Personality Differences……Are HUGE!!!

My sister is BORN ORGANIZED, I am not!!! We shared a room our entire childhood…up till the day I got married. For a couple of years we literally had the tape down the middle…. It was mostly a visual reminder for me…. She did NOT want any of my clothes or belongings to creep over the line to her side. Now that I am looking back, she was more than gracious. Frankly, at the time I couldn’t understand why anyone would waste time making their bed when you were just going to mess it up again later. Why bother putting your clothes away when you were going to wear them again in a couple of days?? She on the other hand, made her bed EVERY morning, put away her clean clothes, kept her desk cleared off and she actually DUSTED!!! Holy Cow!!!!

Fast forward to our adult lives…… I have developed an appreciation for order. In fact I like order, I want order and I enjoy the results of order. However, achieving order and maintaining order still does not come naturally to me.

I had a conversation last week with my sister that brought these personality differences to light. She was sharing a frustration she felt with her 4 ½ year old daughter. Her daughter loves to play in her room, but she gets all of her toys out then wants help to put them away. My dear niece wants the order of everything put away, but feels extremely overwhelmed if Melissa doesn’t help. Little Melissa (my niece is the spitting image of my sister) will happily work along side her mother but left on her own to complete the task she sinks to the middle of the room and just cries. My sister’s response: Crying won’t get anything done, you are just wasting time…. Just get busy. My sister wanted to know how long Little Melissa would feel overwhelmed by the mess rather than just tackle it. (Her oldest is a born organized child that cleans his room for FUN!)

I suddenly felt a connection to my niece that I hadn’t felt before…. She is one of MY KIND… aka…not born organized!!! She wants order, but it overwhelms her, too. I didn’t want to discourage my sister, but admitted to her that I often want to sit down in the middle of a room and cry about 3 times a day!!! Dishes, Laundry and Paper Work make me feel on the verge of tears EVERY day!!!! Her shocked response: “Really??” She honestly couldn’t relate, she just does everything that needs done with out having to hardly think about it… it just comes naturally!!! She said our conversation helped her understand her daughter and helped her have some compassion….

I have often wondered why God didn’t make me a born organized person…. After all, he knew I was going to have four children!!! My sister makes keeping house look soooo easy (on top of working full time and spending time with her children and husband), why is it so hard for me????? She would respond that God gave me strengths she doesn’t have. I do tend to be a little more creative, more out going and definitely more talkative…. Those do all have their good points, I wish they just made me want to fold laundry!

What is your personality like? How does it impact your house keeping?? Does your personality impact how you set your routine and what your standards are??