How to teach place value

This morning Chickpea and I enjoyed watching this video about place value: Once Upon a Time on Decimal Street – A Math-U-See Tale. I’m not sure how much she actually understood it, but she enjoyed it, and I think it’s something we could come back to at some point when she’s more interested in understanding place value. I think it would help if we had some of those Montessori beads that group into tens and 100s. Maybe when she starts school she will play with them and then we can watch this video again.

 

What games can a five-year-old play over Skype / video?

Now that we are staying home every day due to the Covid lockdown, and Grandma is sheltering at home as well, we are trying to set up a regular 5pm Skype date. There are a ton of lists of games that work well over Skype, but most of them assume your kid can read and can use a computer. Chickpea doesn’t read yet, nor does she know how to use a mouse or trackpad, so that limits things quite a bit. They have to play real board and dice games, just using the video camera. Chickpea typically rolls the dice or picks the cards for Grandma, and Grandma decides which move she wants to make. They have to play with cards open not hidden, but Chickpea prefers that in real life too.

Games that Chickpea has played with her Grandma or other relatives over Skype:

• Dice games: Farkle, Qwixx
• Physical spatial games: Connect 4
• Board games: Prime Climb, Trouble, Aggravation, I sea 10, Ticket to Ride, Outfoxed, Clue Junior
• Card games: Sleeping queens, Zeus on the Loose, Coloretto, various Timeline games, and The World Game.
• Acting / party games: Charades for kids

They’ve been playing Continent Race lately. It’s not ideal as you’re supposed to find the country and point it out on the map, and Chickpea can’t see where Grandma is pointing and vice versa. But they still have played it several times and seem to have enjoyed it.

Chickpea has also played Set with her aunt, but the light has to be great, as the colors are hard to see.

I think Brain Freeze and Guess Who could also work if we take a photo of the board.

I recommend setting up a dedicated gaming space with a fixed camera. Before we were futzing with it every time and it was a pain to set up. Now we just have to connect the laptop and call. And make sure the game is in the viewable area. I’m gonna add tape to the floor when I get a chance so Chickpea can more easily tell what Grandma can see.

Eventually I’m going to try to set up a regular storytime with Grandma over Skype as well. But so far Chickpea just wants to play games, not read books.

Other ideas I’ve seen online, but that we haven’t tried yet:

• 20 questions-style guessing games: For example, one person thinks of an animal, then the other asks yes/no questions to figure out what it is.
• humming game: someone hums a tune & the other person guesses
• “hide & seek” where the camera points to the whole room and the grandparent tries to guess where the kid is hiding.
• Scavenger hunt: “Find me something:orange, soft, round, see through, etc…”
• Show and tell, kiddos are usually proud of stuff they collected (rocks, coins, etc)
• Battleship, Mastermind & Yahtzee

Update Feb 2021: When I wrote this at the end of March last year Chickpea wasn’t into storytime over Skype, but somehow in April my Mom convinced her to listen to one book, and after that it’s been non-stop storytime. Since last April my Mom has read Chickpea I think 33 books over Skype! That’s almost one a week.

Conquering the clutter part 7: Designated areas and clever bins

(Note: This is part 7 of a 7 part series. You can find the full list of suggestions here.)

This last post is really a number of different tips that I couldn’t seem to fit into any of the previous 6 categories: designated areas and various ways to use bins cleverly.

1. Have designated areas for certain activities

Some examples.

1. So, say, the kitchen table is for nothing but eating-so nothing but food & dishes go on the kitchen table. No toys, no mail, no hats, no whatever. So that surface is always ready enough for meals.
2. Art projects: they have to take place in a designated area (we have a small table or the floor area next to it)–and if it is not clean from the previous project, no new project gets to be started. It helps that I keep many of our art supplies away in a designated high area, only to be taken out once the space is ready.
3. In our house cutting paper only occurs over a tray (a specific tray just for this purpose).
4. Building activities are only done on a particular mat. LEGO live on 1 large floor mat when out. (They are usually always out.)

How can I enforce these policies?

