Forty years ago some people were just the same. I ran a playgroup in a church hall for 30+ children between 2 1/2 and five, and every day we put away the toys and equipment in separate boxes and put aside anything that needed attention. The children would help, and learned a lot about sorting things into categories, as well as about looking after things. It was also a lot easier to get everything out again next morning when it was neatly packed.
Often mothers would fill in for one of us if we were off work for any reason, so they must have known the routine. However on one occasion the whole thing was (wo)manned by mothers. The following day there was a mish-mash of lego, crayons, books, construction parts, etc, all stuffed into random boxes. Instead of setting up in ten minutes we took an hour to sort it all out and have an orderly peaceful space for the children to play in.
If parents can't be arsed to look after things, how can children learn to?