I HAVE TO GOT TO GET A HANDLE ON ALL THIS STUFF! WE HAVE SO MUCH STUFF. HOW THE HELL AM I GOING TO HANDLE ALL THIS STUFF??? WHERE THE HECK DO I PUT IT?!
HOW COME EVERY TIME I GET IT ORGANIZED I CHANGE MY MIND ABOUT THE LAYOUT AND IT WINDS UP ALL OVER THE PLACE AGAIN?
I am not even showing you the room that is really bad right now.
I appreciate you reading. I feel better.
How’s your Tuesday?
Yes… Haley has “collections” of THINGS that drive me crazy. My method to the madness has been boxes from Ikea that fit under the bed and in her closet. I have two big boxes for stuffed animals; a Littlest Pet Shop box; Polly Pocket box; Barbie box; puppet box. But we too have too much stuff. I dread birthdays and Christmas because she doesn’t want to get rid of anything.
Tips:
1) Offer to let them pick out a new fun toy in exchange for them filling up a box with unwanted items. One new toy per box if you want to try for multiple boxes. (Then get that box of items immediately taken to Goodwill–or into the trunk of the car or otherwise out of sight til you can get it to Goodwill. Do NOT let it remain in the house.)
2) In late fall, prior to every Christmas, get involved in a local program to give gently used toys, puzzles, etc., to needy kids, and get your kids’ agreement to help these kids by culling out some of their own toys that they don’t really use anymore.
3) Use lots of inexpensive organizing boxes (consider labeling them) and push their use. (Boxes of particular items are much easier to use and move and reorganize than piles of stuff.)
4) As you fold laundry each week, throw away or get rid of items you know have holes or are too small. Go through their dressers/closets every few months and pull out items they never wear or don’t fit and donate them or pass them down.
5) Try using stuffed animals chains (a plastic chain with a bunch of clips on it, where you can just clip the stuffed animal’s ear or arm and hang a bunch of stuffed animals vertically from ceiling or a door–easy to take on and off for play). Or try installing a shelf you can sit most of the stuffed animals on for storage (and it looks good), but install it within reach of the child (so they can be taken on and off easily with no climbing or pulling.)
Truth:
These things all help (they really do!), but with 3 kids, yourself and your husband, it never seems to fully keep a handle on it. Really. It’s a continual process. I honestly feel I will be fairly old, or at least an empty nester, before I ever see the end of so much stuff!
These are all amazing ideas! I love the stuffed animal idea! And all the bins. I think I also just need to cheer the hell up and get on with handling it all!