Every parent knows how messy the house can get, whether you’ve lived somewhere for a long time or are moving with kids for the first time, you want to keep your home in relative order. Of course, this becomes challenging when your kids love to play with their toys and create exciting stories all within your home.
Still, you want to keep your home tidy, or at least as tidy as it can be with young children. The problem is that they can create a lot of clutter in a small amount of time, so how can you stay on top of your kids’ clutter?
Is Clutter Really So Bad?
Look anywhere online, and you’ll see article after article going over how clutter is terrible for your mental health. While there’s undoubtedly some truth to this, ask yourself is it really that bad? Clutter can cause problems, but perhaps worrying about too much clutter–especially when you have kids–can cause problems, too.
It Is a Buffer
Just because your house is cluttered doesn’t mean it is as bad as you think. If anything, a little clutter can create a buffer. You know you need to clean something, but you might not have the time or energy to go through the whole house. With some clutter, you can focus on keeping the house tidy for a while. When you’re ready to tackle more demanding cleaning projects, you’ll have the space to do so.
It Can Create a Routine
Even if you don’t like any clutter, you can use it to develop a routine. This approach could be an effective low-stress way to start decluttering your home as it gives you an easy place to begin instead of feeling overwhelmed by the mess that has accumulated in your home. You know your house might be more cluttered over the weekends or during school holidays, so you can build a cleaning routine around this to stay on top of everything.
It Makes Your House Look Lived In
As much as clutter can make a house look messy, it also makes your home look lived in. You want to foster a vibrant environment for your kids but expecting them to keep everything in its right place will not do them any favors. From Lego bricks to their favorite plushie toy, it’s okay to have a little clutter here and there because it shows that your house is really a home.
You Can Feel More Relaxed
Clutter can stress people out, especially anyone who loves a neat household. However, fixating on clutter at all times is not good for your well-being. If you worry about mess constantly, you’ll never be able to relax, even if it’s just a few dishes piled in the sink or shoes not replaced on the rack. By embracing a little clutter, essential when you have kids, you can take a step back and enjoy living in your house.
You Can Learn What You Want to Keep
A little clutter can also help you identify what you want to keep. If you’ve always struggled to get rid of items but also hate clutter, you can take the time to go through everything and decide what you need and want and what you can throw out or donate. This approach is a great way to keep your home clutter-free while also keeping the things that matter most to you.
How to Stay on Top of Your Kids’ Clutter
You don’t want your home to look like an abandoned toy store, so you should know how to stay on top of your kids’ clutter as much as possible. With that in mind, here are some tips to help you keep the house tidy, or at least as much as you can.
Buy Clutter Containers
Clutter containers are perhaps the best way to stay on top of all your kids’ toys. They can be simple plastic containers with labels, so you know what goes where, or personalized toy boxes that make it more fun for your kids to put their things away. These containers can go anywhere, such as your kids’ bedroom or the playroom, and make it easier to keep your home under control.
Make It Easy to Tidy Up
You can also find ways to make it easy to tidy up. The toy boxes should help with this, but it’s also worth knowing where to keep everything. You can’t expect young children to put toys back on the shelf, so keep the containers on the floor so they can put everything back when they’re finished. The easier it is to tidy up, the more likely your kids are to do it, and it also benefits you if your kids are too young to do this themselves.
Keep the Clutter to One Room
While you want your kids to feel free to explore the house, it also makes it difficult to keep the house clutter-free. Instead, keeping your kids’ clutter in one room is a great way to control everything, even if the room is messier than other places. You can check out these playroom ideas to create a fun, inspiring space for your kids to play and they can also use it for arts and crafts.
Give Them Incentives to Clean Up
You shouldn’t expect young children to clean up after themselves, but as they get older, you can give them incentives to tidy up when they have finished playing. This could involve doing things out of the house like going to the park or having friends from school over. If your kids understand there are rules around what they can do, they will be more likely to clean up and develop excellent habits that can follow them through life.
Cut Back on Buying Toys
As much as you like to treat your child, you could also run into the problem of buying too many toys. The same goes for grandparents or other relatives who shower your child with gifts. It’s a great way to show your love and keep them engaged but it can also make it impossible to keep your house clutter-free. As your child gets older, cut back on how many toys you buy or focus on toys they will actually play with rather than buying anything you come across online.
Set Up a Cleaning Routine
It’s always easier to stay on top of the clutter if you have a cleaning routine. This applies to your entire house as much as it does your kids’ bedrooms or other parts of the house. The routine can vary from household to household, but you must stay consistent. Cleaning up all toys on Sunday evening, for example, gets your kids ready for the week. You can keep things under even more control by having them tidy before they go to bed every night.
Repurpose Items
As a parent, you know how fickle kids can be. One day, they can’t get enough of one toy and the next day it’s like they never liked it in the first place. Rather than these toys filling up space in your home, find ways to repurpose them. They can turn from regularly used toys into decorative stuffed animals on their shelves or go into a box in the attic to save for later when you have another child.
Ask Them What They Don’t Want Anymore
Similarly, you can simply ask your kids which toys they don’t want anymore. While you might be worried about tantrums later, parents can find out where to donate kids’ toys to give older items a new life and make another child as happy as they made your kids. However, make sure you get the full go-ahead from your child, so they don’t get too upset later on.
Keep Some Things Out of Sight
There could be some toys or activities that are far too messy for you to deal with every day, so keeping some things out of sight can cut down on plenty of cleaning. Usually, this includes anything crafty like paint or glue. You should still encourage your child’s creative spark but you also want to supervise them when they play with messy materials. By restricting these activities to a few times a week (at most) you’ll have less to worry about.
Get Your Kids Involved
It’s commonly agreed that kids can start helping around the house around ages three to four since they are more capable by this time. You shouldn’t ask them to vacuum or clean the bathroom, but they can tidy up after themselves. If you get any pushback (and you will get pushback), turn the tidying into a game by timing how long it takes to put everything back in its right place.
On Top
Try as you might, you’ll never fully get on top of your kids’ clutter. There will always be something to put away when you’re expecting guests, and you could even find long-lost toys in many years when you finally move out. Still, these tips can help you come to terms with a little clutter while keeping as much under control as possible.
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