The Best Laid Plans Oft Go Awry

Or officially, "The best laid schemes O' Mice an 'Men gang aft agley" ~ Robert Burns


Our family enters the house through the garage and into the kitchen. This is a high traffic area and there's not a lot of space, so this created a need for somewhere to place coats, shoes, boots, and backpacks so we're not tripping over it trying to get in and out of the house. So I asked Mike to take just a little room out of the garage for a closet in the kitchen. It turned out great, if I do say so myself, and I can still get my car in the garage.

One half of the closet is for canned goods, bathroom supplies, and extra linens. The other half has shoe shelves (one for each person), some hooks down low for the kids' coats and backpacks, and a coat rack up high for the bigger folks. Unfortunately this was too much trouble for my children, and rather than continually fight a losing battle, I opted to purchase a picnic basket from Good Will for $4.99 into which they could throw their shoes. The basket is located outside of the closet up against a wall. Easy peasy!

I want to know where I went wrong with this idea. I thought it'd be easier for the kids to throw their items into a basket instead of going to the huge hassle of 1.) opening the closet door; 2.) putting their shoes on a shelf and 3.) closing the closet door. Instead, they need only to take aim and throw their shoes into the basket. And if this "basket system" is used effectively, their shoes will be there when they need them again, thus avoiding last minute dashes through the house looking for the mate to a pair of shoes. Instead, I have this:






Again I ask you, "Where did I go wrong?" Should I have just gotten them a pair of flip flops and called it a day? Am I a horrible parent for giving my children a couple pairs of shoes from which to choose or to ask them to keep said shoes contained in a conveniently located basket? It's parental moments like this that make me want to bang my head against a wall.