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Raise your hand if you have ever heard this phrase.... "but it's special to me!"
I KNOW that I can can not be the only parent with super sentimental hoarding kids who have at least 10 "special" boxes underneath their beds filled to the top with every trinket known to mankind. Just that sentence alone, stresses me out, not to mention the clutter that goes along with all of that. This summer, the stress and clean up battles were just too much for me to handle and I knew that something had to change.
I hated the fact that so much of my time was being consumed cleaning up messes and trying to stay organized and not playing with the kids. And even more, I hated the daily battles of trying to teach my kids to clean up after themselves and put everything away in its place. Partly, because most of their things did not have a "place" to go! My method up to this point had been to just dump everything into some cheap bins and put it back on their shelf. Which, I do have to say, does work pretty well, so no judgement here if you just want to keep doing that too.
The problem I kept running into was that we had TOO many things, trinkets everywhere, legos everywhere, cards from every birthday, crumpled "artwork" that needed to be saved because "it's for you mommy!" (and how can you possibly throw away anything that your sweet, adorable kids say that they made just for you?)
Stuff. stuff everywhere. so. much. stuff.
Now don't get me wrong, stuff does not have to be a bad thing. But it can most definitely be a distracting thing. And for me, and my family, that is what it had become. A distraction from the most important things that our family valued, time spent together, and time spent serving others. So it was time for a change. And the first change had to start in my heart and in my mind. Once I had a clear goal in my heart it was time to make my plan, and then get my family on board.
I knew that if I wanted this change of lifestyle to last, then I needed to get the participation of my kids (instead of just putting on a movie marathon and letting then veg out for hours while I tackled the house... which, most definitely, would have been the easier of the two options) As tempting as that was, I decided to involve them in the process of decluttering their room, and their craft room.
Here are 5 tips that I found worked GREAT to help my kids (7, 3, and 1) learn to declutter with me:
1. Make it into a game. Believe it or not, my kids now ASK me to play our declutter game which we named "Trash or Treasure". Our game consists of picking a spot in the house which needs decluttered, we get everything out of that area and proceed to decide if that object is "Trash" to throw or give away, or a "Treasure" to keep or save for later.
2. Create 4 piles. Create 4 different piles to organize the mess that you are working through.
-TRASH Get rid of these things right away. If needed, I am not above sneaking things into the trash can while they are not looking, just be careful though, most kids are highly trained to sniff out any and every piece of artwork that might "accidently" make its way into that can.
- GIVE AWAY My rule was that anything that has not be worn, played with, or used in over 2 years (if in good condition) will be given away. So we filled up bags of toys, clothes, and other items to donate.
-TREASURE These are things that the kids are allowed to keep, and get put into their "special box" or into a designated drawer, bin, or cubby. Everything has its own home.
- SAVE FOR LATER Too many options can be overwhelming for anyone, especially for kids. If you have clothes or toys that you don't want to donate, just save them for later and rotate them in every couple of months. I found that when I minimized the kids toy bins that they actually played more with the things inside! I plan on swapping the toys out each month and rotating the items so that their imagination will still be challenged and stimulated without being overwhelmed.
3. Give each kid a "special box" I let both of the boys pick out a box that they could keep their special trinkets, cards, acorns, rocks, sticks, bugs, etc. in. This is their box that they are able to keep anything they like in, as long as the box shuts. Providing them with this gave them a sense of ownership and control in the declutter process. I wanted them to know that keeping special things is a cool part of life, and some things are definitely treasures worth keeping. Now, our definition of what a treasure is might look very different, but hey, its their treasure box, not mine.
4. Take Breaks
I know it's laughable now, but somehow I had convinced myself that we would be able to get the whole house decluttered in a week. Ambitious, and unrealistic, I know, I know. So here is my biggest tip: Take a break, and give yourself a break! We are looking for a long term change here, not just a quick fix, so it is going to take time. We decided to set a goal and pick an amount of time. I used songs as a timer, or we would also use one of those fun exploding pizza timers on youtube https://youtu.be/B7rKgz1eXoo . The boys loved them, but it quickly backfired as their brains got sucked into watching the timer instead of cleaning. Anyways, make realistic goals and take a break when needed!
5. Invest in good storage solutions
I have gone the cheap route and bought dollar store and 5 below storage bins. They are great for bins that don't get handled often, BUT, if we are talking about toy storage, they might not be the longest lasting items. Here are some of my favorite storage suggestions that look great and last long!

I love these rope baskets, They are super durable and are a great size for cubbies or shelves.
These are awesome for small trinkets and toys. These help every toy to have a designated home, or are even great to slide under the bed with their treasures!

If you need some extra large baskets for stuffed animal storage, these are huge! And make a perfect "home" for all the stuffies to sleep in:)

These are not quite as sturdy, but are waterproof, a great price, and come in some really cute designs!
So there you have my 5 decluttering tips momma.
Most importantly, always remember, that contrary to popular belief... You CAN'T do it all. We were meant for community, support, and a helper that gives us strength far greater than we can ever have ourselves- Jesus. Being a momma can be hard, and trying to teach our kids important things in life, like how to declutter, can be even harder! So don't do this alone, don't be afraid to call in your tribe to help you out, and then offer the same support for another momma! And when you are finished... make sure you celebrate with your kids the big victory! ice cream always works best for us:)
Thanks for being here,
LC
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