We all struggle with keeping the mayhem of stuffed toys, art supplies, toys, games, clothes and those pesky lost socks in check or at least I do! I have one child who is super willing to please and if we say clean your room it is done (maybe a few things stuffed in corners or in the closet but all in all pretty good) and of course I have the one child who is like meh…could care less. So I started thinking about how to mange all the stuff in my “meh” child’s room it is tough because she just doesn’t care and is happy to live in chaos, it makes me crazy but she just doesn’t care.
So I gave her a few jobs (she is 7) started with pick up everything that is trash and throw it away, then put all your books in the book shelves and book racks, then put all the big toys in the toy bin, pick up all the clothes that are on the floor, take all the clothes out of the dresser you won’t wear or don’t fit etc…….once we were done with the initial cleaning we could get down to the organizing.
I bought her a simple rubbermaid drawer set clear drawers with white sides (I let her use dry erase markers to decorate the clear drawers she can wipe off and change designs as often as she likes) We put all her small toys (the ones you step on in the middle of the night) in one of the drawers, arts and crafts in one of the drawers and the third drawer is for her treasures (this was her choice). The room isn’t spotless nor is it serene but it is organized we can open a drawer and know what is in it and where things belong and she says she likes it…
So is it a win or a loss? Its a win/win! I feel better like I can walk in her room without wanting to die and she has a room she can manage without being overwhelmed by my standards.
I think the key takeaways when organizing a kids room is to organize it so the kid is totally involved in the process and doing something that they can manage and you don’t have to intervene too often to help them keep it that way. I gave my daughter the confidence to make her own mark on her room and gave her something she can manage and be proud of without Mom’s help….Yup Win Win!!