May Clutter Busting - Week 1: Get rid of the trash in your children’s rooms
I remember back to my baby shower with my daughter. As I opened box upon box and bag upon bag, I started wondering where I was going to put all that stuff!! And then nearly eight years later if I took all of those items and multiplied it with birthday parties, holidays, happy meal toys, dollar store purchases, and hundreds of stuffed animals which seem to procreate on their own and then double all of the above when baby #2 came, we seriously would need to double the size of our home!
When we had our home fire in 2001, children’s clutter became even more evident as I sat down and wrote out pages of only the items that I could remember. I am quite sure I only listed a third of the items! At the time I only had one three-year old child, but she had so much clutter! Out of all the things that we lost in the fire, the toy clutter was seriously the most welcomed.
There is so much guilt attached to children’s clutter. Many of my children’s items are gifts. Getting rid of a gift is far more difficult than getting rid of something that you buy yourself. In addition to the items that your child never played with, it can be far more difficult to get rid of toys that they used to play with (and love) but have grown out of. If you saw “Toy Story 2″ as Jesse was dropped off at the collection site while singing her song about how wonderful it was when somebody loved her… and shed a tear or two, you know what I am talking about! There are so many bittersweet moments as your child grows older. Getting rid of loved toys and things is definitely one of them!
This month we are busting through children’s clutter. We are going to tackle clothes, baby things, toys, art projects/school papers, and books. In addition, I am going to discuss ways to reduce the clutter in the future.
This week, I would like you to simply get rid of the trash in your children’s rooms. Trash is simply something that has no use and no emotion attached. Grab a bag, set the timer, and go to town!! Next week we are going to focus on baby items and clothes.
By Betsy on 04/30/06 in Children, Life, Clutter Busting, Columns, Décor
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April 25th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
my name is robyn and i have 2 daughters that share a bedroom, their bedroom is alway messy with clothes and toys on the floor stuff everywhere all the time. you tell them to clean it up and they just laugh. my son is different his room is clean and he is just 6. do you have any suggestions about this problem as i am at
my loose end over this. iam looking forward to hearing from you.
yours truely: robyn wilson
April 27th, 2007 at 8:56 am
Dear Robyn,
My first suggestion would be to look at the girls’ room and see if you can de-clutter to make it easier for them to keep it straightened. If there is too much stuff in too little space, it can be way to overwhelming for the girls to keep it picked up. Have the girls help clear out and donate clothes and toys that are outgrown or no longer used. Explain to your girls that there are others that are less fortunate than they are that could really use the items that they don’t need. After you have minimized (which does have to be the first step), it is time to maximize what they already have. Try and devise simple solutions for the areas that seem to get cluttered the most. In addition, help the girls clean their room to your specifications. Show them what a “clean room” looks like through your eyes. You can even take a picture and have them write down the steps necessary to keep it clean. Example: clothes put away, beds made, desks cleared, etc. Finally, sit down with the girls (and your son) and come up with a fun reward for keeping their rooms cleaned. Perhaps you could have a family game night, or plan a special day trip.
Hope that helps!
Best of luck to you!
Betsy