I thought the idea was interesting, but I wasn’t sure how to make sure everyone sticks to these designated areas. I asked and one Mom told me how she manages it: “With the designated spaces, for example the kitchen table, we verbally remind the kids not to put toys on there, and if they do, I insist that they remove them & often support them in the action (hand holding, walking with them to the right place, congratulating that they did it). If they don’t, I take them off myself. Depending on the vibe of the interaction, the nuclear option is that I take away the item until the next day. If it’s a hat or something, I gently escort my kid to the table and then escort him back to the location the hat goes. Usually it’s just a friendly but firm reminder and the items go back where they belong.”

2. Use bins in clever ways:

1. Have a “floating” bin in each main room for things that end up in the wrong room and do a quick walk around with that bin of misfits depositing it where it does go. I do a “sweep” twice a day (after the older people leave or school and work) and again before my husband gets home. I feel like it sets the tone for equilibrium and calm for the evening. It doesn’t bother me to have a mess the rest of the day, as things are in “process”, but we can always get back to that “reset” point when it’s time to relax.
2. One Mom suggested having a basket for each kid that their current random faves can go into every night. She said her kids like to have a few things out like a transformer, a few little cars, a pack of Pokeman cards, a harmonica, random who knows what. All small stuff. So they just go into the basket until they’re no longer wanting to play with them. They also keep the book that they’re reading with them at bedtime in the basket. In the evening before reading it’s easy to gather all the little bits up into the basket rather than putting them away into specific places, especially if they are just going to want them out again the next day. But if they have played with a construction toy that has lots of pieces then that gets packed away into the proper container.
3. This wasn’t a suggestion, but was an item from our own brainstorming list. To make tidying throughout the day easier, get huge bins for each person, and if anyone finds anything of that person’s lying around where it’s not supposed to be they can just chuck it in the bin. I’m not sure though what would happen to all the stuff in the bin once the bin gets full?
4. Another idea that I’ve mentioned already, but I think it fits here as well: Have a bin for items that have no home. Then you need to schedule some regular time to go through this bin and either get rid of the items or find them a (good) home.
5. Another idea that I’ve mentioned already, but I think it fits here as well: You might want to give each person a space (like a desk or a big bin) as a “freebie” mess area–each person can use this space to pile active projects they are working on, papers, or whatever. It’s their space and no one else can get annoyed if it’s messy.

 

Conquering the clutter part 6: How to motivate your kids to help tidy up

(Note: This is part 6 of a 7 part series. You can find the full list of suggestions here.)

How to motivate your kids (or your significant other!) to help tidy up

1. Model.  Adults model cleaning up their own messes, with verbal commentary so the kids can see it’s not just a kid thing.

2. Explain. This wasn’t a suggestion—it’s my own idea. When I (or Chickpea) can’t find something, I might calmly point out that it’s frustrating when we can’t find things, and if we only put things away where they went, we would be able to find them more easily. I often make this comment when she asks me to help her find something (like her tape or scissors) and I suggest looking in its designated home. When it’s actually there, I comment about how easy it was to find!

3.  Help. Help your kids with their messes, cheerfully. Don’t expect your kids to do it themselves. Expect to spend a lot of time supervising (and helping) as you get your kids to deal with stuff. One Mom said “We’ve been doing this for a while, but the labor has not gone away and I am ok with that, as I don’t yet expect my kids to do it alone.”

4. Make it fun. I imagine there are a lot of ways to do this, but the only specific one that was suggested to me was to use music. Either play some really fun tunes or create a cleanup playlist to listen to while you all work together to clean up. One Mom said it really motivated her kids to hear songs about cleaning up.

5. Use Rewards.

1. Make something fun contingent on getting the tidying done. But rather than saying “no this until that” you reframe as “we can do that when this is done”, like “yes! You can play a game on the tablet, as soon as we tidy up this mess” and then get to it.
2. Another option would be to have some sort of competition with a winner. Whether the “winner” would actually get a reward or just the high/bragging rights of winning, was not specified.
3. On our brainstorming list we had the idea of using money to incentivize (and get in the habit of) picking up after ourselves. We weren’t sure exactly how to make it work though. Maybe whoever finds something where it doesn’t belong can put it away and get some amount of money? I’m hesitant to try this though. I feel it could have all sorts of unintended consequences. Maybe as a last resort?

