Organizing is a learned skill

So many of our clients tell us that they never learned to let go of things because they would come home and Mom would have already tidied up and thrown things away. Not to knock Mom’s hard work, but I recommend that parents organize alongside their children. Keeping an organized home is a learned skill, and if you’re always cleaning up after your children go to bed or school, you’re doing them a disservice.

Build habits

The best way to build a habit is to start early, and go little by little. If tidying up as they go is part of your child’s life from the beginning, it’s a habit that will stick with them. Little kids love to help, so let them!

Create a schedule

It helps to create a schedule for your family. This can be as formal as a daily chore chart, or as casual as a reminder in the calendar every six months to go through everyone’s belongings. Purging items regularly and predictably solidifies the habit.

Identify mementos

One of the benefits of organizing as a family is that you can see what the kids do and don’t want to keep, and can keep mementos that they might otherwise throw away. A crayon drawing might not be the most important to your child, but you may want to save it for them. Limit the amount of mementos you keep based on the space you have available. Don’t forget you can keep digital mementos, which keep the memories but lose the clutter!