Teaching Kids to De-Clutter

 

          If you are a clutter collector, or even a bit of a hoarder, there is a lot of time wasted just taking care of your "stuff".  Imagine if you could recoup some or a lot of that time, by disconnecting your heart from your things, so you can connect more deeply with family, friends and times that matter.  

 

          Kids can pick up the clutter habit too, and have a hard time getting rid of every possession.  My girls loved their closet full of pretty, frilly, lacy, sparkly clothes. Many were hand-me-downs and just too good to toss out.  But it was nearly impossible to get their rooms organized so they could invite friends for sleepovers, or do homework or read in their own space. The contents of the closet had spread to the floor.  I had to come up with a creative way to help them separate themselves from their "stuff."  Here is our story.  

 

Too many clothes and the “store” at Oma’s house. One day ………

 

          When the girls were little, we had exactly that problem. So many hand-me-downs, and so many nice new clothes from grandparents, there was just way too much. The fact is, everything needs to fit in drawers. If there is more, you NEED to part with some. One day, when we had all day to do this, we took all of Heidi and Melinda's clothes to Oma's house. We spent the day in her laundry room, first washing all the clothes, then as they came out of the dryer, we set up Stores. We used two big tables, the ironing board and a few sheets of plywood. Everything was neatly folded or hung, and sorted by size, just like a real store. When the laundry was ALL done, each girl picked her 5 favourite  tops, 5 pants, 5 long sleeve shirts, 5 shorts, 5 sweaters. Five Sunday Dresses. Five of something from every department, including undies. But not swim suits. You only need one of those! They happily took their "shopping" home and we donated the rest to Value Village before getting home to put the "new" clothes neatly into drawers. We went to someone else's house for the laundry part of our project to separate ourselves from our house, and the temptation to quit, to get distracted with something else more fun, or keep too much stuff.

 

          Any time you own too much “stuff”, you have to take the time to care for it. Whether it’s washing clothes or organizing toys, tools, kitchen gadgets, knick knacks, collections, or books. If you are spending a lot of time with your “stuff”, you have less time to spend with your friends, family, the Lord, or helping others. Make sure that caring for your “stuff” is not limiting the time you have with more important people. If it is, get rid of as much as you can. Live lean. You only live once. 

 

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