but reinforcing her own sense of being a failure. Edward Hallowell writes extensively about ADHD. His "Driven From Distraction" is a very good source of information. (Hallowell, like many of the people who write about ADHD or ADD, has it himself.) Melissa Orlov writes books and has an online site about the effects of marriage when one or both partners has ADHD. (It was eye-opening and for someone like me with one ADHD-impacted, failed marriage, truly devastating.) C.H.A.D.D. is a good national online resource with a huge database of information and local support groups. Medication is helpful for many people with ADHD and is the first line of treatment. (It shouldn't be the only treatment.) The first time I took a stimulant it was like my brain snapped to attention. I got ready for work with more efficiency than I ever had. I packed my lunch without opening the refrigerator door and staring into it for inspiration even once! My husband noticed the difference immediately. It helps me pay attention and it quiets at least a few of the voices in my head. Because I can focus, I have more energy and actually get more done. I remember things better and my husband and family can count on me more than they could before. I also see a counselor and have worked with an executive function coach. Both have helped. This week I am going to my first CHADD support group. I would give anything to have been diagnosed when I was a child or even a young woman. Maybe I would have done something worthwhile with my life, and maybe I would have been a better, more consistent parent. I might even have made a success out of my first marriage. Who knows, maybe I would have finished my B.A. while in my 20s, instead of at 60. Certainly I would have been happier. ADHD IS HEREDITARY. CHANCES ARE YOUR DAUGHTER INHERITED IT FROM ONE OF HER PARENTS AND THE ODDS ARE SOME OR ALL OF HER CHILDREN WILL HAVE IT. Contrary to popular belief, it is neither something that afflicts mostly boys, nor is it something people outgrow, and not everyone has the "H" of hyperactivity. To build a life that is not one long demoralizing struggle your daughter needs treatment for ADHD. Your support and understanding will help. If you can remember that behind the defenses and off-putting coping mechanisms she has built over the years, your daughter is probably frustrated over her inability to cope and hurting because she doesn't know why she has such a hard time with everything. For her sake and the sake of her children, I hope she gets help.

Nancy, I love those clever shoe-storing ottomans; I wish I had the need for yet another ottoman. I confess to having an out-of-hand shoe situation, and I really need to address it before DH throws them (and ME!) out on the driveway. Fact is, I like shoes. A lot. My problem is I don't have one of those humongous walk-in closets with dedicated shoe storage, it is smaller, and I have had to improvise- with tiered racks, with those hanging shoe thingies, and just shoving them here and there. Mostly they end up in various places after I wear them. I am fooling myself if I think that I will dutifully bring the ones I wear the most back upstairs. I told DH the other day that I was going to address this situation, and I will. I am thinking about sticking a little tiered wired rack into our front hall closet, and will line up some of the most often used shoes there. That is the closet he throws them in when they assault his visual space. OR maybe I will install shelves, low to the floor, where I can make the most of the space. I will need to ponder this. I also want to see ML's kitchen reveal!

As a former homeschooler, who shifted children between Catholic elementary school and homeschooling, and who later went to work at her children’s school when the last of her many children was in junior high, I learned, and was shocked, at how few the materials school teachers actually have at their finger tips. Too much homeschool stuff often derails the family. I’m still dejunking homeschool supplies now 25+ years after I started, and will probably die with my math manipulatives-they are just too amazing to let go of. Four of my children are college graduates, a couple of them have advanced degrees. My baby is in high school. Anyway, the homeschool mother juggles her own sanity, a tight budget, limited space and the busy children she isn’t interacting with at any particular moment. Little time for the marriage. Often pregnant or nursing a baby. The appearance and decor of her home slides to the bottom of her priorities. The mistake is is believing that more educational stuff will buy her time, patience, energy, and brilliant children. By the time I realized this, I was drowning in materials and curricula. Of course, online access has changed so much. Things are simpler in many ways. To the OP, you owe yourself a home that brings you peace. Use closable storage, not open shelving. This is important. You will be more likely to invite people over if you can simply close your school things behind cabinet doors. Conserve your energy. Tidying up open shelving is exhausting! Homeschooling should not wipe out the balance of family life when school is done for the day. I might suggest looking at tall cabinets on Amazon. Sometimes the are called Pantry Cupboards, and are about 6 feet tall and 32” wide. being able to close doors over stuff is really important, in terms of visual order. You might also store things in milk crates that go under the table at the end of the day. Those rolling carts that you can find at Target are awesome too. If you you can afford it, perhaps get a tall cabinet or locker for each child. You can keep your teacher materials on the tops shelves and let the child determine how he wants to store his possessions. Or maybe a math cabinet (with manipulatives), a craft cabinet, science cabinet, library, etc. Also, storing like things in one place is a constant reminder of exactly what you have. This is very important, in so many ways!