Organizing Acronym K.I.S.S.:

K.I.S.S. If you've done any reading or watched YouTube videos on organizing, then you've probably heard of K.I.S.S. It stands for Keep It Super Simple.  If you come up with an organizing system in your home, and you have to do multiple steps to put away belongings, it will not work. I'm speaking from experience here. Sometimes you have to rethink and revamp your organizing systems to fit your or your family members' personalities. For example; if your daughter is more of a ''chucker" than a ''hanger-upper" when it comes to putting laundry away, consider getting a cube organizer with cubbies for socks, underwear, leggings, undershirts, and maybe even pants and t-shirts. Then they only have to hang up dresses and sweatshirts. Or, you could get drawer dividers for their dresser so at least their drawers don't become ''laundry soup'' and they can still find what they need. This will allow for some order to things, while at the same time letting them have some freedom in their own space. Plus, you won't have to fight city hall everyday about putting everything neatly in drawers. 😉 We should NEVER let stuff come between us and our relationships with our family members. Sometimes kids just need to do what we ask, but if we have the chance to compromise a little and both still get what we want, why not? In this example, the daughter can quickly put her clothes away without reorganizing and straightening her drawers every day, and mom can relax because the clean clothes aren't all over the room and the dress clothes aren't in a wrinkled ball in the bottom of the closet. Win-Win.

     Yesterday morning, I went upstairs to get the boys for breakfast. I took one look at their room and went right back down for a couple of trash bags. One for actual trash, and the other for toy overflow. I had had enough of picking up the same badillion toys every. single. day. twice. a. day. (morning and after nap time). The thing is, they had accumulated so much stuff in there, that they weren't even playing with it. They had over a dozen board books up there that Little Boy would just clear off the shelf every day. Then they would walk all over them as they bickered over other things. Some of the books were in pretty rough shape. The boys had ripped the pages out. I had been picking up those loose board pages for a couple of weeks thinking I would fix them some day. WHY?! I finally tossed them. I left 4 (FOUR) of their favorite books on the shelf and took the surplus out. I will now rotate books for upstairs, not just toys. Why it took so long to do that, I don't know. I also took out a bunch of toys. When they have too much, they don't play with them very long at all. They dump every single cubbie on the floor whether they play with them or not. When we had finished, three of the six cubbies were empty. And that's okay. It only takes a minute to restore order to their room now, and they are happily playing with what they have left, instead of walking all over the toys and books. Now they can start picking up the toys while I'm making my bed and they won't be overwhelmed. I have also taken the flat sheets off of their beds. They don't need them in the Winter. If it were in the middle of July and they were hot but still wanted to cover up, then a flat sheet would be in order. Just one less thing we have to handle in the morning. Now I know, this may sound a little over board. A sheet is not going to be the difference between organization and mess, but little things like this together make a difference. In fact, if the boys were not early risers, I would not keep toys in there at all. Bedrooms are for sleeping and dressing. Not for detonating a nuclear bomb. They have a chest of toys to play with in the livingroom, as well as things like paint, playdough and crafts to do at the table. When kids don't have so much stuff, they play longer and happily with what they do have. I've witnessed this first hand. So don't feel guilty for paring down the toys and such. You are doing you children a favor, and yourself as well. You are teaching them to be happy with what they have, and to take care of those belongings.

     I've got my eye on this cabinet here . I have been looking online for cabinets that lock. Ones with locks already in them are quite expensive. I figure I can put a $3 lock on this myself, and it is 1/4 the price of other ones I've looked at. It has good reviews. What would I do with it? You may ask. I'm going to put toys with lots of pieces (box of blocks, puzzles, leggos, etc.) and craft supplies in it and lock it. Yes, I sound like an ogre. But, being aware of what is out and when will drastically cut down on mess. Plus, it gives me the chance to teach them to pick up what they are done with before getting out something new to play with. And the house doesn't get covered in paint and glue in the meantime! Not all of the toys will be locked up at once, of course. Just some of them and especially the biggest mess culprits. K.I.S.S. That is what it is all about. If it's not hard to clean up, it is more likely to get cleaned up and put away. This also goes with the sheer amount of things you have. The less you have, the easier and faster clean up is. And this doesn't just apply to kids. As mothers, we need to look in the mirror and ask if we need that much stuff. Are we asking our children to do something that we ourselves are not willing to do? I know I need to go through all my craft and scrapbooking stuff. I do not need all of it. How about the clothes? Kitchen gadgets? Personal care items? Makeup? I think you catch my drift. We all need to clear out some stuff and simplify things. Then,we need to have a place to keep what is left. Start in one area of your home. Maybe something small. A shelf, a closet. And work your way around until you've been through everything. Depending on the size of your house, and the amount of stuff you have, this could take a long time. Try not to get discouraged. You will have to go back to areas you've already been through and tidy them up, but it won't be as bad as it was before. So get started and good luck! I'm right there with you!