As parents, we’re often summoned mid-tidy. Yesterday, as I rolled the clean unpaper towels back onto the roll, my child wanted my help with something non urgent. My impulse was to stop, mid-roll, and go, but I remembered my rule: Always try to complete a task before moving on to the next. When we interrupt what we’re doing, we not only leave a mess behind, but we have to carry the task in our mind as we try to remember to get back to it. It distracts us as we give our time, and when we forget what we were doing, this creates a kind of mental friction, a stress that builds as the day’s interruptions compound. This is why it’s important to set a small personal boundary: As soon as I finish what I am doing, I will help. The to do list shrinks, rather than grows, and we can be fully present in the moments we give.
Boundaries like this one maintain calm, keep our space tidier, and, what’s more, they teach our children patience. Patience may be a virtue, but it is one that is learned, and as parents, we must teach it. We can start by honoring our seemingly insignificant home care tasks. My child asked for my help as I rolled the reusable paper towels onto the cardboard roll that we’ve used for a decade. “Sure,” I said, “as soon as I finish what I am doing.” What happened a minute later when I went to help? He had figured out a solution himself. In the area of recovery, there is a lot of focus on the result of setting a boundary. In being too available, we cross our own boundaries, and give more than we can. When we give more than we should regularly, we enable. Enabling results in an imbalance, where children learn to be carried and supported by others, rather than themselves. Though it’s just a simple rule, to finish a task at hand, when we honor ourselves and our objective at a given moment, we set the foundation for a healthy household. Sometimes, tidying isn’t about a a special product, technique or schedule, but a shift in mindset. Small shifts add up to significant change.
About Flannel Paper Towels
I made my first set from vintage flannel a decade ago. We have been using the same cardboard paper towel tube for 10 years now. Flannel paper towels roll back onto the paper towel roll. No snaps needed. Each set of flannel towels tends to last about 3-4 years. To be fair, I am still using flannel towels from before the Pandemic. As my paper free towels are on display on the counter, I tend to update them when they get less pretty. The old set is then retired to the drawer basket for messy jobs. Need a set of paperless towels? Reach out to me. I make unpaper towels from salvaged flannel, and have several designs to choose from. As always, everything is made locally and sustainably by me.