I don’t know about anyone else out there but school hasn’t even started yet and I’m already starting to shudder at the thought of all that schoolwork flooding in my door and onto the kitchen table and every other flat surface in the house.   I love to see the progress my 3 little geniuses are making in school but that coupled with the mail can quickly become a literal paper mountain.  We have trays set up for the kids to minimize the scatter during the week and it works like a charm.  “Scan-Man” takes us one step closer to spacial bliss

I have decided to start the “Scan-Man” up and get him rockin’ this year.  Each of us will have a folder on the computer for any papers we want to keep around but don’t necessarily need to have a physical copy handy.  Scanners are relatively inexpensive and you may want to pick up a paper shredder while you’re at it since you won’t need to FILE it anymore.  I get all fired up just typing that line   There will be plenty of sales coming up with school starting so keep your eye open for deals.  We’ll certainly post any we find!

Change is good!

Take a moment to think about how much paper storage you have in your house right now…. all of it… even in the attic!  This is 2009…make the change to storing it on the computer and free up some much needed space around the house.  Of course you will need to hang on to some precious items – don’t go scanning and shredding little Johnnie’s kindergarten art project. 

Can you feel the open space? 

TKMom

Space to moooove

Honey, I'm home!!!

I know you want the magic solution.  Just do ____________ and you’re ” not so tidy” significant other will be buzzing around the house scrubbing, vacuuming, dusting, disinfecting, sorting and folding.   Buy ___________ and never again will you come home from a short trip to a complete and total disaster area fit for yellow caution tape and a sign labeled “CONDEMNED.”

Well, there is no magic answer but I’d like to offer a few suggestions on how to approach the subject with your cave dwelling partner without getting into a knock down drag out.   One thing you may want to keep in mind if you are the Neat Freak (odds are the Messy Marvin’s aren’t reading this…just a guess) and that is PATIENCE… Rome was not cleaned in a day!

Common ground

The important thing is to make sure you have expressed how you feel about the clutter and your spouse has, at minimum, expressed they have heard what you’ve said and at least will try and understand how it makes you feel.  That is a huge step in the right direction.  Things may not change overnight but you can make progress and it’s not unusual for the whole family to begin to realize that tidiness is next to… well, you know

Imagine!

One step at a time… believe it and you will get there!

TKMom

Great!  So glad you are back and hopefully you have reached your senses and understand that “monkey see, monkey do” is more than just a quaint phrase.  We have all watched our kids emulate grown-up behavior and it’s no accident that children of all ages, socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicities, religions and on – all do it!  It’s UNIVERSAL!  They will emulate the good AND the bad no matter how much we try to tell them what to do and how to do it – they are WATCHING!

Let’s have a little therapy session, shall we ? (purple is a nice soothing color, right?)

So ask yourself this question, “Am I doing the things I am asking of my kids?”  I know, that was not nice was it?!  Depending on your answer, you are feeling somewhere between the June Cleaver type and the Tazmanian Devil.  If you are June Cleaver you may be thinking all is well with the world.  I’m not really concerned about offending any Junes out there because Junes are doing all the work themselves and probably aren’t reading this blog anyway.  As for the Tazs, you know who you are(admit it) and chances are you already feel bad enough about the state of your stuff, so let me approach this from somewhere around the Malcolm in the Middle area. 

You GOTTA do it!  Here are a few tips to get you started

• Start with making your bed, it’s big and just that alone makes a noticeable difference. 
• Then pick up everything off of the floor and pile it on your bed.  Set your timer for 7 minutes and don’t stop moving until it’s all put away, PROPERLY!  Yes you do only have 7 minutes so MOVE IT.  Don’t turn of the timer until your done.
• Next comes the dresser – what in the world is all that stuff doing up there?  Get a trash bag – half of it can be thrown away anyway.  If you are a pocket paper collector, get a colorful jar and use it to store your 80 million tiny pieces of paper that pile up on the dresser once you’ve purged your pockets - go through it once a month and purge old receipts, notes to self, etc.  
• One way to keep the bedroom from going bonkers is to Not Not Not bring anything in that is not bedroomy.  There is no reason for your gardening shoes to be in your closet or for the weeks mail to be on top of the 80 million little pieces of paper on your dresser.  If it doesn’t come in… it won’t have to be taken out.   Make it a rule, then follow it!

