The following is a guest post from momAgendaCOMM blogger Maria Stanley.
This is a wonderful time of year for so many reasons. I find that the beginning of a New Year is a perfect time to get focused and retrospective about your home, your family and your life. I also think it is the perfect time of year to really look at all of the “stuff” you live with and see how you can downsize, clean up and organize what you have. It’s also to perfect time to get rid of what is cluttering your space.
If you have kids, you’re sure to be surrounded by a crazy amount of stuff that overwhelms every inch of your home, or is that just me? I think being organized is crucial to having a calm and relaxing environment. I went through what I call the “toss and keep” clean out with the kids this month to help get their rooms clean and minimize the unused, outgrown and junky stuff that fills up the corners.
Here’s how you can encourage your kids to do some organizing as well:
- Have a box and a garbage bag ready for each room – the box is for items you plan to donate and the garbage bag is for the items you plan to toss.
- Literally go through every drawer, every shelf and be ruthless with what you toss. Even if it’s in great condition, if the kids have outgrown it or never play with it, donate those items to someone who will enjoy it.
- Once you’ve rifled through everything, upon leaving the room (and before you decide where to put away the items you plan to keep), do a deep clean of the floors, shelves, and under the bed (yes you’re supposed to clean under there or the dust bunnies begin to procreate).
- Organize the items and be sure the kids are involved in this process so that they know where the item belongs when it is time to clean up and put things away on a daily basis.
- Try to store things in baskets or cool containers so that it will be both functional and nice to look at.
- Once you’ve finished and the room looks clean and organized, tell your kids that this is what a “clean room” looks like and cleaning up at the end of the day, every day, will ensure that they get to wake up every morning to a clean, relaxing environment.
- If you’re feeling brave enough, try to conquer the clothes as well – no use in only doing half a job, so begin to tackle the closet and organize that space. You’ll both feel great in the end.
- Finally, make sure to take the donated items to the donation centre as soon as you can, so that you can truly be done with your “project.”
I truly believe that being surrounded by chaos only breeds stress and anxiety for those in that environment. Getting organized, although it will take a lot of work and patience, will be so worth it for you and your kids in the end.
Maria Stanley is a Canadian Mom to two loud, yet delightfully funny children and is the Owner and Founder of the blog Bored Mommy.