So I’m moving house, and today the leasing agent came by take photographs. I cleaned, and moved junk out of sight, and took the diaper pail down to the basement, and put all the toys away while Toddler was sleeping. Washed all the dishes and put them away, hid the toys that live on the confiscated shelf (mostly small chokable objects that Toddler tried to feed to Daycare Baby, and large hard objects Toddler tried to whack Daycare Baby with), cleaned the bath and washed the floors.

Don’t houses look different when you can see the floors? As a mom of one of my own and up to two more of other peoples, it’s rare that I get to see much of the flooring.

Anyway, the agent is coming at 10. Toddler gets up ay 7am and Daycare Baby arrives at 9. All I have to do is keep the house tidy for three hours. Hard?

Usually my house is fairly clean and fairly untidy. Not revolting by any means, there’s usually lots of toys scattered around and I don’t usually make the bed and all the dishes live in the drainer after they are washed. And there is probably a sippy cup under the couch. And a couple of my coffee cups that I got distracted and didn’t take back to the kitchen. Pretty normal, yes? (If you tell me “Normal” actually means spotless and gleaming and only one toy out at a time, I’m not going to listen.)

Toddler doesn’t care to understand “Tidy” and Daycare Baby certainly doesn’t, and she’s in a particularly intense getting-things-out stage. I have to feed him, feed her second breakfast, run around after him because he won’t sit still to eat, then run around some more picking up all the things they get out and then abandon. And the socks they take off, and the pillows they throw on the floor, and all the other baby mess that I don’t really notice on a day-to-day basis because I normally ignore anything that’s not going to stain the floor until the end of the day and do one big pick up. It’s much more efficient.

So by 10 I’m exhausted and so relived to see the agent. She comes in, looks about, takes one photo then drops her camera on the floor. It breaks. Curses curses curses.

This reveals two reasons why being too tidy is not good. If I hadn’t tidied, the odds would have been excellent that the camera’s fall would have been cushioned by a squashy block or a dolly or a heap of dirty toddler socks. And now I have to keep the place tidy long enough for me to find the battery charger for my camera so I can take photos. Where did I tidy that away to?

I absolutely love the holiday season and all of the decorations that come out in December, but come January 1st, I am always very eager to put these seasonal items away for another year and to get my house in a less cluttered state.

Last January, I became pregnant and went on a huge purge of items in our overly filled, unfinished basement.  I cleaned out enough junk that we were able to make a small play area for my daughter in the middle of the basement.

This January, I am struggling with the fact that we have a baby in the house again and with that comes a myriad of baby gear, furniture and toys that seem to overtake the whole house.  Once I get my holiday decorations organized and put away in their labeled bins, I look forward to organize all of our baby “stuff”.

The question that remains is, as my son outgrows these baby items, whether it be clothing, gear or toys, what do I do with it?  Do I keep it in case we decide to have another baby or do I purge  again and begin to get rid of our infant items.  I have box after box full of girl things that I kept, in hopes that we would have a second child.  Now that we have that child and he is a boy, what do I do?

Until I decide whether or not we are keeping or giving away items, I will continue to have a basket on my dresser where I dump the clothing that is too small and the infant toys that we no longer need and I will continue to put those items in the basement as they accumulate.

My goal is to keep that small play space in the basement for my daughter and eventually my son, as it is important.  In the mean time, I will have to purge more items so that I can create the space needed to store all of the baby items that are no longer needed right now.

As for the current baby clutter that has over run our house, is there really a solution other than to remember that they are temporary?  We got rid of the playpen with the bassinet in the kitchen and replaced it with our reclining high chair, but eventually we will need that playpen back again once my son becomes mobile.  I have also moved many of my daughter’s toys up to her room in order to create some space for my son’s toys.  Although he doesn’t need them right now, the day is rapidly approaching when he will appreciate having access to baby toys on the main floor.

I never realized that organizing would be so difficult with two children!  Wish me luck.

Now that you have done the great purge (please see Part One), you are ready to move onto the next step: Sorting, Placing and Labeling.

• Sorting – When thinking about how to sort your child’s toys, you must try to think about sorting them in a manner that makes sense to your child. You also have to think about what kind of a space you are working with. This job is much easier when you are dealing with an entire playroom, as the sky is the limit about how many “categories” you may have. However, when working in a smaller space, for example, your child’s room or part of a common room, this can be slightly more challenging.We use a bin system in every room that has toys for my three year old daughter.

  We have sorted her toys into the following categories: kitchen toys (dishes), play food, friends (dolls and animals), Little People (and their accompanying structures), imagination box (dress up, jewellery, etc.), small toys bin (more of a miscellaneous bin for smaller items), musical instruments, train set, play dough, arts and crafts, doll clothing, tools, puzzles and books.Obviously, each child is different according to their age and interests. You may have less space to deal with, in which case you may choose to sort into two simple categories: small toys and large toys.