6. Use consequences/punishments.

1. The very mildest “consequence” would be for me to have certain times of the day when I pick up anything I see and put it away myself. No explicit consequences for anyone, and I don’t require my kids to help me. But I am not available for anything else until I finish.
2. One person suggested tidying AFTER dinner/pajamas/toothbrushing but before stories, because if tidying is super drama-filled and slow, there is the immediate consequence that there will be less time for reading before bed.
3. Most of the other consequences that were suggested were some version of “anything left out gets taken away / given away” or “if you don’t help pick up, everything gets taken away.”
   1. Anything left out gets put in a bin with a date, and if it’s not asked for within X time it gets donated.
   2. When we see things (at the end of the day) not in their home, we say “oh darn, bud… it looks like you have so many things that you can’t take care of them. We need to give them to someone who can, who doesn’t have as much as you.” Depending on the night, it either motivates him to pick up OR there are occasions when he agrees and he helps bag up a giveaway pile. He’s 5.
   3. If my kids are not agreeing to tidy in the evening and I’m doing it totally alone, the consequence (said very sweetly) is that they can remember that what I tidy up by myself becomes MINE, and that means I don’t need to give it back to them to play with. (What that means is I loudly exclaim over how neat the objects are, then if they still don’t help, I put them away until the next day or several days later, depending.)
   4. I do the “I’m getting a big rubbish bag…everything I find on the floor is going in the bag! And then in the dustbin!” The first time they all looked at me strangely. But when, that week, the favourite teddy was nowhere to be found, and puzzle pieces were missing… They all got a fright. The first time things reappeared again over time, since they were still learning. But now occasionally the “bag” still comes out.

The first four suggestions on this list seem fine to me, but I’m not sure I like the idea of the reward/punishment motivations. Maybe I will include them as ideas in our family meeting, and see what Chickpea and Derek think.

My previous post on “How to Get Your Kids to Help Around the House” has some more suggestions that are relevant to this discussion. In particular,

1. Focus on shared benefit, i.e., don’t have kids just pick up their own stuff. They can put away the dishes or groceries while you clean their playroom, for example.
2. Make it social. Don’t expect them to tidy up while you do something else. Do it together. This is related to the “help” suggestion above.
3. Make it fun / a positive experience. This is discussed a bit above, but also it’s important to keep your language around tidying positive. Don’t say “Ugh, we have to clean up now.” Instead say “Let’s clear the table before we eat, because it will be so nice to have a clear table when we eat dinner. Then we’ll even have room for our flowers/candles!” Keep the emphasis positive.
4. Communicate your values. Explain to them why you value a tidy home. Show them the benefits. This is a bit what I was getting at with my “Explain” suggestion above, but it can go even further. You can say things like “I feel calmer and more peaceful when my space is uncluttered.” Or “I enjoy cooking more when the counters are clear.” You can also communicate expectations about pitching in. “In our family, we help each other.” Or “In our family, we all work together to keep our home tidy.”
5. Avoid punishments and rewards. Whoops! Ignore suggestions 4 and 5 above!

But even if you follow lots of these suggestions, don’t assume your kid will suddenly happily help clean up! It’s a process. One Mom said “And lest you think my child happily participates, the answer is often no. We usually ignore the whining though, keep on picking up, and eventually she joins in grumbling but always quite proud when she finishes. So basically like us adults.” But it’s unclear to me if the Mom says something to the kid when they are not pitching in, or just ignores them.

Conquering the clutter part 5: Make tidying up a regular part of your schedule

(Note: This is part 5 of a 7 part series. You can find the full list of suggestions here.) I got three basic ideas of how to get a family into a “pick up after yourself” routine.

1. Do one big tidy-up per week.

A few people suggested doing one big tidy-up per week. One person said “On most (not all) weekends we set a timer for one hour of designated clutter clean up.” A few others suggested creating an external forcing function to make sure the weekly tidy happens.

