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Play Room Tackle – it is about time!
I hate piles of stuff!!! I mean – I really loathe the stacks of clutter that continually pile up in every room of my house.
And the corner of our play room is one of the worst stacks of mess. Every time we tidy up, the stacks grow. What is in the mess? Lots of craft supplies, misc toys, books etc.
I have been meaning to tackle it for months. I even took a picture weeks ago, but didn’t quite get to the tackle.
So yesterday I went to the store and bought some plastic drawers and tonight was tackling time. Only problem? I didn’t quite get it all done and I know some of you tacklers are refreshing your screens waiting for me to get the Linky up. So I finally admitted temporary failure and stopped to post. I will resume tackling after posting this though and will post my after pictures before I go to bed – I promise!
Here is my before shot:
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Here is where I am at right now:
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I will update with my victory shots later tonight.
UPDATE: It is just after midnight and I am finally finished! Wow – am I tired! I threw out two grocery bags of stuff. I tossed a ton of old artwork etc. I even tested all the markers and threw out the dried up ones. (It was much easier to finish the tackle when Julia had gone home and Jackson was in bed!)
So here are my after shots:
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One question for you all (including our wonderful columnist Jenn Doucette.) Do you throw out kids’ cards like birthday cards, valentine cards, etc? I feel so guilty tossing these treasures of my sons. But really – how much am I supposed to keep? The same goes with his artwork. I keep some, but the rest I throw out. I am a pack rat – so throwing things out is very hard for me.
So my question for you: What stuff of your kids’ do you throw out? And, do you tell them? (Whenever I try to tell Jackson I am going to throw something out, he freaks!. I think he has pack rat tendencies like his mom!)
Join Us For Tackle It Tuesday
We’re making housework blog-able!
Each week on Tuesday, we are posting before and after pictures of a project or trouble area that we tackled this week.
Find out more about Tackle It Tuesday here.
The project can be little or big – whatever you want. Basically, Tackle It Tuesday is about giving ourselves incentive, deadlines and satisfaction in getting our household tasks done.
Shelina says
I find it much easier to ask my daughter what five things she wants to keep, rather than telling her which ones does she want to throw away. She picks five, and if her five favorites don’t include my five, then I keep those as well. The rest get tossed.
Sometimes a piece of art work will get a special display. (refrigerator) Then at the end of the period (when there is another thing to put on display) it gets tossed. That way it’s gotten its fifteen minutes of fame.
I think that children need to learn how to make decisions like this, and even though I am learning too, I figure we can learn together.
Natalie in TX says
I keep everything from each current year and at the end of the year I take a digital photo of everything, burn the pictures to a disk and then throw most of it (artwork, school work, cards) away. The other option is to take a picture of it at the time it was made/accomplished/delivered being held by the maker, keep all those photos in one place on the computer and at the end of the year burn them all to disk and dispose of the original paper item.
Ed says
I am no good at cleaning closets, but I can blog a bit about tackle it Tuesday. cheers http://tinyurl.com/249xc9
Marcia says
Janice, I just got my weekly simplesavings newsletter http://simplesavings.com.au and this was this week’s tip from Carol Hedley from Victoria
“PLAY MAT DOUBLES UP AS TOY STORAGE
My ten-year-old grandson has discovered that his home-made play mat, which doubles up as a storage bag, is a much better solution than his more expensive toy boxes! He loves playing with Lego, which was stored in an IKEA storage system. The only problem was that he had to tip them all out to see the tiny bricks, creating not only a huge mess but meaning a big clean-up operation every time he had finished playing. A solution was needed – and we found one! A large piece of calico was bought for just a few dollars (you could also use some old linen). A large circle was cut out – size depending on the width of the fabric – and this was hemmed and a cord threaded through.
Now whenever my grandson wants to play with his Lego bricks, the bag is opened out fully and covers most of the lounge room floor! It is easy for him to see the bricks he wants. When he has finished, he simply pulls the cord and turns it back into a bag, tidying up and re-storing all the bricks in one easy move. A far more economical and sensible storage solution – now everyone is happy!”
I love this idea – it is easy and cheap!
Enjoy your weekend!
Jennifer says
When my kids were really little I kept EVERYTHING. Then it got to be too much so I started tossing stuff out. I keep the homemade cards and I pick out some of their artwork to keep. Everything else goes in the trash, and no I don’t tell them!
