My mom made me do it. Growing up in a house with 2 older brothers and an extremely OC Mom, you can imagine the daily conversations about fixing the bed, taking clothes off to floor, and the daily struggle a Mother had to deal with every time she entered the Boys' room.
If Marie Kondo taught us how to ask: "Does this spark joy?", with my Mom, the question was mostly: "Does it spark fear?". We would always hear her say things like, "Kung hindi nyo aayusin ang mga sapatos nyo, itatapon ko sa basura yan" and one day when we all woke up, she did exactly that. So that was the very first lesson and the beginning of my journey towards becoming The Tidy Man.
Now living in a condo, with a feisty 2-year old daughter and a wife with a burgeoning baking business, I find myself with my Mom's eyes seeing things the way she did in that Boys' room and realizing that the lesson I learned all those years ago would end up being a big part of who I am today.
Thank you for teaching me this lesson, Mom.