1. Hire a cleaner, so you are forced to tidy at least once a week.
2. Have a weekly get-together at your house, so you are forced to tidy up before your friends (or even better, your boss!) come over.

Now personally I don’t like the idea of one big weekly tidying event, because it means you are basically living in a mess most of the week, and then you spend a good chunk of time on the weekend picking up, but only get one or at most two days to enjoy the benefits of your labor. Derek is also not on board. When we used to do a big forced once-a-week cleanup, where everyone pitched in until everything was picked up, Derek hated it. He felt like it was hugely stressful and too much concentrated, boring work all at once.

2. Build in one daily tidy-up session, or multiple small tidy-up sessions per day

1. Have a specified time or times that every one helps to clean up. It might be before dinner, before all meals, after dinner, before leaving the house, before bed… Choose whatever time(s) make the most sense for your family, but try to time it when kids are very tired or hungry. And if you’re going to have multiple cleanup times per day, then you want to keep them short.
2. At the specified time / times, you might try one of a few variants:
   1. Everything has to get picked up and put away, unless it’s clearly still in use and then it gets put on a rug/tray and a nametag (Montessori style). Some people only let each person keep out one thing.
   2. You set a timer, and everyone cleans up as much as they can for that amount of time. One person called this a “microburst.” One Mom said “I set a timer for 5-10 minutes and they need to get it all away by then. With the timer they work so fast and it’s not a big deal. Without the timer they drag it out forever, get distracted and start playing a new game with whatever sparked their imagination while they were cleaning etc etc.”
   3. Everyone cleans up n things (e.g. 5). Adults often clean up more, and kids only 5. The number seems to be more manageable for kids than a time limit. They have a better sense of 5 things than 5 minutes. This can also be called a microburst.

Require tidying-up between every activity

Alternatively, don’t have set tidying times, but only allow one activity out at a time. So if they want blocks then the LEGO has to be packed away. If they want to craft something then the puzzle has to be packed away. Basically, play with something put it away. How exactly to enforce this, I’m not sure, unless you keep all the items inaccessible.

Start small / baby steps

Finally, one Mom suggested starting small. Rather than trying to build many new habits all at once, she suggested picking one small thing to work on at a time, like putting coats and shoes away. When that is a solid habit, pick a new one. Maybe pick one designated area to work on at a time. For example, at the beginning the kitchen table might be the only “designated area” that has to get cleared before meals, for example, and when that’s working well we can expand to the kitchen floor, then the coffee table,…

Conquering the clutter part 4: Limit how much stuff is accessible

(Note: This is part 4 of a 7 part series. You can find the full list of suggestions here.)

Even if we get rid of a lot of stuff, and limit what comes into the house, we might still have more stuff than we want to have accessible at any one time. It doesn’t all need to be within easy reach. A simple way to limit clutter is to make sure there are only a few toys / items accessible at any given time. Keeping fewer things out will help spark deeper play and make it easier to clean up.

1. If you can’t clean up everything quickly yourself without getting annoyed or frustrated, then you have to much stuff accessible.  One Mom said “I only have out what I can put away in 5 to 10 minutes (my sanity limit). So I’ve packed away heaps of toys and rotate them out.”
2. Another Mom said that her kids are more likely to pitch in when they have only a few things out. Even if everything has a spot, if the kids take out too much stuff at any one time (which inevitably happens), then it gets overwhelming and they don’t want to help clean up. It just feels like too big of a task.
3. A third Mom made this suggestion as well. She said to pack away even the toys you want to keep. “This sounds extreme, but we recently implemented this and put ALL of the kids’ toys in the garage attic, except for a few they picked out to play with. We’ve done one rotation so far and they were so excited to see all the “new” old stuff and pick a few different ones. It was a lot easier to get them on board than even I expected. And there’s pretty much NO toy clutter. They still love making forts and playing all kinds of pretend games and playing outside and primarily, coloring/painting/drawing and playing with Play Doh. They don’t seem to miss the “stuff” at all!”

