Ways to organize your home...

You are outnumbered. Till the boys move out, it is all a pipe dream, kiddo...

Maybe you can claim one room as Mismi's clean room,...... stay out?

Hi mismi,

don't you have recycling bins for paper? Out here (CA) we have additional
garbage bins for paper and other recyclable goods. Now we also have a green
bin for "green" disposables like grass, leaves, branches, flowers etc.

For kids, I find huge storage bins (they have colorful ones at IKEA or Target)
most usefull. All their toys, legos etc. can be just thrown in there and if they
need it, they can rummage through it themselves.

I also had started an allowance program - whenever my daughter does a chore, like clearing out the dishwasher, taking out the trash, walking the dog, and so on, she'll get 50 cents. This way, she can determine herself how much or how little allowance she will get. This eliminated the reoccurring argument that other kids get much more allowance than her.

I have a nice big wicker basket where all newspapers, magazines and other
papers get tossed in and once a week we transfer it to the recycle bin.
I also have stackable wicker boxes where all DVD's and CDs are stored, and no DVD gets out before all others are put back in place.

It takes a while to discipline the family, you'll sound like a broken record for a while, but afterwards your house is much more clutter free and organized.

That IS encouraging Rock.

I am thinking about giving away ALL of their toys. It would make them more creative. It would be good for them and help me out as well. I can't focus in a house of junk. Stacks drive me nuts. I keep demolishing and putting away - they keep building.

Mismi's room is a good idea. Can I take two?

Jane, I am ashamed to say we live in the county and the nearest place for that kind of thing is way out of my way. If I were a more conscientious person I suppose I would take a day to take that stuff every couple of months...I suppose it could be done. I have to be open to that possibility.

Those are great ideas. Some I already do...the toy bins yes. I am the one that is picking through all the little pieces and trying to keep them together. I think I need to take a deep breath and just stop that.

Yes mismi, if you start picking up toys after them, they rely on you to continue

If you don't have recycling bins, the boys can make paper machè animals out
of your shredded papers.

thanks Jane - they love to paper mache'...I might have to wait until summer, or maybe Christmas break - this third grade homework for the twins is kicking my @$$!

Some ideas.

1. Special places for certain things, like a hook for keys or a rack for coats and hats, with a space for boots underneath. Sounds simple but it's a start.
   
2. Your husband likes to pile. So maybe the thing to do is give him a place to break down the piles. E. g. this bin is for bills, this one is for stuff to read later and this one is for kids' stuff that needs attending, like permission slips that have to be signed. He can only pile those things in those places. Everything else can get piled elsewhere, but those things go in those spots and only those spots, and no fair stacking all three of them in one spot, either. Lillian Vernon sells kind of freestanding wooden drawers for desktops -- like this -- which might suit your purposes.
   
3. Things like keys and papers, you can usually make a good case for, because I assume your husband and family have an interest in maintaining a good credit rating (even though your kids don't understand that, they may get the idea of paying bills on time) and not losing keys. After that it may get tougher vis a vis convincing 'em of what you're trying to do (I'm trying to get you out of the role of nagger). For toys, though, there is a virtue to keeping them separated, as that makes things work better. If you're trying to build the big lego spaceship and the astronaut is missing, or if pieces are missing from a jigsaw puzzle, well, that stinks. In any event, you may do better with pushing for more separation. Much like separating the more important (and urgent) papers from the remainder, you may do well to give ways to separate out major toy stuff in one way or another, say, by maybe buying some colorful cloth bags for the legos.
   
4. Clothing could probably use a little organization, mainly to see what needs to be replaced as the kids get bigger. Obviously socks and shoes have to be paired. You could use bags for pairs of shoes if you needed to, and even tie or rubber band socks together after washing, so at least they'd stay together.

Hope this helps. Organization is a tough enough job without having people around who are actively disorganized.

OHHHH - I love those organizer caddies. That is a great idea Jespah.



Yes...well - this is just a matter of discipline. Disciplining them. I have meticulously tried to keep them seperated into smaller plastic boxes...Each Star Wars ship to a box...but I keep finding them and sucking them up in the vacuum. There for a while I was (I kid you not) getting the vacuum bag and going through it to get the pieces I picked up, rinsing them then putting them back. I HAVE stopped that. Now I am picking up the toys and putting them in a bag and putting them in the attic. Some have been there for months. This is working somewhat. When they are being more careful and I see that - I bring something down from the attic. The minute they start leaving it all around again...I start bagging and storing. It is exhausting though.


that is a great idea.

