A day off from school usually means deep cleaning at our house. If my husband is at
work and the kids are out of school, we do some of our less-savory
chores so we can save the fun stuff for when Dad can join us on his
days off. We've been deep cleaning a room each Saturday for the past
few months as our spring cleaning routine. We've made it through
most of the house except bedrooms. *ugh* I know that some Mom's
prefer to go through their kids clothes or toys while they are at
school, so they don't have the trauma of throwing things away. I'd
just like to say that I pity their future spouses. Given the society
we live in, throwing-away and donating is a vital skill to have if
you don't want to end up on one of those scary, reality, cleaning TV
shows. Ever since the kids were little we would go through their
toys and eliminate a bunch prior to Christmas and birthdays. Clothes
rotation is a given at least twice a year. So every time we “dejunk”
we end up with about 2 large garbage bags full of trash and at least
1 bag full of items to be donated.
When going through the kid's toys we
have a 3 or less rule:
- You can keep three main groups of toys (1.legos, 2. nerf guns and 3. art supplies or 1.tea-party dishes & food, 2. jewelry & hair things, and 3. dolls)
This helps keep things a bit more
focused on what they actually use and play with. (All those random
kid's meals toys or dollar store purchases end up donated or
chucked.)
Today was a bit more intense because we
washed walls and all trim as well as the deep de-junking adventure,
but my it sure feels nice to have a clean, uncluttered room. Even
the kids talk about how much they love having a clean room . . . of
course that lasts for about a nano-second! Maintenance – now
that's a whole other story.
I love when I actually make time to de-junk. The problem here is following it all the way through. Sometimes I'm so tired by the end of the day that I don't deal with the odds and ends...which makes the project not quite as satisfying.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to hear that other people have to de-junk also. I'm feeling inspired to start again. I doubt I could keep my kids toys/belongings to three catergories though!
The reason the 3 category rule works for us is mainly age. At 12 and 9, they don't play with as many single-random toys anymore. We keep that rule in their bedrooms - so there are still games and puzzles in the family room, just not as many. And I agree, there is something freeing about de-junking!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear that your 3 category rule may not work so well for my 4 and 6 year old girls. I have such a hard time getting rid of toys because of MY attachment to them, more than my girls'! Silly, I know. But I only buy toys that I really like and they really do play with everything. When they're no longer interested in their toys, I try to make my peace and donate them...but I admit that I do keep some of my favorites for my future grandchildren to enjoy. Am I terrible? But all the crafts, goodies bag trinkets and cheap stuff drives me crazy! How do I convince my little girls that it's NOT treasure?
ReplyDeleteI have my favorite kid toys as well. I also have a grand kid box. I put all the "keep for the grandchildren" toys or books in it, but even so, I have to limit myself. When I am getting my kids to dejunk, I try to emphasize 2 things: 1. If they need to de-junk, it is usually because their room is a mess and they aren't taking care of their stuff (putting it away etc.) and if they aren't treating it well, they don't value it as treasure. 2. I try and tap into a little compassion and sharing to help them donate things (you only play with this once in a while, but there are kids out there that would die to have a toy like this to play with everyday). Hope that helps.
ReplyDeleteWhat age did you start letting them decide what to keep? Keigan's good with the "have you played with it in the past month"...but Mia and Beckham are another story. They still grab every random McDonald's toy and hug it like it's their most prized possession.
ReplyDeleteProbably around 4 or 5 years? If I really thought a toy was a keeper, I might override or persuade them not to toss it. The McToys are one of my pet peeves. (I swear they multiply like rabbits). In those cases I either play up the compassionate donation story (some kid somewhere really needs a toy to love . . .) or else I just lay down the law (you can only have 2 McToys in my house at one time. . .) Good luck with that. I really think some kids have a harder time with this by nature.
ReplyDelete