Sometimes you have to laugh so you don’t cry.
With my mouth hanging open in both shock and terror, I took it all in as I scanned the room. Every drawer, bookshelf, and container had been emptied into the middle of the floor. Her attention to detail was impressive, and nothing had been left untouched.
There, teetering atop the mountain she had so proudly built, was my two-year-old grinning from ear to ear at her accomplishment.
It is one of those moments as a parent that you simply must freeze with a photo so you don’t forget, or in case you need a favor when they are a teenager, you can whip out the picture as proof that they owe you one.
Four hours later the room was back to its original state, and only then could I see the humor in it.
Now do you feel better about what you are facing in your child’s room? 🙂
Kids are disorganized by nature.
Their rooms become a mess overnight leaving Moms throwing their hands up in the air in surrender to the floor covered with “stuff”. Despite what we Moms think, kids really don’t want to live in a messy room.
Ask yourself, “Why is the room messy?”
Does he/she have too much stuff? If there is more “stuff” than can reasonably fit in a room, it can be overwhelming or even impossible for a child to keep the room neat. Maybe it’s time to re-evaluate the contents and “spring-clean” the room.
Clearing out the unused and outgrown
Start with the closet and work your way around the room. Closely examine the contents and determine what needs to stay and what can go. Have they outgrown this? Are they ever going to use this? Have your child participate since you may need their advice on items.
Make a pile of clothes, toys, and books that you need to:
- pass down to a younger child or neighbor
- toss (broken or missing pieces)
- donate to a charity or sell at a consignment store
Once you are done, you will find you have ample space available to organize what is left.
Everything needs a “place”
The key to keeping the room organized is everything having a “place”.
Have you noticed how the toys, puzzles, etc. at a preschool are arranged? How does it stay neat with 20 kids playing every day? The answer…everything has a place. When “clean up” time comes, even the smallest of toddlers knows where everything goes and can participate in tidying a room.
Now apply that philosophy to your child’s room. Assign a place for clothes, games, toys. Use baskets and plastic containers to store groups of small items. Use labels to mark the contents so your child will know where to put his toys when he is done. If your child didn’t participate in the organizing, give him a tour of the new room so he is familiar with the arrangement.
I recently organized my teenager’s room. Things he had outgrown long ago were taking up precious storage space. I was able to remove 4 lawn/leaf bags full of items from his room. His little sisters thought it was Christmas when they received a few lost treasures such as Lite-Bright. With more space now available in the closet, I was able to get items such as musical instruments off the floor and onto a shelf in the closet.
Identify the trouble spot and solve the problem
What is causing the most clutter?
My child’s collection of game systems, games, and accessories was the cause of a constant mess on the floor. Every time the cabinet door was opened to look for a cord or controller, out spilled the contents in a tangled ball of cords and accessories, and he wasn’t able to find what he needed. I realized this was the main source of the clutter in his room, and it needed to be fixed.
Solution:
Since three drawers in his dresser were now available from the cleanup, I took his game system controllers, cords, accessories, etc and created a drawer for each type of game system. This freed up space in the entertainment center to actually place the games neatly so you could see them all. Now when he needs a cord to a specific item, he knows exactly where it is without digging through a mess. Problem solved. Since reorganizing the room, he has kept it immaculate, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.
As you make more space available, you are able to organize the room so it functions well. When toys are off the floor and in closets or drawers, the room immediately evolves into an inviting, relaxing atmosphere free of the chaos of clutter.
I am also experiencing this with my 3 year old son. It requires a lot of effort and constantly reminding him to keep his stuff clean. Your post is very helpful and thank you very much for sharing it.
Thanks for the comment!
Controlling the mess in a small child’s room is an ongoing challenge thanks to those tiny toys (Barbies, Hot Wheels, Polly Pockets or Legos) that have 100s of pieces.
Over the years we have managed to accumulate three giant tubs of Legos. You can’t beat this toy when it comes to creativity, imagination, and the mess resulting from the kids’ need to dump them all on the floor when building. Ha Ha
I like to use large plastic tubs (one for each type of toy) to store them because it is easy to scoop them off the floor and toss them in the correct container in minutes. Even my four year old can do her part when it’s that simple. Aaa…if we all had the clean up powers of Mary Poppins. 😉
I am happy to report my son is still keeping his room clean. He even cleared out more unused items, neatly organized his bulletin board, and dusted. On his own! Pinch me I must be dreaming!
This gave me a big chuckle…love those pictures! I think all parents can relate to this. Your tips were great. You are right…we can either laugh or cry and I LOVE to laugh! Thanks, Melinda.
Nice post. I wanted to follow up from Blogger Luv and I don’t know how long you been blogging but I LOOKED for something out of whack and was very impressed with the job you have done on your site. I know the kind of work it takes and see COUNTLESS blogs.You should be proud of this site.
Anyway my 13 yo son is a slob he makes a living bribing us to pay him to clean his own mess 🙂
Awesome sit e
Best wishes to you
Excellent Thanks
PS always a pleasure to come across a positive blogger honing their skills 🙂
See you around
Stumbled
Thanks for the nice comments John. I made my daughter a t-shirt with the logo and it says “Are you scared of your child’s room?” on the back. It is now her favorite shirt, but it also prompted her to request a commission for advertising. Kids! Gotta love them!
I love it! I so remember the days (and they’ll come around again with each child). Sometimes you do just have to laugh and then let them have their way (until they realize really messy is not a fun way to live, assuming they didn’t just unload everything in one go just to see what would happen.) I loved your process of cleaning, reducing and organizing. I’m also wanting to do this with their ever increasing toys (where do they come from, because we certainly aren’t buying them.) And doing it together taught your son how to do it for himself (and maintain it), that’s like an extra cherry on top!
I will add though, some children may not ever be as neat and organized as we’d like them to be, so sometimes we’ll have some “letting go” to do (unless of course you’re child is super neat and you are not… then I guess tables are turned).
We can’t expect perfection (since my son still collects dishes in his room), but they are learning they are happier in an organized room vs. trying to find the floor. 🙂 I don’t have to tell them to clean anymore which is nice.
I think I have 2 down…one more to go. She’s only 4 but does a pretty good job.
this is great….why didn’t think of writing about this, however my son’s room is like that from time to time i get scared looking for clothes…there is no floor i wonder how he stands up in it….thanks for sharing your great post.
LOL His room was such a mess in the past. Luckily it has stayed clean. He finally agrees life is better in a neat room. 🙂
I really like this write! I enjoy it so much! thanks for give me a good reading moment!
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Thank you very much admin…I’ll use this for my child…
We went through this with each of our kids–18, 13,11. It took me so long to train them to clean their rooms, learn how to organize, etc. Who am I kidding? I don’t think the youngest one has yet grasped the concept still!
Did you used built in cabinet?Or you purchased plastic cabinets and containers at the local market?
David Wang