Organize Your Children & Save Your Sanity
It may be difficult to relate saving money with organization but
the two terms really go hand in hand. If you are able to
organize right down to the smallest detail, then not only will
you save yourself countless panic headaches, but you will have
more time on your hands allowing yourself to be more productive
and get more accomplished.
Organizing your own personal belongings can be a daunting task
in itself, however if you're also trying to take care of all
your children's things, it can be an overwhelming, impossible
task .
When children are old enough and capable, they have a
responsibility to take care of their own belongings. This
includes (but not limited to) toys, clothes, bathroom items,
sports equipment, and of course school books and supplies. It
should not be the parents' responsibility to clean their child's
room, or pick up their wet towels off the bathroom floor. How is
this teaching children to be responsible for their own
belongings?
If we teach our children HOW to be organized, this will lead to
a more productive and hopefully a more responsible child in
school and at home. However take note, if you expect your
children to be well organized, you must also do the same to
provide a good example, or "model", for them. As the saying goes
"practice what you preach" :-)
For the time being, we will focus on ideas to help organize
your children's plethora of gadgets, toys, clothes, games, and
whatever else may be piled up on the closet floor or under the
bed.
Color Coordinate Everything
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The most important idea to incorporate in your family lifestyle
is to color coordinate everything. Regardless of how many
children you have, assign each one a specific color ie: green,
red, yellow, orange, etc...
The color you assign each of your children will go on every item
that belongs to them. You will need to get a permanent marker in
each of your kid's colors so you can mark/dot each and every
item they own.
Here's a list of the most common items you'll want to start out
with. Use this list as a starting point to help harvest ideas
that are relevant in your family's lifestyle.
- clothes
- toys
- towels
- bathroom utensils
- closet
- shoes
- games
- puzzles
- sports equipment
With their items, simply put a small colored dot/mark in an
inconspicuous area. For example, socks-dot the toe or heel;
shirts-dot the collar tag; puzzles-dot the back of each piece;
toothbrushes and towels- purchase these in each of your
children's assigned color.
Once everything is color coded, you can then quickly scan rooms
and bathrooms and see which one of your little angels has left
things out of place.
To quickly reinforce this new organization method, simply make
the rule that if you find items haphazardly strewn about, you'll
deduct 25 or 50 cents from their allowance. If that isn't
relative, they can always earn additional work like washing a
dish per item that is left out or "doggie clean-up duty". After
a few times, your children will start picking up after
themselves since they hate to lose money and play time, right?
** Again, these are merely suggestions. Adapt and change
these practices as you see fit.
Organizing Their Closet Space and Room
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Let's face it, children are learning by trial and error unless
they have someone or something to model after. So naturally,
they are going to make their choices and decisions on what they
think is best.
If your child(ren) haven't had much success maintaining an
organized closet, maybe it would be best to start from scratch.
However, before you clear out their closet completely to start
reorganizing, first observe what seems to be the problem area.
Are their clothes scattered on the ground? Are toys out of
place, thrown here and there? What seems to be the messiest?
Each child will have different needs that have to be addressed
in order to have a clean, organized closet/room. Just like you
wouldn't ask a guitarist to play the guitar with only two
strings, you can't expect a child to put his/her things away
unless he or she has an actual "place" or container to put the
stuff in.
Take the time to teach your children where their "stuff" goes.
If they have trouble remembering, label the containers or areas
as needed. You may need to buy some rubbermate containers from
BigLots (PicNSave). Better yet, you can often find containers
for a dollar at the 99cent store or the Dollar Tree (if you
haven't been to one of these stores yet, you are missing out on
a ton of deals!)
Weekly Review
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once you have organized, color coded, and explained the new
procedures/laws that will now be enforced, have a "weekly
review" time where you can sit down with your child(ren) for
5-10 minutes. This would be the time when you go over what you
liked throughout the week, and areas they may still need to work
a little bit on.
Keep in mind that children will need to be reminded about the
procedures you expect them to follow, so don't get frustrated if
they do not do a perfect job the first week or two. This is a
process that may take some time to internalize, but once it's
learned, your life, and your children's lives, will be much more
fluid and organized.
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