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.

I really want to post a picture of this dark dreary place, but I’m sorta guessing Mike might want to kill me afterward. LOL It’s pretty bad. Actually, now it’s LESS bad. But that’s my doing too.

I was out in the garage earlier hunting for something (I so cannot even remember what) and I moved something onto a dresser. I stood there staring at the dresser thinking, “Wouldn’t this be better in one of the kids rooms?” So I look at the other dresser (yes there are two) and I think - yep. I know it will make their rooms a bit more crowded but at least they’d have their own dressers. We have two girls per bedroom upstairs and my son’s room is in the basement. We want to build more rooms downstairs but until that happens, the girls all share. So now, they have two dressers in each bedroom so each child has their very own. They are actually pretty happy.

I also made Mike put together our oldest daughter’s bunk bed set. It is one of those lofty looking ones with the desk and all the shelves and drawers. It’s beautiful, but they have been using a trundle like bed and the one bed is NEVER pushed back under. This way the bed doesn’t have to be pushed back under and while the room is definitely full - they can spread out more on their own beds and they have places to put all the things little girls need. (don’t ask me what that is).

So now our garage has this huge area with nothing in it. That’s actually awesome. So - I’ll be working on the basement probably tomorrow and Tuesday to see what I can get done. Ever heard of freecycle? Check back tomorrow and I’ll explain more.

If you missed yesterday’s article (part one of this series), be sure and check it out first.

If you’ve read it, now you can move on.

Anything we are keeping must have their name on it and it gets stored in the ‘Big Box’ which is what we call it. Once the big box becomes full (every month or two), we take it down to the basement and each child has a box that we pull off the shelf and open up. Typically I drag a kid or two down with me and they help me sort through the Big Box and put the papers in their respective Kid Box (which is nothing more than Office File Boxes we picked up at an office store.) Anything that we find along the way that does not have a name, goes in the trash - no questions asked. At the end of the school year, each child goes through their box and gathers up 20 items that reflect who they are at that point. Yes, we have had some strange things get kept at the end of the year. They go back in the box, but slipped into an envelope or file folder paper clipped shut so that they stay together. We label each one with the child’s name, age, grade and teacher’s name.

The stuff they decided not to keep I usually go through on my own and trash whatever I don’t want. Rarely I will find a piece in the pile of trash that I just really want to keep and then I just slip it into the respective envelope. It works out really well.

So get organized if you can! It sure helps and elminates artwork and clutter all over everything. (yes, we do occasionally put papers and artwork up  on our refrigerator or bulletin board from school, but usually anything on the fridge is something they drew at home and were exceptionally proud of).

This certainly falls under the head of Getting Kids Organized but at the same time, it is typically the parent’s who are unorganized enough to keep their child’s papers straight. I know, because I used to be one of them. Period. I’ve definitely made some headway, and we are constantly trying out new scenarios. We have to, with five kids we are inundated with daily piles of papers from school, from art class, from outside activities, etc. Here’s how I tackle the artwork and school papers issue. (this does not include papers with dates I need to remember, etc. - only worksheets, essays, tests, artwork and otherwise).

The first thing we do is make a pile of it. Sometimes I am only working with one child, and other times I have multiple kids. If I have more than one kid, I try to keep the piles separate until the end.

We go through each piece, discuss what it is - a pre test, an exam, an essay, a paper, etc. I keep anything that catches my own eye (I love keeping their writing papers), and I scan them to be sure they included their name. If I keep the paper, we have a large box that holds that paper temporarily. It goes in there. Anything they want to keep has to be something that either has a purpose, has somewhere it can go immediately, or isn’t too bulky to be stored. No food items (no cheerios or beans glued to construction paper), and nothing that has the chance to break when moved.

Be sure and check out part 2 tomorrow, and in the meantime - go sort through those papers.

Have you seen your child’s backpack or book bag? Getting a child organized can be a real challenge. While some children seem to come predisposed with a knack for great organization, many simply do not. Children by definition tend to be messy little creatures and this usually is obvious after a particular lengthy play session or a quick glance into their room.

Backpack organization doesn’t have to be difficult. Purchasing special folders for all of the things they need to bring back and forth from home to school can be one way to keep them organized. Label the folders or put a picture on them of what is supposed to go in them (Home work might be a picture of a house or newsletters or class info might be a picture of a newspaper).

Another really great way to help your child keep their backpack organized is to designate different pockets and sections for different things. Snacks and Lunches might go better on an outside pocket where they are less likely to get crushed or leak all over everything else.

I will tell you that getting a child’s backpack organized will happen more easily if you are actively helping them get organized in all other aspects and areas of their lives.

Do you have any tips or tricks to help get our children’s backpacks a bit more organized?