Clutter Control and Organizing Solutions

Earlier, I told you I wanted to share the story of the lady with all the school work and artwork for her one child. Her daughter was entering 6th grade in middle school, and she had kept everything stemming back from Kindergarten. She had a bit of organization, in that each year had its own box, but that is where it ended. Six boxes, crammed full of all types of papers, projects and 3 dimensional art. It was overwhelming to say the least, for both her and I.

The first thing I made her realize was that if she kept up the way she was going, she was going to have at least six more boxes to contend with. It was definitely time to pare down.

So we set to work, sorting through a box starting all the way back in Kindergarten. Most artwork in that year was totally unrecognizable and certainly not something the child would be proud of. However, when we were finished sorting, the box was still far too full to put anymore in it. Our pile of throw away stuff was tiny. Mom seemed to seriously have an emotional attachment to this pile of stuff.

I asked her if she trusted me, and if I had a way to be able to keep the memories for her, would she allow me to try something even if it meant parting with things, but still allowing her to enjoy them. While she was confused, she was game. So I went home with the box from Kindergarten and she was left with the task of sorting through 4th and 5th grade which we had not gotten to.

Stay tuned (in about two hours) to hear how we fixed this situation.