How clutter influences parenting skills varies from person to person, but parents share common characteristics about it. According to experts, a cluttered home may well mean a cluttered mind. The spaces you live in your everyday life correspond to your inner self, in a highly cyclical process. If your mind is a mess, the spaces in your home often reflect that and begin to mirror your state of mind. Knowing this problem can help you prevent it in the first place.
Many of the way how clutter influences parenting are practical. "If a home is cluttered, it is likely difficult to find important things at the ready. Extra time may be needed to get out the door, causing you and your family frequently to be late," says Merriam Saunders, a LMFT, marriage and family therapist. Losing things, being late, being unable to find what you need can cause chronic stress. The painful feeling of being unable to do what you want, when you need to get it done.
"If children think a mess is the norm, they have no motivation to live their lives in a more organized manner and the cycle continues", says Kimberly Williams, a clinical neuropsychologist and psychologist of Long Island, New York.
Picture: David (ChildUp.com)