I think this is a key one for us. There are lots of things we want to keep, but we don’t need to have them all accessible at once. We don’t need all our games out. We can just keep 5 or so out at once. I’m going to start with this one right away, and put most of the stuff in Chickpea’s playroom upstairs (assuming she agrees). Hopefully if she agrees to this approach, then she won’t just go up to the playroom and get stuff out without talking to me first, or swapping out something that’s already there. If she, does, I’m not sure how this approach will work. I don’t really want to lock the upstairs room, and without locking it there is really no way for me to ensure the stuff stays inaccessible.

Finally, even if we get rid of a ton of stuff, limit what comes into the house, and make most things inaccessible, we can still get clutter! For example, consider things like mail, clothes, games, crayons, yoga/pilates equipment, … These are things we want (or need) to keep around, but they inevitably just end up scattered about the house, and no one picks them up until it builds up to such a level that I blow my top. Even if we eliminate / stash away lots of stuff, we still have to come up with some way of making sure that things that are taken out get put away. But I think the idea is that once you’ve gotten rid of so much stuff, keeping it tidy is much easier, and then even if Chickpea takes out all the yoga blocks and pilates balls etc. it will be easy to clean them up because there won’t also be a million other things all over the floor.

Conquering the clutter part 3: Limit what comes into the home

(Note: This is part 3 of a 7 part series. You can find the full list of suggestions here.)

I got four basic suggestions for how to limit what comes into the home.

1. Number limitations by type. One-in, one out. Some people suggested a one-in, one-out strategy.  Any time a new item (like a toy or game) comes in, an old one of the same type needs to go out. When a child is given a new toy they must say goodbye to one old toy. That way the child chooses and is part of the decision or they might just decide they don’t want the new toy.

I wonder if one should consider size at all? Can you pick a teeny tiny toy to get rid of when you get an enormous new one? Or what if Chickpea says she wants to keep the game but get rid of something of another type? Should that be allowed?

2. Space limitations by type. Only keep what has a home. If you have a place for everything, then you can limit what comes in based on if there’s room. So we might have a “outdoors/nature items” bin or display case with compartments, and if Chickpea wants to bring more rocks in than fit in the bin/display case, then something has to go. If you have a stuffed animal over-the-door organizer, and there’s room for another one then fine. But if it’s full, then one has to go if you get a new one. If it doesn’t fit in it’s bin, it can’t stay. Or something else has to go to make room for it.

3. Money limitations. Have a policy that you can only buy new stuff with the money from selling existing stuff. It ends up being less because you only get a fraction of what you paid when you sell.

4. Use limitations. One Mom said any new items that come in go into a “purgatory” shelf and if they’re not used within a couple of days they are discarded.

Conquering the clutter part 2: Get rid of stuff

(Note: This is part 2 of a 7 part series. You can find the full list of suggestions here.)

This is part 1 of my conquering the clutter series. Read part 0 here.

The number one suggestion I received was simply to get rid of stuff. A lot of stuff. Even more stuff. Just keep throwing and throwing it away. One person said “Getting rid of stuff is probably the only thing that works.” Another person said “Everytime something new comes into the house it is one more thing that needs to go somewhere. More and more things come in the rooms fill up pretty quickly and then becomes cluttered. This clutter needs to be managed in some way. One way is just dont buy anything, another way is to cut down on what you already own. Or try a mix of both.”

The general view was that if there is no stuff, then there can be no clutter. But how do you decide what to get rid of? I got a number of suggestions.

1. Start off easy. Get rid of anything broken, media/branded, multiples, or close-ended. This is a tip from the book Simplicity Parenting.

1. Broken is pretty clear I think, but I don’t think we have all that many broken things?
2. I don’t think we have much media/branded items, but I’ll take a look.
3. I know that we do have a few multiples. For some reason we have two boxes of Connect Four. I’ll give away one. But what about things like colored pencils and crayons? We have several sets. Do those count as multiples? Or Teddy Bears? What about play food in the kitchen. Yes, pretend grapes are different than pretend oranges or broccoli, but does it really make Chickpea happier to have so many different types? Couldn’t she just have a few pretend foods?
4. I’m not sure exactly what close-ended means. Puzzles? How about play kitchen / pots and pans / pretend fruit, or a pretend toaster for her kitchen? I’m kind of annoyed that Chickpea has so much of this kitchen stuff. I already culled a ton of stuff. But she does play with it. I don’t know if it’s closed-ended as much as uni-purpose? It’s certainly more uni-purpose than just some felt balls or something that could also be pretend food, but could be a million other things as well. What about a marble-run? Is that close ended? You can build it up however you want, but it’s kind of single-purpose? I’ll try to do some more reading and post more about what close-ended means.

