Quick —
name the three messiest rooms in your home. Chances are, the spots where your children hang out top the list. Tired of trampling through the mess? Get your kids onboard (really!) by finding a system that works for them.

by Wendy Helfenbaum

Do you close your eyes each time you pass by your child’s bedroom, trying in vain not to notice the hurricane within? Do you pretend your basement playroom is someone else’s storage shed, just to avoid admitting that you can’t see the carpet anymore? Do your kids do their homework in the hall because there’s no room for them to spread out anywhere else? Well, you’re certainly not alone.

“The number one problem I see is stuff on the floor: clothes, toys or books,” says Summer Talamo-Phillips, owner of Positive Motion Organizing in Alpharetta, Georgia, just north of Atlanta. “People have too much stuff, not enough storage and no system set up for the child, so things end up on the floor in playrooms, bedrooms and closets.”

Too much clutter reduces the effectiveness of key areas of your home: study spaces, play areas and bedrooms, says Talamo-Phillips. And although you may have tried setting up systems throughout your home—colored bins identified with photos of toys or filing boxes in the kitchen for school permission slips—these solutions may not work for everyone in the family.

“Many parents have trouble keeping their children organized because they’re trying to apply the same method of organization that works for them onto their children,” explains Talamo-Phillips.

“There’s going to be a disconnect between an artistic child and a very linear parent, which causes frustration. Everybody has a different learning style, and there’s no one system that fits everyone. We assess the best method for the child, not the best method for the parents. If an organizational system is hard to keep up, it’s the wrong system."

First, Talamo-Phillips tries to figure out what kind of learner the child is.

“We ask, ‘In school, how do you remember the information?’ If they learn by touching and doing, we work with them through the entire process,” says Talamo-Phillips. “If they’re very creative, you don’t want to put in a monochromatic, linear, alphabetized system in for them. They’re going to hate it, and it’s not going to work. (For this kind of child), we’d use lots of color and huge bulletin boards with different patterns on them.”

Children are usually very excited about new organizing systems, notes Talamo-Phillips, especially if they’re tailored to their personalities. “It’s about making things work for them, so their input is very valid. Getting them involved is crucial, no matter how old they are.”

Start small, start now, start somewhere

Talamo-Phillips knows that some parents feel overwhelmed just reading about getting their children organized.

“It’s not important where you start; just start somewhere. Start in the area that is giving you the most trouble. If your kids’ closet is what’s really bothering you, don’t start in the bathroom,” she advises. “Work around the area in a path, either clockwise or counter-clockwise. Keep moving around.”

Parenting children means leading by example, adds Talamo-Phillips. “It’s very hard to have your kid pick up her clothes if yours are all over the floor.”

Find a balance between fun and function when organizing children’s spaces. “If space is an issue, for example, we create zones: a homework zone, a reading zone, a play zone, an art zone in their room. When they’re in that zone, that’s what they’re doing,” says Talamo-Phillips.

By the way, there’s no rule that says children must do homework at a desk, says Talamo-Phillips.

“If a child needs more supervision or more space when they do homework, we can do mobile homework stations, where they have everything they need—pens, notebooks, paper, a calculator—in a rolling kit or a file box,” she suggests. “Make it fun: boys like tools, so toolboxes are always cool. They can take their mobile station to the kitchen table, to the patio, or sit on the living room floor and spread out to do their homework. Then they can just roll it back into their room.”

Finding family solutions

Cathy Miller had a tough time with her childrens’ spaces. “Everyone in the family had a different work and organizational style, so my attempts to ‘help’ others were not that helpful,” admits the mom of two, who turned to Talamo-Phillips for systems that could be adjusted as her daughters grew up.

“The more attractive and fun-looking the system is, the more likely they are to use it,” suggests Miller. “Purge often, especially children’s toys and clothes. (Otherwise), it’s just too hard to keep everything organized.”

Like any busy family with three kids, clutter seemed to accumulate in Julianne Andrews’ home despite everyone’s best efforts. “(My children each have) their own personality and organizational style,” says Andrews, who has been working with Talamo-Phillips over the past several years.

“A great organizational system is terrific, but if it’s not tailored to the child that’s using it, it will quickly get set aside; old habits and clutter will reappear. It was very helpful to have a professional work with each of them so they could then take ownership of the system and continue to work with it.

"An organized personal space is a terrific gift to give to a child as they move through the phases in their lives.”

 

Wendy Helfenbaum is a Montreal, Canada-based freelance writer, television producer and recovering "piler," whose many attempts at family organization are mocking her right this minute.

© Photo by Karen Struthers | Dreamstime.com