Groovy Mom says
I don’t always tell them if I throw something out. They want to keep most everything anyway. I’m kind of a pack rat myself, but it feels so good to declutter that I’m overcoming some of that. I save some artwork, etc. But not all.
Erna says
I was in organizational mode and went through pretty much everything the girls owned in the past few days. I should go through their markers soon. :0)
I tend to keep birthday cards from family. I also keep my favourite artwork. There are times Rachel helps “keep or toss” what she wants. She puts some of her favourites in a little binder that she has. I keep my favourites in an accordian file. I just reorganized the girls artwork by year on Tuesday. It was neat to see how their drawings have changed over time. I don’t keep a lot of the crafts that we do unless they are something special like our butterfly footprints. There are some things I know Rachel won’t let go of but she won’t realize they’re gone either so those I toss when she’s not around. She likes to purge just like I do to some extent so that helps.
Rondadebi says
Not only did i tackled my own closet this week, and got rid of the winter clothes…..but I also tackle a table pile high of clothes since I piled it on this weekend, and I took the table down that i piled it on…..if I don’t have somethign to pile it on too, then it gets put away right away, so I got rid of the table and using it for outside for our picnic area…..
Jenny-up the hill says
Good job! I try to take a picture with my kiddo holding the art work. I have a hard time throwing away cards though…
Mindi says
The toy room looks GREAT! Doesn’t it feel good when you get it all done?
As far as what to keep and what to throw away…I only keep some artwork and I throw the rest away. However, I wait to throw it away until after the kids are in bed. I even have to hide it in the trash cans sometimes. There have been times when they saw it in there and dug it back out. I am with you on the birthday cards. I have kept them but it seems silly to do that every year. I may throw them out as well.
clutterbugs says
How clean and tidy! I am impressed, but also jealous! I have so much to tackle around my house it’s not even funny. Sigh… one Tuesday at a time, right? Nice work!
Nancy says
Great work! I am so impressed.
As of now, I keep everything-but I just have 1 ds and he’s 4. I plan to scrapbook some of the stuff, but I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it all once it starts piling up.
Thanks for letting me join your challenge. It was really motivating.
-Nancy
jen says
well done good job 🙂
Race Mom says
Great Tackle Janice! Mine was a tough one too!
As for your questions, I throw out cards. When the girls bring home special artwork I display it on the wall in a prominate place in special picture frames made just for children’s artwork. (It has a slot on the side so you can change them out when you like.) If it was in an art show at school and it got a ribbon or something I keep it. If it has a funny story to go with it, I write it down and keep it with the artwork. I do not tell them when I do throw out their artwork. I also do not tell them when I throw out broken toys. Twice a year (birthday & Christmas) we go through their toys and donate what they no longer want or need. This has helped instill a giving heart in my girls. We do this with their clothing also. EXTRA TIP: You know all those tiny toys you get in kids meals? I keep a bucket in the hall closet and toss them in there after the girls are done with them. I then donate them to the school PTA. They use them as prizes at the fall carnival!
Karolee says
Here’s my rule – Out of Sight/Out of Mind. If my kids really want to keep something, they need to keep it out of my sight. If I continually find it laying around – it’s trash! My three older children keep their birthday cards in a lunch box stored in their closests – out of my sight. They keep drawings in a binder or in a sketchbook -stray drawings are trash. The kids know the rule and understand the consequences. I don’t have any trouble enforcing it. (My youngest – who is three – abides by a slightly different rule – The ‘toss it when she isn’t looking’ rule).
AnnaLiza says
I just got through making a schedule and house rules. Since it’s working (in its first two days, might I add) I thought I’d make my unmarketable condo appealing to us!
More here:http://ventanawhos.blogspot.com/2007/03/project-painting-to-sell.html
Thanks for your website!! I enjoyed the blog party!!
Beckie says
Wow! I wish my toy room was tackled this week…. maybe next week. *wink*
WAY TO GO!!!
Blessings!!
Twisted Cinderella says
That looks awesome! I went through my daughters room the other day. I didn’t throw anything away yet. I do it in a two tier system. first I take what I feel are old, broken, unused toys and I put them away in the storage room. If she doesn’t come asking for or crying for any of them after a few weeks/months I throw them away.
