Managing the Mess
Think you’re ready for the new school year? Maybe you’ve already bought all the No. 2 pencils, wide-lined paper and new fall clothes. But if you’ve been tiptoeing past your child’s bedroom door, afraid to peek inside, you’re ignoring one of the crucial steps in the back-to-school dance: getting your kids organized. While you may not need to hire a professional organizer to help, you can certainly benefit from these timely tips from Kansas City’s top pros.
The Great Purge
Between our lax summer schedules and their junk-collecting habits, our kids’ rooms are a mess by the end of the summer. That’s when it’s time to purge. Mary Ellen Vincent, owner of OrganizeME, says the first step is to decide the function of the room. What the child does there determines what’s stored there. Consider moving sports equipment, board games or art supplies elsewhere if the child doesn’t use those things in his bedroom.
Next, sort your kids’ belongings by category and enlist their help in deciding what needs to go. “Children are natural hoarders,” admits Amy Hokanson, founder of A New Leaf organizing service. But often children are more likely to let something go if it’s being given to a younger cousin or charity. (See the sidebar for information on places to donate.) Another Hokanson tip: “If they don’t get their hands on an item, it’s sometimes easier for them to let go.” So when sorting belongings with your kids, hold up each item and ask for a yea or nay. Once they cuddle that stuffed bunny, it’s here to stay.
Developing a System
When you’ve decided what stays and what goes, decide whether the organizational system needs tweaking. Sally Wolf of Sally’s Organizing Services favors the creation of “zones” when organizing any room. That means items are grouped together according to category or function. Large bins work great, says Wolf, but skip the lids, which are “usually too much for kids to deal with.” Use the wall space to hang sturdy shelves or baskets. And be sure to label containers with words or pictures of building blocks, dolls or art supplies. Amy Hokanson likes using shoe organizers that hang over the door for things like Matchbox cars and Barbie clothes.
When designing a new system, it may soon become obvious that more purging needs to happen. “Make space the determination, the limit of how much you can keep,” says Vincent. That allows parents to take a neutral stance once the child sees that her closet can hold only so many baseball caps. Be prepared, however, for a child to come up with unworkable solutions like stacking up 15 caps only to have them tumble every time the closet door is opened. If the child is a real packrat, says Wolf, the parent may have to fill a giveaway box and store it in the garage. A year later, the contents can be reevaluated and, with luck, discarded at that time.
Keeping It Going
Flexibility is key to maintaining a good system. “Sometimes rather than fighting a habit, you work with a habit,” says Vincent. If a child always drops her backpack in the front entryway, consider installing a hook or a cabinet nearby to work with that propensity. In any case, make sure the system is something the child herself can maintain. Hokanson has created a checklist for bedroom cleanup, complete with clip art and photos. Even older kids, she says, don’t know what “clean up your room” means. “They don’t have any idea of where to start or what to do.”
Getting your kids organized isn’t just about keeping the house tidy; it’s a life skill parents need to teach, say the experts. Plenty of adults struggle with how to deal with their stuff, says Vincent. “It gets harder to make those choices if you don’t have the practice,” she says. Learning how to be organized now will make the school year more successful and less stressful—before it even begins.
Shawnee writer Claire M. Caterer vows to reduce the population of plush animals in her home by 30 percent this year.