2. Get rid of items that have no home. Everything you want to keep should have a home, like a basket or bin of like things, and each bin/basket/thing should have a designated spot. If there aren’t enough spots, that means you should get rid of some things. It’s okay to have a miscellaneous bin for uncategorizable toys or other types of items though, as long as all those uncategorizable toys/items fit in that bin.

You might want to give each person a space (like a desk or a big bin) as a “freebie” mess area–each person can use this space to pile active projects they are working on, papers, or whatever. It’s their space and no one else can get annoyed if it’s messy.

2. Get rid of anything that doesn’t spark joy or doesn’t fit into your vision for your home or your life. This is essentially the KonMari method to decide what to get rid of and what to keep:

1. 1. Start by figuring out what you want your home/life to look like. This is your vision. How much empty space makes you happy? Even if each item you own has a “home”, if all the baskets and bins you need to hold off the stuff make your space feel too cluttered for you, that also means you are keeping too many things. Also take into account your other needs. For example, I want to be able to vacuum easily, so for me it’s important that whatever storage I have is off of the floor. (So I’m thinking of getting one of these over-the-door shoe storage organizers for stuffed animals and dolls, for example.)
   2. Gather all toys/items of one type, put them in a big pile and go through them together. For example, collect all stuffed animals or puzzles and then decide which to get rid of. Decide on an amount of space you want to devote to that type of item, and anything that doesn’t fit in that space has to go. Keep throwing and throwing things out until you can arrange the space the way you want it.
   3. Only keep what “sparks joy” and fits in with your vision for your life/home. I’ve been listening to the Spark Joy podcast to understand this method better.

3. Get rid of anything that’s not used regularly. 

For example, stop storing things that just sit in a bin and are never touched again, like kid’s art. Instead, have a display space for art (like a cork board) and take photos of any favorites, then toss them. Even if the art has a bin you keep it in, eventually it will overflow and then it will take your time (or your kid’s time) to go through it.

I know Chickpea won’t like this idea, and I wonder if it’s because she doesn’t have an easy way to peruse the photos of her art. I wonder if I were to get her one of those digital photo frames that cycles through art, if she would agree to stop storing her art?

Okay, so clearly with art Chickpea doesn’t use it. But how do we decide about whether toys are used or not?

One suggestion was to take everything not absolutely essential (or not played with/used daily) out of whatever room you are working on (kitchen, playroom, whatever) and put it into a storage bin. If an item doesn’t get asked for or mentioned within some set period of time, then it should be donated. If that’s hard for you, then probablyyou have some emotional attachment, and then it’s a momento. See the Konmari method for what to do with sentimental items.

One last point: One person mentioned that you can’t just get rid of things once and think you’re done. Have set times for donation, so that you are constantly clearing stuff out. Try to do a big refresh once a quarter. Take any small items to donation dropoffs, and list any big/more expensive items for sale.

I think this basic suggestion to simlify by getting rid of stuff is a good one. I’m definitely going to work on getting rid of things, but I still have quite a bit of work to do to figure out what to keep and what to get rid of. For the play kitchen, for example, how do I decide how many different pretend/fake foods are reasonable to own? I have no idea. If everything can fit in her kitchen is it reasonable, as long as putting them away again doesn’t take too long?

Getting rid of things is important to conquering the clutter, but it’s clearly not the whole solution.First of all, even if we eliminate lots of stuff, I feel like we can still create stuff out of thin air. Chickpea finds some rocks and feathers outside and wants to bring them home. She finds ten things on the street in a giveaway box that she just has to have. (I’m guilty of this one too!). I bring home some brochure that I want to read and just leave it somewhere. Clearly we have to have some kind of system that limits what comes into the home. This is the theme for Conquering the Clutter Part 2.

