Thursday, March 3, 2011

52 Weeks of Organizing: Week 9 TroubleMaker's Toys (Part One)

After hitting the wall last week, I knew I didn't want to leave my organizing until late in the week (when I'd be tired, overwhelmed and "done")... So, following my roadblock realization, I enlisted my wonderful son to help me go through his toys...

We've really tried to control the number of toys our son has. It was one of those things his Dad and I agreed on - too many toys stifles creativity, so we have worked to control what he has gotten for Christmas and birthdays - or at least what we got him!

We have, since his first year of life, gone through all the toy bins periodically and purged toys. Broken stuff gets tossed and all the good toys that are no longer age appropriate, we've passed on to others. We've done this dance two or three times - and generally, my husband does it while TroubleMaker and I are out of town at my mothers!

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With his birthday approaching, we knew it was coming time to clear out the bins again. And because he is a "bigger boy" I thought it was time to involve him.

We started with the process I've familiarized myself with over the past nine weeks (empty, sort, purge, organize).TroubleMaker made his own decisions on what went and what stayed - no arguing, no whining - all his decisions were done with conviction and he seemed proud of himself!

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I think hope involving TroubleMaker in the organizing process will help to prevent the all too obvious hoarding tendencies his family has! And for the record, I'm not the only 'keep everything I've ever owned' person in our house... My husband has his magazine collection that dates back to the early 90's... His Gran has her fabric stashes... My Mom - well, remember this post? I also know his Memere has problems too (she recently packed up two boxes of excess stemware). His Pepere is a keeper of things too - there is a story from long, long ago that involves a leaf patterned piece of Plexiglas, Pepere (my Dad), and a trip to the local landfill...

But that's another story and just a brief example of why, like so many others, I need the Org Junkie's 52 Weeks of Organizing project!

7 comments:

  1. I have started involving both my kids in the purging process when it comes to cleaning stuff they play with and I am amazed at how mature they are when making their decisions! Every once in awhile something goes back in the pile that I think should go in the purge group, but it usually gets purged the next time around!

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  2. Love your blog! I just became your newest follower! :)

    http://purplebookbloggingmommy.blogspot.com/2011/03/staying-organized-cleaning-and.html

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  3. I love how you included your son in the decision making progress.

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  4. Jen - thanks for stopping by! I totally get that - our son recently decided that he loved all the toys too much to pass them on - but we'll try again soon!

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  5. Mommyto3andahusky/Erin Welcome and thank you for following - I hope you keep loving it! checked you out too - great tips!

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  6. Oh his toys look wonderfully organized!

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  7. And a week later, they are STILL mostly organized like that! Yay!

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