A worthy objective

Thanks -- I got a million of 'em.

I forget -- how old are the boys -- you might need to appeal to them in different ways.

twins that are 8 and a 5 year old. Handfuls they are - just like their daddy - if they were more like me we would have NO problems (heh heh - kidding - sort of )

Well there ya go.

Hmm. Might work with the 5-year-old to make it sort of a game. Toys go here, clothes go there, now it's time to play .... For the twins, of course they have to be able to find their homework. Are there consequences if they don't?

Well the house is not in that bad a shape really - I just keep thinking there is something I can do besides nag to get them to do what they need to. They keep their homework in their backpacks and those are hung on the basement staircase. Their room...well - quite honestly - the only consequences to their room being a mess is me bagging it all and putting it upstairs. But they have two sets of grandparents that manage to buy them things constantly - so my choices are - let the boys continue the cycle or - talk to the grandparents. I don't want to talk to the grandparents. They have chores and they do those with fairly little nagging. Gentle reminders 3 or 4 times before school - generally gets the dogs fed, the garbage emptied and the toilets wiped down. I think it will get better as they get older. I hope. If they don't do their chores before school then they have to do them and their homework after school, which puts off their play a little longer. They can't stand that - usually.

I have witheld their allowance before - that doesn't work either because the grandparents get them what they want. And truly - the fact of the matter is - they are good boys - they work hard at school - they are really quite kind to friends and to each other for the most part. We do have the occasional scuffle - but it is usually no big deal. Really - I am just tired of the whole I get it done - it gets undone thing. It is so useless sometimes.

It looks like I am going to have to talk to the grandparents doesn't it? crap

Anyway...thanks the ideas you have given are great.

You're welcome. One idea -- and I recall my folks used to do this, your twins might be able to handle this -- is to ask the grandparents to not constantly shower with gifts but to instead save it up for a few occasions and go for something grand. Dunno if that's something you can specifically ask for as it may seem to be like grasping. Hmm dunno re the protocol. But one bike (which will stay in a garage or shed), assuming they want and use it, will be a lot less clutter than this, that or the other little toy that frankly they neither want nor need. I think the 5 year old would be more into the more instant gratification thing but the older ones might be responsive to putting things off in order to have a far sweeter reward.

Again, trying to get you out of nagging, which is not a fun cycle to be caught up in.

lol, if they dont organize themselves it aint happening anytime soon...


umm, i would say manilla folders, for paper, label em etc..

labels in general... but it can look tacky, and unorganized people dont use them, trust me, ive tried.

I find making lists helps a lot. Even if it's the smallest item as a reminder, even if it's lame as writing "pay bills." I took a lot of flack from my siblings over having written that on a list once. They thought it was hilarious.

Lists help because once you write it down you don't have to commit it memory anymore. For example, last night I made a list of things needing to be done today and sure enough when my blank brain looked at the list a little later in the morning, it was a complete reminder of what needed to be done.

If I don't make a list it might get done and it might not.

So, I imagine with children if you sat down to make a list it would be a mile long! Why not write everything on the list, no matter how unrealistic, just go with it. This wayyou will have committed it to paper.

The best part about making a list is crossing things off. As you slowly wittle away at the stuff you will see over a period of time you actually have gotten more organized.

I keep all my lists in a pocket calendar, and sometimes I look back at the still legible words even though their crossed out and it gives me a sense of history and accomplishment--even if it said "buy W-D 40."

Just a few thoughts:


1. Have a specific place for everything. This makes it easy to put something away, because it always goes back in the same spot, and you don't have to use mental energy finding/making a spot for it. Clutter happens because it's too much effort to find a place to put something. If you have too much stuff, then get rid of some of it, or get more shelves, or get a storage shed.

2. Store things near where they are used.

3. Label things for a while, so the rest of the family learns where to put things.

4. Stations. The kitchen table is for eating, the desk is for paperwork, the media room is for TV and video games, the bedroom is for sleeping/relaxing, the playroom is for toys. If space it tight, you might not have separate rooms, but you can have discrete spaces.

5. Have a place to swap toys in and out of use. Kids get bored if they always have the same toys out, and they get overwhelmed if they have too many toys out.

6. Make sure all the parts to a toy set can be kept together. Use ziplock bags, or plastic bins, or milk crates, or something.



My current struggle is to organize the garage. Too much crap. Building shelves has helped, but not enough.

The corollary to this is that if something new comes in, and there isn't a space for it, then something else has to GO!

Letting the kids make the choice for what goes might help with the grandparent issue.

great ideas...make great sense. Thanks guys.