Organizing Teens For Back to School

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Here we are, well into August already, and I don’t know about you but in Ontario if feels like summer really hasn’t arrived yet! Try to contain your excitement folks but school starts in less than a month.

Now is a good time to start getting your teens organized for when they return to school with schedules, activities, sign-up sheets and more!

school3Here are some clever organizing strategies and ideas for back to school organizing for your young scholars.

Preparing for earlier bedtimes

Let’s start with the obvious. Probably for most of the summer there have been little to no restrictions on bed curfew unless they had a summer job.

Start to wean your kids’ back on to a schedule a week or two ahead of school opening so they are not dragging their feet from the very start of the school year.

Plan extra-curriculars

Plan on which extra -curricular activities they are going to participate in during the school year and keep in mind that these activities, although beneficial, impact on grades so make sure your child can balance both school and the activities they participate in. Do your best not to over-schedule your kids so that they have the greater chance of success in their academic year.

School shopping

Back to school shopping can be fun as well as daunting. Try to purchase only what you require to start the year as you will find additional items need to be purchased as the year gets under way.

And remember the one in, one out rule on clothing too. Don’t forget that teens have opinions (rightly so) and are not afraid to tell you what they think.

bindersHave them come along when shopping so they can have input and learn to make good choices for both clothing and supplies. Try to have one binder for each subject or at the least have dividers to separate the subjects in one binder.

Bring your patience and negotiation skills as well as your wallet.

Study space

All students need a clean and quiet area to study in – no matter what they will tell you. Set aside an area that is clear of all clutter and is relatively quiet for studying and have the student choose from a few options in terms of the time of day they prefer to study. With giving them some input you stand a better chance of them following the schedule.

Have this area stocked with the “tools of the trade” (pens, paper, etc.) so there are less interruptions during this study time. A planner/agenda in this area can also be helpful to keep track of what is due when and which days of the week sports fall on.

Prepare for the first day the night before

Pack what is required the night before. This may be a challenge for most teens but better to do it the night before than running the risk of a chaotic morning looking for what is needed. Remember when you were a teen and needed every minute of sleep in the morning?

Packing the evening before will ensure that they have everything for the day so when they blow out of the house in the morning like a hurricane they will have all the necessities with less chance of a meltdown. Throw a few healthy snacks into their bag as well so when hunger sets in there is less chance they will head to the junk food machines.

Teens have been through this before but still need assistance and sometimes a bit of a push to get ready for the new school year. Making sure they are ready and organized will give them a head start to a successful year.

ClutterBGone has assisted many families in getting homes, rooms and home offices organized for the start of the school year. If you require assistance you can contact us here and learn how we can make a smooth transition to the new school year.

How To Organize Your Kid’s Bedroom

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Keeping your child’s bedroom organized and clutter-free can sometimes feel like a fulltime job. There’s no need for it to be that way though if you just follow a few of our handy tips below.

1-Look through the eyes of your child

Like a photographer, you should take a different view of your child’s room to realize what it’s like through their eyes. It’s a good idea to get down to their eye level and take a good look at the room from their vantage point to see what they see. It’s important to remember that your child is smaller and adult organizing systems may not be suited for them. Many small children have a hard time reaching coat hangers, pulling out dresser drawers, and opening and closing large closet doors etc. You need to put yourself in the child’s shoes and use systems which are suitable for children rather than adults. You may want to take the doors off of the closet, purchase children’s-sized coat hangers and lower the clothing rods.

kids under bed storage

2-Work your way up

Unless your child’s already six-feet tall you should organize their room from the bottom to the top. Keep all of their most popular toys and clothing items closer to their level and the floor. You can do this by storing these things in lower-level drawers and containers. The higher levels should be reserved for the items they don’t use as much. This will make it easier for them to put things away.

kids organized wall unit

3-Ask your child for advice

Since your child is going to be asked to do his or her part to keep their room clean you should also ask their advice on how to do it. Listen to their input and ask them for ideas. If you just enter the room like a drill sergeant and start hollering orders your method may not be too effective. You’ll both be a lot better off in the long run if you can teach your child some lifelong organizational skills. Try to make room-cleaning a learning and fun activity. You can help do this by creating a daily checklist for the child to tick off after each chore is done. Ask your child how they’d like to keep the room clean and then go from there, incorporating some of your own ideas along the way. Since the child will feel they came up with a system that makes sense to them there’s a better chance they’ll stick to it.

