’Tis the season for spring cleaning! Since this is a community for moms, I’m going to tailor this post to parent-related spring cleaning. If you’re looking for tips on getting every piece of dirt from your windowsill, you’ll need to look for inspiration elsewhere.
In my house, there are 3 main categories of “kid stuff” that, if not regularly maintained, become overwhelming to clean out or tidy up: clothes, toys, and art supplies. Let me preface this by sharing that I am NOT a generally organized person. I usually know where things are in the chaos, but there is almost always chaos. So I’ve had to adopt some really simple strategies for staying on top of the never-ending stuff that comes along with kids!
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The Art Supplies
I love me some kid arts and crafts, but the supplies have taken over two areas of my house: one is a cabinet that houses “everyday” art supplies such as coloring books, markers, construction paper and stickers which the kids can access themselves. The other is a section of the guest room closet where I attempt to keep less frequently used crafting items or things that require more adult supervision – think glitter, popsicle sticks, sequins, and the glue gun. Each of these areas includes a key organizational piece that I highly recommend! In the cabinet, I have a giant letter/file folder rack that keeps stickers, coloring books and paper sorted by category or size quite well. In the closet, I use a hanging shoe rack that has really perfectly-sized compartments for small baggies or craft tools! Spring cleaning these areas means trashing almost-used sticker sheets, re-organizing the paper by size and color, and packing the remaining Christmas or Valentine’s craft items away for next year.
2. The Clothes
I started this simple method when the kids were little, and I’ve had surprisingly little trouble staying on top of the clothing purge. I keep a bin in each kid’s closet where you can toss items the moment you realize they’ve outgrown it or it looks worn down. This keeps you from having to remember if something fits or not, and requires basically no extra time to go through drawers. Then the spring cleaning exercise becomes taking the bin-full of items for donation, consignment, or handing-down.
3. The Toys
Oh, the toys. We try to tackle a toy purge before each child’s birthday and Christmas. We do have a spring birthday in the house, so it feels like part of our “spring cleaning” to make room for new. This is the one you really need to get the kids involved in – live and learn, but you’ll understand what I mean when your child asks for a toy they haven’t played with for months and you’ve already secretly gotten rid of it. NOT fun! We’ve adopted the method of purging into a big box that we keep in the garage – if the toy isn’t looked for in a month or so, it goes.
Side note: I am THE most nostalgic person. I have a really hard time passing along clothing or toys that hold special memories. I also (overly?) cherish gifts, knowing the giver spent time and put special thought into what my child would enjoy. Marie Kondo has helped me a little bit with this – using her suggestion to thank the item for the joy it brought to the giver and/or recipient. But the thing that’s helped me the MOST is to remember that this item may be truly cherished by its next owner, too. It may be a toy my kid plays with now and then, but what if it becomes some sweet little one’s ONLY toy or FAVORITE toy EVER?! That thought makes me feel good about letting it go (and ignore that it may just end up junk) and is something I also remind my children of when they’re holding onto something that I know they are over.
What are your favorite methods for spring cleaning the kids’ stuff? Share in the comments!
