Having kids equates dealing with more clutter than usual. Some is unavoidable, some is completely superfluous and downright annoying!
But don’t despair: here’s where the kid clutter comes from and how to get rid of it!
TOO MANY TOYS
Well-meaning family members and friends often shower a family with toys at every occasion. When a child has too many toys, he can experience sensory overload and may find it difficult to truly enjoy them. In contrast, if a child has a limited number of very special toys, each is treated better and played with more frequently. Quality, not quantity matters.
If you can’t stomach donating or re-gifting a toy from someone special, make it a part of your toy rotation. Keeping the majority of a child’s toys hidden away and rotating the available toys every couple of weeks can help not only alleviate the pressure to get rid of toys your child no longer plays with, but it can also lead to less clutter and more enjoyment for your child!
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WHAT TO DO WITH THE CLOTHES
Kid clothing can accumulate quickly, spilling out of closets and drawers with sizes becoming mismatched and disorganized. I’ve found that the best way to handle clothes for kids is to only have what fits now easily available. I hang stuff that doesn’t fit yet and won’t fit for a while in the back of the closet. I sort through it seasonally.
Read Related: Clean the Clutter & Cut the Stress
I keep a box on the floor of my daughter Emma’s closet. When something is too small for her, I simply toss it in the box! No putting it back in the drawer or on the floor to remember later. I always have a box for small clothes right there. When it’s full, I go through it to fold everything, seal it up, label it with the size of what’s inside, and take it to the garage to store for our younger daughter. Then, I grab a new box! So easy and convenient and it eliminates the confusion of selecting clothes that fit!
FEEDING SUPPLIES
Finally, feeding supplies. For dishes and utensils that are only for the kids, I stack them in a low cabinet so that Emma, my eldest, can get to them by herself. It’s just for her items and she knows exactly what they are and where they go, even helping put them away after they’ve been washed!
Ultimately, some clutter is unavoidable when you are a mom, but it’s important to remember that you can keep it manageable and tolerable for your family by giving items their very own space, rotating toys to keep them exciting, and sending things to storage as soon as they’re outgrown!
