Kelly came home, went into her room, and let out a loud exclamation before calling me over. I assumed she wanted to share her surprise and gratitude, so I walked over casually. However, I was taken aback by the sight before me: Kelly was standing there with a red face, tears welling up in her eyes.
“What's wrong?” I asked.
“Mom, why did you touch my room? Where did you put all my things?”
“A friend is coming to sleep over tomorrow, so we have to clear the room! I didn't throw your stuff away; I just put it all in the closet.”
She opened the closet and carefully checked the items I had sorted into bags, taking them out one by one.
“No, you can't spread them all on the floor again. The room is too messy for the kids to sleep in,” I tried to stop her.
She replied, “You think it's messy, but I have a system. To me, it doesn't look messy at all. It only became a mess when you moved things around because now I can't find them!”
I felt a surge of anger and pointed at the room, asking, “Do you even have a concept of neatness? Look at this—does this look organized?” Seeing my disapproval, her tears burst forth, and she said, “Mom, you don't understand. I like to keep my things where I can see and reach them at any time. Please don't organize my room anymore!”