The Leave No Trace Principle

When you have a house full of boy scouts, I think it's a good idea to remind them that the Leave No Trace Principle applies to more than just the wilderness.  And it's not just them! Wrapped up in self-importance, all of us forget sometimes, that there are other people in this house; and those people would rather not clean up our mess!

Imagine if we went throughout the day, cleaning up our own messes, plus a little extra (because no one is perfect)...Aah.  Wouldn't that be glorious??  Here are some ideas:

KITCHEN
After Snacks-Your place plus 5 things
After Meals-Your place plus 10-20 things
While Cooking-Clean while waiting (for water to boil, the microwave to ding, etc.)

BATHROOM
1 Thing to make the bathroom better EVERY TIME you use it.

ZONE
1 Part of your zone each day (dusting OR vacuuming OR organizing a shelf OR decluttering OR sweeping OR polishing, etc.)

LAUNDRY
Fold and distribute laundry as it comes out of the dryer.
Complete your personal loads on your laundry day.
Monday-Mom & Noah
Tuesday-Daniel
Wednesday-Sam
Thursday-Josh

OTHER ANNOYING AREAS
3-5 things to make it better each time you are annoyed with it (paper piles, messy drawers, forgotten spill, etc.)

OUTSIDE
Pick up trash immediately, return all tools and equipment to their proper place, finish the job and be a boy scout by leaving no trace!

Guess I was born in the Olden Days

Noah: How old do I have to be before I can get an email?
Mom: Ummm...ten.
Noah: What?! Not 'til then??
Mom: I was going to say twelve.
Noah: But how old were you when you got an email?
Mom: Nineteen.
Noah: Oh...wait a second. Why did it take you so long for your dad to get you an email address??
Mom: Because it didn't really exist before that.
Noah: Oh.
Mom:  I was born in 1972, so...
Noah: Whoa!!!
Mom: So in 1980 when I was your age, the internet didn't even exist for everyday people. It would be another 17 years before we ever bought anything online.
Noah:  That is CRAZY!!

Noah, Age 8
Mom, Age 42