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In this podcast, we discuss:
- ways to think about kid toys and getting them under control.
- how to incrementally clean up something an overwhelming space where there are lots of different categories that should be stored together and you don’t know how it will all fit until it’s done.
- where to start when you have space and have containers but don’t know where to begin.
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I think she has the same problem I had!! I thought “clutter” was stuff I didn’t have room for. So when I went in and cleaned a room and space for everything, it all fit, I didn’t understand why I couldn’t maintain clean. What clicked for me was YOUR definition of clutter which is anything l can’t keep under control. It doesn’t matter if I I have room…I don’t put it away day to day and I can’t maintain that much stuff! What has been so helpful for me is transitioning to how much can I control…not how much can fit. I leave most spaces no more than 70% full and THAT has been the magic for me!!!
I very much appreciated the questions that Divya was trying to ask. I find I struggle with the same things. We have room for all of the toys, but I don’t think we need all of them, nor am I good at getting rid of them!
We have the same problem! What I do is define an amount of time I don’t mind tidying the playroom each day – 10 min usually. I keep enough categories of toys that my kids are currently into playing with actually in the playroom and within their reach. Everything else is either rotated out into less accessible storage or gotten rid of. Doing a daily/most daily pickup helps determine how much stuff is defined by those 10 minutes – the pickup is the container.
I also cull categories. We have a bajillion toy cars – I have a bin out to play with and a bin put away, and getting out the one put away is like Christmas. I give away the less popular cars, too. There’s no need to keep all of a category.
I feel the same way about my stuff, it’s not the room but keeping control of it, is what I find overwhelming. My understanding of Divya’s questions are its not storage but organization’ of the toys – so get rid of the table as kids like floor space (get a rug that looks like a road map, so your kids can use it to drive their cars- trucks etc. Mark the bins with a cartoon picture of what’s in them, like goes with like, so dolls & their clothes, musical instruments together (consolidate, cars & traffic lights etc together, smaller things in small containers in a bigger bin & out of reach of 1 year old but easy reach for 8 year old & dress up clothes, the bins/ shelves determine how much you/kids can keep. God Willing they will then love playing in there & end of play put away easily because they’ll know where things go or 5 minutes pick up before bedtime x