Conquering the Clutter Part 1: Have a home for every item you own

(Note: This is part 1 of a 7 part series. You can find the full list of suggestions here.)

If you want to have a hope of keeping a tidy house, you need to make sure every item you own has a home, and the home needs to be the right one.

Everything you want to keep should have a home, like a basket or bin of like things, and each bin/basket/thing should have a designated spot. If there aren’t enough spots, that means you should get rid of some things. (See tip #2.) Note that it is okay to have a miscellaneous bin for uncategorizable toys or other types of items, as long as all those uncategorizable toys/items fit in that bin.

Having a space for everything is important, but they need to be in the right places. For example, the location needs to be very close to point of use for regularly used items. For a while we kept Chickpea’s bibs in a bib box that was a few feet away from her high chairs. They’d invariably end up on the floor. Now we put the bib box directly attached to the bottom bottom of her high chair. (I’ll try to post a photo.) That helped a lot. The bibs are much more likely to end up in the bin. Another example. If you walk in the door with mail in your hands, but you need to put the mail down to take off your shoes, it might never make it to a file folder that’s down the hall. Better to put a receptacle right next to the door.

The type of container might also matter. Sometimes an item needs a different container or no container to hold the items. For example, a mail bin might not work if you have to take a lid off first, since hands might be too full. Or you might need a see-through container so that you can find what you are looking for more easily without dumping it. These types of things can end up deterring compliance in some people and small changes in specific problem areas can make a big difference.

Another suggestion one Mom made: Use hangers for as many clothes as possible. Dry them on the hanger and then put them on a rail that’s kid height. Easy to see everything and no more folding to deal with. Plus a limited wardrobe. Only socks and underwear are in a drawer.

Finally, new stuff invariably enters the home, so this process is not one-and-done. You need to have a system in place to regularly process incoming / homeless stuff. Maybe have somewhere to collect these items (some sort of “homeless bin”), and then designate a regular time (maybe an hour on the weekend) to find homes or get rid of items with no designated spot that pile up over the week. And if something isn’t getting into its designated spot, then take a little time to think about why and come up with a storage solution that’s closer to the point of use or more user friendly.

The clutter is making me crazy! How can we keep our house tidy?

I’m not even talking about cleaning, just the clutter. I just can’t take it anymore, so we’ve decided to have a family meeting to problem-solve and come up with some solutions that everyone can buy into. We brainstormed a few ideas, including some “crazy” ideas that I don’t expect we will choose. But I wanted Chickpea to see that it’s fine to generate any idea, good or bad. Our initial list is at the bottom of this post. We decided to give it a few days and see if we could think of any more ideas before deciding which ones we want to try.

In the meantime, I thought I would see if I could get a few more ideas, by polling the wisdom of the crowds. I asked for more ideas in a Mom’s group I’m part of on Facebook, and got a ton of suggestions. I tried to sort them and cluster them into themes, but the list got so long I decided to separate it into a number of posts.

1. Have a (good) home for every item you own
2. Get rid of stuff
3. Limit what comes into the home
4. Limit how much stuff is accessible
5. Make tidying up a regular part of your schedule
6. Motivate your kids to help tidy up
7. Other tips: designated areas and useful bins

And as promised, here is the initial list from our own brainstorming ideas, “crazy” ones included:

• Give everything non-essential away
• Each person can keep 5 (or some pre-determined number) of things out at any given time.
• Get huge bins for each person, and if anyone finds anything of that person’s lying around they can just chuck it in the bin
• No eating meals (or replace this with some other desirable event like watching TV / going on Facebook / playing games) until some pre-designated spaces are clean (where these might be kitchen table, kitchen floor, hallway, for example).
• Anything still in the pre-designated spaces after dinner gets put away and is not-accessible for a week. Maybe we’ll have some way to get back critical items that were left out by mistake.
• Whoever finds something where it doesn’t belong can put it away and get some amount of money (TBD)
• Set aside some regular time to figure out where things without a home go