Organize The Nightstand | Organizational Challenge Week #28

We’ve spent the last few —figurative, I hope— weeks in the bathroom. This week, we will begin organizing the bedroom. If you have older kids, you may wish to tell them to get started on their own rooms. If you have young children, you’ll want to lend a hand to ensure the mess doesn’t just get moved from one spot to the other.

This week your mission is to clear and organize the nightstand(s). If you keep yours clear, just go ahead and feel smug while the rest of us eliminate the accumulation.

It can be amazing how many different things get piled on or around a nightstand.

Do you have a pile of already-read books that should be relocated to your shelves or returned to the library? Magazines? Cups? It’s time to clear it off.

How about that drawer? Let’s give that a quick clean-out, too.

Parent Tip One: Drawer Locks

One of my favorite movies is older but timeless. Parenthood with Steve Martin, from 1989. There is a scene with a large family gathering, the power goes out, and everyone scatters to find flashlights. When the lights come on, someone has found an item that is most definitely not a flashlight.

Protect your privacy. It doesn’t have to be anything that dramatic. It could be anything that you don’t want your curious little bundle of joy to ask questions about. A simple tool like magnetic drawer locks can keep curious little fingers out of your more private items and hopefully keep some embarrassing questions for controlled environments. You will never prevent all of them.

Oh, but Heather, I never take my eyes off my child. Bless your little cotton socks. I wish you many more years of continued perfect GI health and perfect parental radar.

Parent Tip Two: Charging Station

If you have children, consider adding a charging station to your bedroom. After a certain hour, all devices that belong to the kids or teens in the house are turned off and plugged in.

It doesn’t have to be fancy. It could just be a power strip, depending on your space needs.

The important part is that the station is in your room. Having a charging station elsewhere in the house makes it far too tempting for any bored kid to get their device quietly. But Heather, my kid would never! I was the goody-two-shoes. The child who didn’t appear to get into trouble. . . as far as my parents and teachers knew. Don’t assume. Those kids can experience and hide a lot.

I found quiet, insidious—now that I’m an adult and think about it— trouble to get into. I used to get up in the middle of the night and play on the precursor to the internet. I’d stretch that long phone cord out and try to muffle the screech of the modem, and I was never caught. My parents never knew, but that doesn’t mean it was harmless.

How much easier could a kid like me get into trouble now? Reduce the opportunity. The point at which this practice ends is up to you and your child.

Don’t forget to turn the devices off so the notifications don’t keep you up.