Kathleen Marie says
That was impressive. It almost makes me wish my kids were still little. I do need to tackle my den though…yes I do!
Jill says
Nice work! Where do you get all your energy???
ChupieandJsmama says
I’m posting late today. I tackle Easter outfits and hanging a painting.
I keep all birthday cards which I’m starting to think is a bit much. I tried to keep all artwork, but it got to be too much so now I keep only really special things. We hang the rest for a week or two then toss. It’s too hard to keep it all.
Awesome tackle by the way. Can you come to my house next please?
Jennifer says
Your after shots look fantastic!! I used to keep everything, and still keep quite a bit, but have definitely become more selective. For birthday cards, I make a pocket page in their scrapbooks with the birthday layout for that year and store their cards in there. I still have some cards from grandparents and other important people from when I was a kid, and I love going back occassionally and looking at them and thinking about them.
As far as toys, my son has always been willing to go through his and give away the ones he no longer plays with. Funny thing is, until recently, I used to talk him into keeping things he was ready to get rid of! lol. My little one doesn’t really get it yet, so I pass on the toys she outgrows. Guess I’ll find out in the near future if she’s like her big brother or not! She already seems more attached to her stuff than he ever was though.
amanda says
Great job! And lots of great ideas…I’ll have to go back and read more carefully. I just read a great idea about old cards (this is NOT my idea…I’m sure I got it from a smart blogging mama)…I think this was specifically about valentines…put them between contact paper and make a placemat out of them! Then you can look at them all the time! Cute idea!
Q&Q says
Woah! Great job! I’ve been packing the baby toys systematically. Since we foster I keep pretty much everything unless it’s trashed. I just label it for the age group. I don’t know what I’ll be doing in the future though. My sister would have my nephew pack his items and donate them. He started very small so it was no big thing. He was happy to share.
My Peanut scribbles on paper once a day. I don’t save it. We would have a horrid mess if we did. Lately she’s been ripping her books. She loves books but if there is a little bit bent or something she will try and remove it. Sigh! So I’m patching books and putting those up until she’s older.
My mother would keep our important reports and artwork that we really worked on for special occasions but goodness not everything. She’s an artist so we drew A LOT!
Since we foster I need to hold onto a lot but I have to be selective about it or we would have a very junky house. I store the clothing, books, and baby items by age.
Barbara H. says
Looks great! That kind of job definitely is a lot easier when the little ones are asleep.
I have a hard time throwing out cards for the kids. Especially now that my mom has passed away, anything from her is a treasure to me. I try to keep representative art work and not every little item. I have a plastic box for each of the boys that I put all that stuff in. I don’t know if I will make a scrapbook or notebook out of it or what, but at least I know it is all there. One tip for when your little one is born: for anything you keep it’s good to put the name on it, and sometimes on cards I’ll add the year they are turning. When you have more than one child of the same gender, it’s hard to remember what was for whom after a while.
With their school work, I have a folder in a file cabinet. I don’t save every little thing, but try to keep representative pieces. I’m not so much interested in a page of math problems or a report on Venezuela as I am the assignments that show a little bit of their personality.
With my first son I used to keep everything his little hands had ever touched. But one day I was looking at the stack of Sunday School papers accumulated over just a couple of years and decided if I kept all of it, not only would I have a storage problem, but I’d never go back and look at it all. By just keeping a few representative things, it’s enough to remind me of their different stages.
I’ve kept a few toys that are in good condition that I think I might realistically use for grandkids in the future, but even that I weed through from time to time. Sometimes just after cleaning out their rooms of toys they’ve “outgrown,” it’s too hard for me to throw out, so I put it in the attic. But after some time passes I am able to look at it more objectively.
Mary says
My Baby Dear is only a year old, so I don’t have art projects, etc. from her yet, but here’s my advice.
I do this with all holiday, birthday cards that I receive…. keep them for one year, bundled in a rubber band, then take them out, look at them, and trash them. Example: Cards from this past Christmas are saved until this coming Christmas. On Christmas day, we take the time to look at all of last year’s cards, remember relatives that are no longer with us, enjoy the memories of the old cards, then toss them. Keeps a system in place, and you don’t have to feel bad.
As far as kid’s artwork, this is what I plan to do. Keep the latest one on the fridge or displayed wherever. Then toss it and replace it with a new one after a few days. I would keep a very limited few that are exceptionally cute or whatever and put those in a scrapbook.
