I find an intense sense of satisfaction in my neat piles of laundry, each in their place. I get high on showing the boys how we can most orderly and efficiently fit our dishes in the bus tub (stacks of cups, piles of plates). I have that sense of security when I am able to wash the dishes in the morning before (not after) doing diaper changes, because I know they will be dry in time for lunch. I find my center in knowing what comes next, just as the boys do.
They now tell me "inside? Lunch?" as we remove shoes. We share that knowing smile as we work together, preparing for what we know comes next.
One day I moved a favorite activity to a new home on a different shelf that it was being use more frequently at anyways. Glass spice jars with blue, green cubes that fit perfectly inside. I set it up so it was so beautiful, beckoning to the children to try new ways to manipulate the smooth glass and rough wood. And it did call to them! They carried the jars, cubs and even trays right back to their original homes, resuming their favorite pouring work there. I invited them to return the jars to the new home when they were finished, only to be greeted with yells of disapproval and general chaos of dumping that only a toddler can master. 
So I let go.
I watched as they to returned the room to the original order, realizing that it is that constant that helps them build their own security while away from their families.
I might be a toddler who takes a love of order to the extreme. Or maybe they're me, simply trying to figure out this great, big world around us, looking to grasp onto something, anything constant that they know they can rely on. Even if it's just laundry
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