Neat Kids Closet

3-Sort things out

Most children’s rooms are relatively small and there’s not a lot of natural storage space. But you’ll soon find your child wants to keep everything they own, especially when it comes to toys. Take the time to sort through their toys and clothing and get rid of the things that are no long used or needed. You could always give them to the needy or a charity at the same time. If you have enough storage room elsewhere in your home you may also want to sort things out seasonally. For instance, your child doesn’t need to store their winter clothing in the room during the middle of summer. If possible, store these items somewhere else and then make a change in sync with the seasons. When it comes to the toys you may want to take just a few things at a time instead of hauling them all away at once. This will help keep the peace.

organize Kids Desk Room

4-Provide enough storage containers

While we’re on the subject of toys, you can’t really complain about clutter if there’s nowhere for the child to store them. Make sure your son or daughter has a specific storage area for each toy. You may want to provide them with shoebox containers and/or larger bins for storage. You can also use supply them with specialty organizers for items such as DVDs, comic books, magazines, and video games etc. Also, it’s a good idea to tell the child they’re welcome to play with another toy once their current one is put away in the proper place. Just make sure the child can easily put something away without any hindrances. If it takes little effort to put their toys away there’s a better chance they’ll do it.

kids storage bins

5-Use labels

That label maker you received as an anniversary present may actually be useful after all. You can make labels for your child’s belongings and place them where their items are supposed to go. If the child isn’t reading age yet you could use a computer printer to create pictures of items such as socks, sweaters, shoes, and toys etc. Simply place the labels on the storage containers that are to be used.

kids labels organizing

6-Create a daily routine

You can make cleaning chores easier if they’re incorporated into a daily routine. For example, the morning routine could consist of making or straightening out the bed while the evening routine sees the child putting his or her dirty clothes in the laundry basket before going to sleep. Toys can also be put away at bedtime to keep the room clutter-free.

Have an organizing question?  If you have an organizing question or would like the help of a professional organizer, you can contact me here.

Protect Your Kids Online With Back to School Safety Tips

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It’s that time of the year when we have to think about getting our children organized for back to school.  Not only does this mean back to school shopping for clothing items and school accessories, but it also means thinking of your child’s needs for mobile technology

With the purchase of mobile technology and the use of the Internet, getting your ground rules organized for mobile/Internet safety is critical.  Cyber bullying is on the rise and with most children social networking and media sharing are common every day events.  As such its important get some ground rules organized with your children to keep them safe. 

infographic-back-to-school-guide_0This Infographic, courtesy of Kaspersky.com provides you with a way to organize your talk with your children to keep them safe in this world of technology.  These are great tips for back to school safety.  Have the talk and keep your children safe!

How To Organize Your Bag or Knapsack

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Looking for a way to organize your bag or knapsack?  The GRID IT! system by Cocoon Innovations is a versatile and functional organizing system. Made of rubberized women elastic, it firmly holds most digital devices and personal items in place.

With endless configurations you can customize to your needs. Plus, there are a variety of sizes and designs to choose from.  Great for laptops, notebooks, IPADS, travel cases, knapsacks and handbags.  Many of them also have zippered pouches on the back to contain even more items. Google it and check it out – you won’t be disappointed.

5 Easy Steps To Organizing Children’s Toys

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Organizing toys can be one of the most frustrating experiences for parents and children.  Here are some suggestions that I have found helpful when working with my clients. Think “contain, corral and control.”

  • Firstly, I think toy boxes are good for only one type of item rather than a depository for random toys, especially those with many parts.  For example, use your toy box for items such as stuffed animals or as a dress-up/costume box.  Just make sure that the lid of the box has a safety hinge that cannot close on little fingers or bang heads.
  • Organize bottom to top. Because of a child’s small stature ensure you view the room from his or her point of view.  Start organizing from the bottom of the room, and work to the top. Most used toys and belongings should live on lower shelves, in lower drawers, or on the floor. Higher levels should be designated for less-frequently-used possessions.
  • Contain items before you store. Use clear plastic shoebox containers for smaller toys like GI Joe characters or Barbie type clothing, and larger lidded bins for blocks, trucks and cars.  Not only do containers help parents control the number of toys out at any one time; (“sure, you can play with the GI Joes, just as soon as the Lego Blocks go back into their home!”), but they also help to limit the amount of items your child can acquire.
  • Place books in a bin rather than bookcase. Most young children have difficulty reading the spines on books so store picture books as a flip-file, standing upright in a plastic bin or dishpan.
  • Labels save the day!