• Placing – When thinking about placement, your child’s age and height (along with other children in your family) should come into consideration. In an ideal world, you want their toys to be at their height or below so that they have access to them.You also must decide what kind of organization system you will be using. Will you have shelving units, a unit with slide out bins, baskets, large plastic tubs or a bookshelf or perhaps a different, more unique system all together?

  Some toys are suited better for simply placing on a shelf, whereas others require a confined space like a bin or a box. Clean, large coffee cans with lids (making sure there are no sharp metal edges, of course) make great storage containers for smaller items. You can use decorative contact paper to jazz them up if you wish.If you are placing larger toy items on a shelf and you wish to have that shelf look somewhat organized, you can trace an outline of each toy using a black permanent marker to help your child remember where to place each item.

• Labeling – You are on the last stage before your child’s toys are completely organized! This hasn’t been that bad, has it?It is very helpful to label the bins, boxes and shelves where your child’s toys are placed. This will not only help you and other caregivers remember where everything goes, but it also helps to create a print rich environment for your child which will help them with their literacy skills. If your child is older, they can help you make the labels. If you are on your own, consider using your computer and possibly clip art to accompany your labels. You can also use a label maker. Photos will help young children remember where everything belongs.Fasten your labels onto the containers or shelves using clear tape or clear contact paper.

And, voila! The toys are organized.

Now, don’t expect your child to remember how this new system works. It will take a bit of consistency and assistance on your part for a week or so, but the outcome is well worth the initial effort!

What a better time than right before school starts to reorganize your child’s play space. Whether you are the organized type or if you are slightly challenged when it comes to organization, a play space can always use a good over haul!

First things first:

PURGE!
This is a perfect time to sort through all of your child’s toys and decide which ones they are no longer interested in. This can be a step where you include your child in the process as you know that the second you donate that toy that they haven’t touched in six months, they will inquire about it.

It is very difficult for children to say goodbye to toys, however, getting rid of personal items is a part of life and now is a good time for them to start. Of course, we aren’t talking about their lovies or their favorite toys. I’m talking about all of the smaller things that accumulate over time; the ones that you don’t even know where they came from.

Let’s get started, shall we?

1. Find three good sized plastic bins. If you don’t have bins, you could use garbage bags (but it is nice to be able to see the items). I have also used little throw rugs to designate these spaces in order to outline the space for each pile. Label each bin with either: Keep, Give Away or Unsure. Another label system that is more wordy, but may help the younger children with this activity would be
   a) I play with this often
   b) I hardly play with this at all
   c) I am not sure if I’m ready to get rid of this, but I don’t use it much.
2. Item by item, help your child sort their toys into the three piles/bins. Note: You may want to start this process over for each type of toy depending on how many toys your child has.
3. At the end, put all of the items in the giveaway bin into a garbage bag, so they are no longer visible and your child will be less likely to change their mind about giving them away. Then, revisit the “Unsure” or “I am not sure if I am ready to get rid of this” pile and see if you can agree to get rid of more. If not, that is alright, however, take note of what items are in this pile and keep an eye as to whether or not they get used. Perhaps you could revisit these items in a few weeks (one by one).

Again, it is very difficult for children to part with their toys. Try explaining to them that in order to make room for new toys, it is important that you give away the ones that you are no longer interested in otherwise your house will become a place that no one enjoys living in as it will be taken over by toys.

Stay tuned for the next step: Organizing Your Child’s Toys: Part Two – Sorting, Placing and Labeling

Babies truly take over your life. They also take over your house. Even before they are scattering their toys all over the place, these 20-inch long individuals require so much stuff that us parents have to clear out closets and prepare the basement for the boxes of grown-out-off toys and clothes.

Then they get bigger, and start moving, and moving stuff around. This morning I opened the bathroom cupboard to a plastic frog convention, there’s a dump truck that’s taking Brio and a quantity of playdoh under my bed, and if I had a dollar for all the times I’ve accidentally stood on some toy I could buy a real dump truck.

My stuff gets scattered too, or re-purposed as toddler toys. There’s a spaghetti spoon, yogurt pot lids, several dollars in change and some old makeup brushes in the toy box. The brushes weren’t that old, but they are now… and when do moms get to put makeup on anyway!

It doesn’t help that our apartment is tiny. My sanity is preserved in my house by setting aside my space, with my things in it, that Toddler can’t get at. The top three shelves of a tall bookcase are MINE and no-one touches them.

Take the spoons into the bedroom, put the bike’s rear light under the TV and plastic firemen in the larder, and I don’t care. I have three square feet of order and serenity and even though it seems negligible against the tide of runaway megabloks, it keeps me sane in the chaos.

What do you do to separate baby space from adult space? How much personal space do you have in your house?