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THE WOMAN'S WEEKLY |
Turn your husband into Mr. Neat by Gabrielle L. Gabrielle Article excerpts . . . If he never puts anything away . . . Socks, mail, papers, he brings home from work--wherever he drops them, there they stay. In a single afternoon, your husband can fill your tabletops with clutter that would take you a month to accumulate! What does that say about him? Deep down he's insecure. "He'll avoid putting anything away--even when it's not being used--since he's afraid he'll forget that he has it," says Maria Gracia, author of Finally Organized, Finally Free. Therefore, the more stuff he has in plain sight, the better he feels. Which means . . . The easy way to get him to tame his messy ways is . . . baskets and more baskets to let him keep his stuff out in the open and neat at the same time, says Gracia. And this is a guy who won't be able to resist shelves, pegboards, and hooks, she reveals--so hang a few, and watch the clutter disappear! If he stuffs everything away with no rhyme or reason . . . "Whenever I leave anything out, even for a reason--sometimes I set out ingredients for a recipe the night before--my husband shoves it just anywhere!" says Patricia Saunders, a 33-year-old accountant and mom from Phoenix. "So all our drawers and closets are a mess! We argue about it all the time, but he still does it." That's because this is a guy who equates a clear space with a clear mind, so he can't stand when anything is out in the open, Gracia explains. That means . . . The easy way to get him to tame his messy ways is . . . taking him on a tour of your kitchen cabinets and closets, to show him where stuff goes, and even labeling your pantry shelves "canned goods," "cereal," and so on. "Believe it or not," says Gracia, "this kind of guy will be releived to know that everything has its place and he'll be eager to put it there." If he's a pack rat . . . You desperately need more room, but he just can't bear to part with any of his stuff. Why does he get so attached to everything? Because your loyal, loving guy treasures it as a link to his past. So . . . The easy way to get him to tame his messy ways is . . . "shrinking his memorabilia! He won't let you throw anything away, but he'll probably agree to 'rotate' his collection," says Gracia. So you can tuck away that spaceship model he made when he was 10. Another trick? Take a picture of say, that old bicycle, frame it and display it. "If you capture the memory for him, he won't need the actual object around him," says Gracia. (c) Copyright March, 2000 -- Woman's World Return to the Get Organized Now!™ About Us Page Return to the Get Organized Now!™ Home Page |