Make a chart, or get in touch with your inner child and use one of ours (major points with the kids).  Use it to make sure you pay at least 5 minutes of attention to your room everyday.  I can say from experience, 5 minutes a day is all you really need to keep your room from becoming the very thing your sweet little person uses against you when you ask them to clean theirs!

Oh how I long for the day when I can have my very own bathroom and have it all to myself.   Not only do I have to share it with my husband who secretly steals my eye cream, but my kids just can’t get enough of me and insist upon doing their “bathroom biz” in my bathroom too!  Everything from tooth scrubbing, hair brushing, whizzing, dressing and undressing happens in MY bathroom…all despite the fact that we have two other bathrooms in perfectly good working order.   Even when I am in the bathroom alone… I can hear them, tracking me… zoning in on my location until WHAM!  Alone time OVER… wah…wah…wahhh (like the sound Pacman makes when you lose) L

With all of this in and out of MY bathroom, we find the bathroom stuff getting all mixed up.  There is nothing creepier than realizing you just brushed your pearly whites with someone else’s tooth brush…EEEWWWW!   It only takes once for that to happen before you go on a serious hunt for a solution.  Here’s what I came up with and it works like a charm…

We each have a bin with our name on it and all of our bathroom paraphernalia goes in the bin and under the sink or on the shelf in the linen closet.  That way there isn’t a bunch of stuff sitting on the sink, etc, etc.  I bought some cool stickers so each of the kids could personalize theirs which really got them interested in the project and I believe it’s what helped make it so successful.  It also makes getting ready a little quicker because no one is running around looking for their stuff.

I suppose I could’ve just kicked everyone out of MY bathroom but then I would have missed the story my 1st grader told me one morning while we were brushing our teeth together – about the boy that told her she was the “beautifullest” girl in class and gave her the thumbs up and a wink – and then she said “Mom, he really meant it, like ya know… meant it.”  Truth is, we have some pretty real conversations doing the “bathroom biz” and I’ll miss it terribly someday.

TKMom                                                                

The "Beautifullest" Girl

We have 3 kids and they cover the full spectrum from Mighty Tidy to Tornado.  The little one (girl) is an absolute wiz at tidy, and let me tell you, she has taught us all a thing or two.  The oldest, also a girl, reminds me of a phrase my parents used quite often when referring to my organizational skills, “You’d lose your head if it wasn’t attached to your shoulders.”  And then there is the middle child (boy), who will clean up his room but then it’s sectioned off like a museum so nothing gets move from its sacred spot.  I find myself creeping tip toe through his room so as not to knock over one of his very deliberately placed toys.  These are, after all, very strategically placed and trust me he’ll notice if Mr. Bionicle™ has moved to a vulnerable position against the great Bakugan™ foe… it’s a battle of epic proportion!

We run the gamut from, the total standoff… “clean up or perish”, to “oh the heck with it, my room is a mess too and I’m tired”!!!

Regardless if you’re dealing with kids who take to it instinctively or those who fight it every step of the way, breaking tasks down into smaller “bite size” chunks is a vital step towards success.  For example, if you have a child who’s room looks like a cyclone hit it and the mere mention of the words “clean up your room” turn your once sweet, good natured child into a convulsing, melt down having, professional whiner who you begin to refer to as your husband’s (or wife’s) child….here is a suggestion that will help.  

Day one: start with making the bed only.

Day two: make the bed and pick up 5 things off of the floor.

Day three:  make the bed, 5 more things off the floor and 5 items to be thrown away or donated to charity.  (you can make it 3 things if 5 starts to point you towards whiner territory)

Day four: make the bed, 5 things off the floor and 5 items to be trashed, stored or donated… starting to get the idea??? When these tasks are being completed, let your kids dress up in play clothes or listen to fun music… anything to promote a little use of the imagination. 

A cyclone is just too overwhelming a task to think of cleaning up all at once.  If you can live with the mess for a few more days and let them make smaller strides towards cleaning it up… you will have truly accomplished something and so will they!

TKMom