Basement Reno Completed!

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FINALLY! The day has come when I can say that our basement renovation is done!!! To say that I’m relieved is an understatement. In my last blog post about this project I mentioned that the painters had to come back to repaint the entire basement. Well, believe it or not, after I wrote that post they had to return on 3 more occasions to finish spots and whole sections that they missed or failed to follow the instructions provided by the contractor. In addition, the contractor has to send his foreman back a couple times to correct some pretty poor workmanship. I remain astounded by this but realize it’s time to move on and put this behind me. With all the other outstanding issues now taken care of, its time to put our basement back together and set up the spaces in a functional, efficient and organized manner.

First came the workout area with the placement of our equipment and accessories all on one side of the back room with everything easily retrievable. Second came the playroom/tv room. I gathered all the toys we have for our visiting little ones (all contained in clear bins for easy identification) and they are now situated in that section of the basement. We are still deciding on whether we will purchase a cubby type wall unit for storage of the toys or whether we will simply leave them in the bins for the time being. For now a simple arm chair serves as a comfortable seat for anyone who wishes to “chill” down there. The third area to tackle was my husbands computer area where he checks emails, downloads all sorts of things and syncs his various technology “toys”. We placed an “L” shaped desk unit that we previously had in an enclave area of the basement which is the perfect niche for him to work in. The final area to tackle (and the most challenging at this point) is the workroom where we keep tools, household maintenance items, gift wrap, etc. and which we determined was also going to contain my organizing tools and accessories for the business. If you could only see the size of this little space – it is definitely a challenge.

At the moment everything is on shelving, but not yet organized. When we have a few hours to spare we will begin to organize that final space, using the organizational principle of SPACE (sort, purge, assign, containerize and evaluate). I’m just itching to get that done but my clients come first at the moment and I know that there are a couple of days vacation I will be taking in a couple of weeks when we will definitely get this basement organized completely! For now we live with it and function as best we can. The reality is we can only do so much in the little time we have available. Prioritize, organize and saturate your space with the things that make you happy and enjoy life!

Children’s Books To Help Teach De-cluttering

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With spring in the air it’s a good time to start working with your younger children to teach them how to let go of their unused and unwanted items.  In an earlier post I mentioned a book that is helpful when working with children in this regard.  There are a few other books that parents have told me have been helpful when they are talking to their children about editing some of their belongings. They are all from the Berenstain Bears collection.

The first one is The Berenstain Bears and The Messy Room.  In this book brother and sister bears’ room was a mess and they argue with each other quite a bit about who should tidy up instead of working together to get the job done.  This book is helpful in that it will teach children to do their fair share in keeping their spaces clean without arguing. It teaches children responsibility.

The second book is The Berenstain Bears Clean House.  In this book, during spring cleaning the bear family have difficultly letting go of things they no longer use (sound familiar to anyone?), so they decide to hold a yard sale.  I will admit that the ending of the book was surprising to me.  Rather than going through with the yard sale and let go of the items, they decide to keep the items and use the space in the attic for the storage of the items. Still is a good book to read with your children to help acknowledge their feelings about things.

The third book is The Berenstain Bears Think Of Those In Need.  As with all the books in this series, this teaches a timeless lesson and principles easy for little ones to learn. They also help parents in showing them a good way to handle sometimes difficult situations.

It’s never too young to begin to teach your children the basic principles of de-cluttering and organizing. In doing so, you are also instilling important values: one of which is that the important things in life are not things.