Janice (5 Minutes for Mom) says
Thanks so much for all your input!! It is great to hear your ideas and how you keep cour clutter under control. I really like earthchick’s idea of creating a book of the cards. I have thrown out so many of them – I don’t know if I have enough for that left though!
Mira says
Awesome tackle! You did such a great job with that. On the keep vs. save I’ve been weaning through and only keeping those things that have sentimental value. It’s amazing how much paper I’ve kept over the years. What motivates me is hearing about my sister-in-law having to go through her mother’s stuff (who apparently never threw anything out for 70 years!!). Ugh! I’ll get rid of it now while I can.
Carey says
What a great tackle. It looks really nice.
As for what I throw out and what I keep, I tend to throw out all the cards they get. They hang around for a while, til they are done playing/reading them. They don’t ever go looking for them once they are done with them. As for other papers like artwork…if there is something that they have drawn that definitely shows their progress in drawing, or that you can tell alot of effort went into it, I will keep it, I also keep all the art work they do in art class at school, but other stuff, like the 20 pages they may scribble on over a course of the day, they will get recycled. For the older kids…as far as schoolwork, i do not keep it anymore. The only thing i do keep is if they wrote a paper, to show their progress in handwriting through the years. For my oldest daughter when she was in Kindergarten I kept every paper, and it bacame overwelming. I now know there is no need for it, and they sure dont miss it. And no, i do not tell the kids when i throw it out, i just do it. If they ask, I will tell them(theres no reason to lie). Good luck.
earthchick says
I’ve been saving the cards and am working on making a little book of them – just using a three-ring binder and some construction paper. My boys really enjoy looking at their old cards, almost as if they are little books themselves, so I thought why not make them into a book.
Your tackle looks great!
Celeste says
Great tackle! I save a few things. Usually the ones that make me cry…
Stephanie says
That looks great.
I don’t save cards. The kids use them to make their own crafts. I save very little art work. It just becomes clutter. I love the idea of taking a picture of things to save the memory, but haven’t actually incorporated that yet.
As far as toys, I do it both ways. Once a year or so we will go through them together. The kids are ok with it mostly. I reinforce that we are giving them to kids who don’t have so much.
Throughout the year though I will toss small things (or put in a bag to donate) as the opportunity presents.
I think having more kids makes it easier to let go. I couldn’t possibly save everything from 4 kids!
Heather L. says
Looks great! Thanks for hosting!
I have kept a few birthday cards over the years, but I try to keep only one per birthday for the scrapbook. I generally keep one from a grandpaernt or great-grandparent so the kids will have their signature. I don’t tell my kids when I am going to toss something. I take a picture of it and pitch it. When we are cleaning out their rooms, they will often surprise me by throwing something out that I wouldn’t think of or that I thought they’d want to keep. I have never stopped them for sentimental reasons. If it is that sentimental, I take a pic and let it go.
misslionheart says
I keep the lot! I can’t bring myself to put any artwork or cards in the bin. I just picture the kids doing these things and my heart melts!
palmtreefanatic says
wow! This looks great! this had to take some time on this project…I learned to not save everything, clutter gets to be to much to live with around here…Check out my tackle it was a big job, fully completed!
Jodi says
Great job! I used to save everything, cards, school work, etc. Now I will put all the cards in an arrangement and then take a picture of them, same for school art work, homework etc. Much easier to save and organize.
Carrie says
I keep the birthday/christmas/holiday cards; I just can’t let ’em go. I write the year we received them up in the corner near the fold. Just this weekend I was going through a box of sentimental stuff that I pulled out of my parent’s workshop and came across a birthday card my son received for his 3rd birthday from my grandfather. It was great for him to see it and read it, a very “warm and fuzzy” moment. It was like he was seeing it for the first time. (Really, who even CARES about what’s on the card when you’re 3??) So those are definitely keepers.
As for artwork, I keep some stuff from when they’re little, but my boys doodle daily and we’d be overrun (what am I saying, we ARE overrun) with art if I kept it all. If it’s a really stellar drawing, I’ll keep it; otherwise it hangs on the fridge or on a wall somewhere for a few weeks and then quietly “disappears”. No one ever notices. If one of them *did* notice and ask where it went, I’d admit I threw it away, and then quickly add a sugary “because your new drawing is SO much better…”
They’d be too busy puffing up like proud little peacocks to be crushed about the last masterpiece getting canned. 😉
Oh, the ones I do keep, I also write the date on them in a corner as well.
