They Only Sold Them in a Pack of Three
We store a Crayola green flying saucer sled in our utility closet for 365 days a year so my daughter can use it for approximately two days.
If you’re a parent, no further explanation needed.
But here’s what happened one snowy afternoon in NYC.
My husband Josh took our daughter sledding at this amazing hill in Queens, and they were having the best time until Joshua (yes, full name, because you know where this is going) had the brilliant idea to go down the hill WITH our daughter on the same sled.
My daughter: “Daddy, it’s gonna break.”
Josh: “Let’s try it!”
Narrator: It broke.
She didn’t talk to him on the way home, and the second they walked through the door, I knew.
He promised to order a replacement on Amazon, and honestly? Part of me thought maybe she’d forget and we could skip the replacement altogether.
Obviously there was no chance of that, but a mom can dream of reclaimed closet space!
Fast forward to delivery day. I opened the box and there were not one, not two, but THREE flying saucer sleds staring back at me.
Me: “Ummm?!”
Josh: “Well, they only sold them in a pack of three.”
Me: “Only in packs of three, huh?”
Turns out, my daughter wanted one color, thought daddy needed another, and since there are three people in our family, well, clearly I needed one too.
And then my husband confidently declared: “They stack, so it’s not that bad to store!”
I nearly lost it. But laughter came out instead.
He knows I’m hyperaware of what comes into our home, because it all has to land somewhere.
Every flying saucer sled, every impulse buy, every “but it came in a pack” item needs a home.
Which brings me to what I really want to talk about: your organizing systems will be tested.
Not by Marie Kondo. By your partner buying in bulk. By your kid’s latest obsession. By life doing its thing.
The question isn’t whether you can keep things perfect. It’s whether your home can absorb these moments without you losing your mind.
You know what I was able to do with the three saucer sleds?
Put them in the closet.
No drama. No massive reorganization. No emotional spiral. The system held.
And let me tell you, that wasn’t always the case…
Before we created systems in our utility closet, those sleds would have been an issue. They likely would have sat on the floor and driven me a little crazy every time I needed to grab a lightbulb.
Having a great system doesn’t only organize what you have. It helps you see what you can (and can’t) absorb.
My husband knew that if that closet was packed tight, three saucer sleds would have been an instant no. The limit would have been obvious to both of us.
But because there was breathing room, there was space to say yes.
And there will absolutely be times when the answer is a firm no. That’s okay too.
When your systems are doing their job, no one has to be the bad guy. The space does the boundary setting for you.
Good systems give you room for life to happen, while also protecting you from letting too much in.
And if everything entering your home feels like a crisis, or you only realize enough is enough once it’s way past enough, that’s exactly what good systems solve.
Ready to create systems that can handle real life?
Whether it’s a utility closet, a playroom, or the entryway that collects everything, I’d love to help you build a home that has room to breathe.
P.S. The three saucer sleds are still stacked in our utility closet. Given our record-breaking snow and my husband’s sledding technique, we might actually need all three. 😂