Anyone else feel desperate to get your house in order this New Year’s week? Luckily, Jennifer Bardorf, a professional personal organizer and owner of Neatspaces, in Wellesley, MA, has been here all week to solve common family organizational dilemmas. Check out our home page for Jennifer’s advice earlier this week.
Q. I feel like I am constantly telling the kids to pick up their playrooms or their rooms. I never know whether to assign one day of the week to the task or teach them to clean up before they move onto the next thing. What are some ways to get kids to clean up their spaces more frequently, without so much nagging and fussing?
A. I think it’s a job that needs to be done on a near-daily basis in order to have a mostly-picked-up home, but—I don’t know if there are ways to ensure they clean up their stuff before moving on to the next thing without our intervention. It’s a nice but an unrealistic expectation. Getting them to pick up their rooms doesn’t have to include nagging (ours) and fussing (theirs). Again, I think it comes down to be disciplined and consistent with the kids.
When it’s clean up time, try allotting more time than you think they should need—20-30 minutes—in order for them to do a reasonable job. When I ask my kids to pick up, I give them specific instructions: please pick up the stickers and drawing pads, please put the crayons and glue away. They do most of the work, but I’m usually alongside them, guiding them and arranging things as well.
Kids will be much more successful following through if there are designated spots for the things you are asking them to put away. If there aren’t, that could be the root of the problem. They can’t pick up and stay tidy if they’re not quite sure where things should go. Get some bins and designate a spot for everything. Clear bins make it easy for them to see where to put things. I almost always rely on clear bins from The Container Store, which come in a variety of sizes and stack neatly. Use the bins without their lids for current favorite toys, and stack bins with lids for less frequently accessed toys, like specific craft materials. (The shoe box size boxes are perfect for these items).
I probably go through my kids’ rooms once every two weeks and throw away random stuff that I know (and hope) they won’t look for again. But since they’ve gotten into 
the habit of picking up their rooms and playrooms regularly (not perfectly), when I go in to tidy up it isn’t such a huge job.
Have an organizing dilemma of your own? Check out Jennifer’s website and contact information, here.
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