For those of you who throw everything out, you really should keep *something*. This weekend I amazed my boys when I pulled out a drawing of Spiderman that I did when I was a teenager. I was once again the Coolest Mom In The World… for a day, anyway. 🙂
Natalija says
That’s a very good job you did! I am so sorry I messed up on the MR. Linky. I was going to type in my link and somehow my oversensitive laptop hit enter before I could type. So, if someone can please delete the first Natalija without any link, that would be great. Thank you. I will be more careful next time.
Marcia says
Hi Janice
Great tackle! I’m breathing a sigh of relief with you 🙂
I don’t have kids yet (pray with me!) but I do have a husband who loves collecting every sentimental card ever. So I have a box for each of us (slightly bigger than a shoebox). And when the box is full, we need to go through and toss some things.
I read somewhere (???) once that the lady had a folder for each year of school. The child could choose what she wanted to keep and the rest had to go.
But personally, I would do much the same, and also scan and burn to CD. Use Jackson’s artwork to wrap gifts for family and friends. WIth children going to parties all the time, you’ll be sure to get through all that extra artwork in no time. Also, fold into an envelope and post to distant relatives. They will love getting mail and Jackson will love the idea of sending a letter.
Okay, that’s it from me for now.
Have a great day.
Alecia says
It feels soooo good to get clutter under control. It’s definitely an issue here. We went from a decent size home in VA(apx3000sqft) to a much smaller one in Hawaii- 1250 sq feet. My old bonus room was bigger than my entire downstairs is now- but that’s the trade off of living in Paradise. . .anyway- I fight the evils of clutter on a daily basis. I love this idea, so today I tackled kids artwork and my husband’s car records. I tend to scan in alot of Will’s artwork, so that I can email it to grandparents, post it on his little blog and keep it safe. Some things can’t be scanned and I will keep those special things, but alot of his cute drawings I can save on the hard drive and print if I want a copy. Saves space and he likes to”see it inside the computer”.
With the car records, I separated them into binders and put all records and mods into order. I used the 3 hole and added page protectors to hold the additional instruction manuals -like stereo, alarms, cat back exhaust systems. . . whatever the heck that is! We do the same for our house and any upgrades that we make. It makes a nice presentation for the person who will buy these things from us next!
Did I mention that I am a little type A? Couldn’t tell could ya?!
blackpurl says
What a great job you did!
I don’t save as much as I used to since our move to Russia. We left a 5 bedroom house to live in a 3 bedroom apartment… we only save what is important!
jen says
I keep the boys cards and some of their art work
I never tell Billy what Im throwing out in fact when I do the occasional deep clean in his room (hes expected to keep it clean most of the time) I do it when hes at school otherwise there would be arguments
Ill pop in tomorrow to see those finishing shots go for it girl youre doing well
Joy Colson says
I tackled my daughter’s closet yesterday as a matter of fact. The key for me, is to do it while she is in school, that’s number one. Number two, is to ask myself, “if I picked up this _____, (toy, piece of paper, card, etc) in a year from now, would I know what it is? Would it have any meaning to me?” If the answer is probably not, or maybe, or no, then I toss whatever the item is. My little one loves to save every kind of little thing she ever put her hands on, so if I don’t keep up with it, her closet will look more like a dumpster!
In The Midst Of This Season says
I toss. I keep a portfolio of student work (homeschooler) and I think it has helped me to be a tosser. I couldn’t possibly keep it all, so each week I decide on “the best” to be kept for the portfolio, which means one item per subject.
I do save extra special art or handmade cards, but not all. And no, I don’t tell them about tossing. My oldest knows I have clutterphobia and that I dont’ want it to grow in our house. She would be a clutterbug in a heartbeat if I fostered it. Good thing I’m phobic, I suppose.
Have you considered scanning special works, reducing them in size and the printing and scrapping with them? You could even print them full sized and use as background scrapping paper for some photos. Just a thought.
Blessings,
~Toni~
p.s. tackled all four walk-in closets this week. I would like to say I’m a highly motivated person but the truth is…social workers were coming to check on the baby. That’ll motivate me, you betcha!