Ordnung muss sein! Every Thing has its Place

Orderly it must be (in German: Ordnung muss sein!) Everything has its place in Jonathan's life! And the boy actively arranges everything and everyone to please his sense of order...

Jonathan is to my great happiness a child who loves to keep things in order. He may throw out his entire toys during play – but he will also tidy them up if something is not to his liking, and recently he also cooperates when I request that he tidy up.

The table in the living room served us as an eating place. For Jonathan I have set us a small plastic chair that suits this table and a plastic place-mat that helps define his eating area and reduces the mess being made during th meal. Until recently he also has a bob as part of the ceremony, but in recent weeks he no longer wants to wear it. One evening, as I put down some strawberries for Jonathan as a snack directly on the table itself, Jonathan shook his head at me and told me in clear gibberish that I have not served his food properly. His Tone told me I was being reprimanded for such negligence. Then, when the lecture was over, picked up the dish and pulled the plastic mat under it. After relocating the dish on the mat he tapped the mat as if to show me that everything was now where it belonged. Then he sat down and enjoyed his snack!

When my husband puts Jonathan to bed, he remains to keep him company lying on the bed next to him (it has a higher mattress located next to Jonathan's sleeping space). When I stay to keep him company, I sit on a stool near the bed. One evening, my husband sat on the stool. As long as I was absent, this was not a problem, but as I entered the room shortly after my husband had seated himself, Jonathan wanted me to take my natural place – but the stool was taken. And so he pulled and pushed showing my husband that he must get up, and when my husband got up, Jonathan ordered me to sit down. My husband, who felt a bit rejected by this action, left the room. Jonathan then pointed to the high bed and said “papa” twice, thus explaining that my husband should not have necessarily left the room, but that he should have simply moved over to his place on the bed. After all, everything has its place in Jonathan world and “order must be!” - as the German proverb says (and Jonathan is half German) “Ordnung muss sein!”