I have 6 kids from the age of 4-14. That equals a lot of STUFF. I hate stuff. Just the stuff that clutters and gets in the way of everything. It’s stuff that makes our house look messy, our rooms disorganized, and our lives more chaotic. I am not awesome at organizing things, but have found recently, that if I give our stuff a time-out, I’ll often forget about it and decide not to keep it.
Hear me out. First off, I think it’s hilarious and so validating that Marie Kondo decided that spending time with her 3 children surpassed her need to keep things as organized as she once did. Amazing! Thanks for giving us moms a break, Marie! I couldn’t ask myself questions about all of my stuff. I am a talker by nature and would spend 30 minutes debating potential uses for everything. I can totally give my stuff a “time-out” though! It seems so much less permanent, and my kids also are fine with giving their stuff a “time-out!” Hallelujah!!
When we go to tackle a space that needs to be not just cleaned up, but organized, I will bring a bin in it with me. The things we use regularly get put away. The things I hesitate about, I throw in the bin, or trash bag if that’s what we have. We stick those bins or bags in our guest room closet for a time out. If you don’t have a guest room closet, stick it in your garage, or other storage, somewhere where it will not infringe upon your brain space, but will not forever be forgotten either!! Set a reminder in your phone to revisit that bin in 3 months. If in the next 3 months we need something in there, I’ll go grab it. If not, I then get rid of it, either by giving it away to a friend or to a local charity. This timeline does not apply to seasonal things, of course.
This idea may not be revolutionary, but it definitely is doable for me. My kids don’t freak out about the time out, and it gives us some time away from the thing to see if it really has a space in our lives or in our house. I am really just trying to cut down on the amount of time that I have to say to my kids, “Will you pick that up,” or, “can you put that away?”
I have come to realize, especially when my kids are home from school for break or the like, that I can have a clean house or happy kids, not both at the same time. Nobody likes to be nagged to constantly clean up, and I know for certain that nobody likes to be the person that constantly nags either.
So get yourself a bin, give your stuff a time out, take your space back and enjoy your kids again! Summer is coming, people!! There is time to be spend having fun instead of slaving away “organizing” our stuff!
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Kayleen
