Every year before Christmas (or right after if I'm not that on-the-ball), I help my kids do a deep room de-junking. The reasoning behind this torture is this - if they plan on receiving gifts (translate to more stuff) they had better make room for the new by thinning out the old. For example, I know that my daughter loves clothes and inevitably receives something in that category for Christmas. So we apply the
set-hanger rule when going through her closet. This means you have a set number of hangers and if you get something new, you get rid of something old. Same applies to drawer space. The kids end up filling a bag of things to donate, and at least a large garbage bag full of trash. (Why is it my kids seem incapable of throwing trash away? It baffles me.) So here are the tips we use to ready their rooms for Christmas:
- Donate all "too-small" items.
- Mend or throw out torn, or things with holes.
- Leave a little space in drawers - if you can't close it without packing it down, there's too much.
- Employ the set-hanger rule and keep a couple empty hangers.
- If it is in current use and good condition, keep it.
- If it is broken beyond repair, toss it.
- If it has immense sentimental value but you don't use it anymore, it goes in the childhood box in the storage room (this rule has to be used sparingly so you don't end up a hoarder in your storage room).
- If you're ambivalent, donate it.
- If you don't have space for it, donate it.
- Toss all broken pencils, scraps of paper and disemboweled pens.
- Keep only assignments that are needed for current grades or grading period.
- One or two masterpieces may be kept.
- Art projects get digitally captured, then tossed.
This also happens before birthdays as well as before school starts etc. Unfortunately, neat and clean kid rooms have a very short shelf-life at my house. But in this way we at least keep the pits-of-despair at bay on a fairly regular basis.