Helping Children Let Go

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I work with many families with young children which is a very interesting and rewarding experience for me.  Interesting because the interaction between a parent and child when reviewing the items that the child owns is actually very revealing.  I will pick up an item and ask the child when he/she last played with this or if he or she likes the item, dislikes the item and would like to let it go for donation. If the child tells me that it’s no longer one he/she wishes to keep, there are times when the parent jumps in to say things like “oh, but that was so expensive and you play with that all the time, you want to keep this don’t you?  When the child responds to the negative and continues to express a desire to let it go, the parent may still be  persistent in wanting to keep the item.  As a result, I generally have a chat with the parent before the editing part of the process to request that their child be allowed to make the decision and that that decision be respected rather than questioned.  This helps the child to not only learn to express and understand what things are important to him or her and to distinguish treasured items from non treasured items, but also teaches the child responsibility, respect and how to be charitable.  I always encourage families to include the child in the actual trip to the donation centre in order to live the full experience of donating to others.  Children really do get this and how it will positively impact the life of another child.

The revealing part of the process is the parents reaction to the generousity of the child. Often it is evident that it is the adult that has difficultly letting go of items.  This reluctance  to let go and  often the need for abundance can stem from previous learned behaviors or psychological reasons. which may ultimately be passed along to the child if not careful. dThe client is often surprises by their own reaction to the editing process with children.

Teaching children how much stuff is too much stuff may be a difficult task.  However, as I was organizing the bedroom of a young 8 year old boy I was startled to come across a book he had in his room authored by the great Robert Munsch and Michael Martchenko entitled “Too Much Stuff”.

Too Much Stuff

 

The book is about a young girl named Temina who is going on her first airplane trip and is determined to bring ALL her toys regardless of what her mother says.  The ending is wonderful and the book is a great teaching tool for all parents in helping their children to let go of things.  I urge you to check out this book and let me know what you think about it. I’d love to hear from you.

Clutterbgone Television Debut on Rogers

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Yesterday was an interesting day for me. I appeared on Rogers daytime TV with hosts Elaine Yim-Spencer and Jeff Moore to talk about professional organizing and to demonstrate a few pretty cool products to get your life and home organized.  Here’s the video:   http://www.rogerstv.com/page.aspx?lid=237&rid=17&gid=89952

Neat Freak was great enough to supply me with components of the Neat Kids Closet Max organizing system. Neat Kids Closet Max organizing system

I just love this product for children’s closets because it grows with your child, makes the clothing accessible to them and teaches children the skills of organizing at a young age.  The components are made of durable fabric and strong nylon strapping and comes in two patterns:  Pop Rock and Candy Stripe.  Even better is that no tools are required to assemble the system, it’s quick and easy and uses your existing rod in the closet.  It’s specifically designed to hold kid-size clothing and items and you can mix and match the different components to create your own unique and custom closet system.  The price point is amazing and you can create a very functional system in a small closet for less than $200.00 easy!

I also demonstrated the Day ja View Recurring Events Calendar which was designed by Sharon Neiss, a professional young mother of three. Day ja View Recurring Events Calendar This calendar won the Parent Tested Parent Approved award for 2011 and is currently patent pending.  It’s great for families and organizing your events and activities in minutes with its ingenious 3 step design.  It’s definitely a winner for families and retails at only $19.99.

Lastly I was able to demonstrate the Grid It! organizer generously provided by Cocoon Innovations.Grid It! organizer  It comes in a bunch of different sizes,  and is an extremely versatile and functional solution to organizing your digital devices and personal items.  It’s made of rubberized woven elastic that firmly holds your stuff in place and there are endless configurations so you can customize the product to suite your specific needs.  It’s a great idea for laptops, Ipads, travel cases, knapsacks and essentially any carrying bag.  The price point varies depending on the size, but you can get a very functional one for about $19.00.

All in all a pretty great day.  I’ll be back on Rogers Daytime TV  in February and will keep you posted.

 

 

 

 

Donating to Schools

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With all the cutbacks in funding, I think we can all agree that schools are always in need of supplies no matter how small. I’m currently working with a client who has an old, unused sewing room jam packed with everything from fabrics to old Vogue patterns, costumes and all sorts of sewing accessories. Although many local craft guilds would give their right arm to get some of these items, another idea is to donate to your local school.  In addition to sewing related items,  schools would love to receive these other things as well:

  • postcards, greeting cards
  • old magazines
  • wrapping paper
  • small wood scraps
  • craft materials
  • sequins and buttons

So, after the holiday rush is over and you are settling in to (hopefully) a couple of days off, take some time to go through some of your unused items and see what you have to donate to your local school.  Not only will you create some space in your own home for what’s important to you now, but you’ll also help develop some creativity in your community school as well.   So donate and feel great!