Mind Over Clutter

I love and adore my Emerson. However, she is a slob to the Nth degree. I am totally willing to accept responsibility for passing this gene along, although she puts any piglet tendencies I had as a kiddo to shame. Plus the second dose of sloppy she got from her dad only exacerbates this issue.  

Most days, walking into her room makes me want to crawl out of my skin. For real. Broken crayons, dried out markers, puzzle pieces, half colored papers, itsy bitsy Polly Pocket parts, stuffies, dirty clothes, very recently folded clothes (*a particular annoyance of mine), Barbie accessories, books and Littlest Pet Shops EVERYWHERE!

Nothing set out like it's being played with and enjoyed, but strewn about like she's been shooting her possessions from a potato gun while spinning around on her super cute but crumply, tangled bedspread.

Truthfully, I never even see her play with this stuff. She spends the bulk of her day coloring, playing outside and doing crafts in the kitchen. How the heck does this place get so messy?

I'll be the first to admit I can be a bit overzealous in the housekeeping department (a wild 180 degree turn of events since my childhood; It's become my weird little obsession with trying to control something within the craziness that is my life. More on that another day.) I ride my poor little girl like a pony about cleaning her room.

I have consulted numerous websites, magazines and expert books on the subject of organization for kids.

I've created chore charts.

Rewarded her.

Turned it into a game.

Sorted, tossed, organized, and put away. 

Forced her to sort, toss, organize and put away.

I've bought bins, baskets, bags and shelving units to make it as easy as humanly possible to actually pick something off of the floor.  

I've even yelled, bargained, and negotiated with this kid.

I'm telling you, nothing works. And it's not like this is my first time to the pony show. I'm pretty good at getting kids to take responsibility for keeping their space clean. Even my two year old knows where his dirty jammies go in the morning.

I think what gets me most is how little she seems to value her belongings. It's a bugger for me that she couldn't care less about things getting lost and broken in the chaos of her four walls! Doesn't she know how much this stuff costs? That money doesn't grow on trees? And that millions of kids around the world would give a limb for a fraction of what she has?



Last week, two days after I paid housekeepers to dust, vacuum and polish her room (along with the rest of the house) to a sparkling finish I caught my toe in a giant wire basket of random girlie goods, tripped and landed on the other side atop an open tube of messy lip gloss. That basket was the edge...and I had officially gone over it. Time to teach this girl a lesson! In a huff I grabbed a stack of giant black trash bags and packed up the ENTIRE contents of her room into those bags. I let her pick 5 books, 5 outfits and two pairs of shoes and told her she could earn her other items back by taking good care of and being responsible for what was still left.  (Oh how I wish I had the mind to take a before picture!)

 

All of her toy bins now rest on tippity top shelf of the closet

  I anticipated the argument. I waited for the tears. I was totally prepared for the knock-down-drag-out fight and the battle of wills. She was shockingly cavalier. Really. She walked around her empty room and looked...relieved. Inspired.  

 

The contents of the closet officially off limits. Good thing the hairbows are on the outside!

 Fast forward 9 days and God's honest truth Emmy has not asked for a single item in any of those bags. They're still tied up tight in her closet. I was right! She doesn't care about all of this stuff! But not because she's an unappreciative, spoiled, sloppy little girl. I set out to prove a point to my sweet but messy 5 year old and learned a lesson of my own. She simply doesn't need or even want all of these things! In my effort to contain the mess I neglected to even consider that she may be as overwhelmed as I am with all the parts and pieces everywhere. All this crap is bogging her down like my continual nagging!

 

Sorry for the grainy photos...had they been taken during the day they would be significantly better!

I think we'll weed through those bags this weekend and share the bulk with those 'millions of kids' who are without. We'll indulge in some ice cream atop the new found space of her bedroom floor and pat ourselves on the back for a job well done.