A card from Fair Play by Eve Rodsky
Tidying Up, Organizing & Donations
This never-ending work includes making beds, putting toys away, finding the Legos under the couch (preferably before you buy a whole new set), and wrapping up the half a banana sitting on the counter before fruit flies infest your home. This card is a hot-button issue for many couples who often disagree on a standard for “tidy,” so before one of you claims it, get specific about how long you can both live with the toy closet that’s bursting at the seams, all the random crap accumulating under the stairwell, and the donation bags that have been sitting in the trunk of the family car for months.
Holding this card means owning all three
Conception
Things need to be organized and tidy
Planning
- Developing a system for organizing your physical home: closets, kitchen/pantry, bedrooms, playroom, office etc. and digital home: organizing computer files in consultation with “Memories & Photos” cardholder
- Taking stock of what children are currently playing with and what you can donate/ hand down
- Creating list of donated items and value for tax purposes
- Researching options for where items will be donated or family/friends to hand down to
- Identifying storage needs and measuring storage space
Execution
- Clearing/wiping counters
- Putting away toys and shoes
- Tidying throw blankets and pillows
- Safely storing important documents, including birth certificates, passports and Social Security cards
- Gathering items to be donated from “Clothes & Accessories (kids)” and “Wardrobe” cardholders
- Dropping off donations
- Purchasing storage and organizational containers
- Putting together/building storage container
Suggested Minimum Standard of Care
Does every item in your home have a proper place and is there a system to get them there? Are those that don’t get donated?
A starting point. You and your partner agree the real standard together, and the holder meets it without reminders.
Holding it well
- It’s a Daily Grind: relentless and time-bound. Make sure each of you holds a fair share of these, ideally one from each suit.
- The holder owns all of it: noticing, planning and doing. No “just tell me what to do.”
- Agree the Minimum Standard of Care together, then let the holder meet it their way.
- Not working? Bring it to the weekly check-in and re-deal it. Don’t take it back mid-week.
Put this card on your table
Deal it, agree its standard, and see who holds what. Free.