Is your kids’ play area piling up? You’re not alone
AVON, Ind. (WISH) — If you are at all on social media these days, you’ve likely noticed a trend of people purging and organizing their home. It’s part new year’s resolution and part Netflix effect, but for many it’s help they need to de-clutter their home.
Still you don’t need Marie Kondo, the woman behind that Netflix series “Tidying Up,” to get organized. There are local experts to help. And if like me, a busy mom of three, you need the help.
“These are other Christmas gifts that I can’t even give him right now,” Lauren Gilmer said, as she lifts a gift bag full of board games down off a shelf in her son’s closet.
Gilmer is a mom of two children, a 5-year-old boy and 7-year-old girl.
“I feel like the holidays is when it gets really bad because your family members generosity ends up being a nightmare at home,” Gilmer said.
The kids’ rooms are full of Barbies, Nurf guns and of course Legos.
“I like to call it death by Legos. Just the coat of Legos that cover the floor and if you’re not paying attention you get stabbed in the foot,” Gilmer said.
And while she’s admittedly a bit of a neat freak, she feels like she’s up to her elbows in entertainment for the kids.
“Just because you get a lot of gifts doesn’t mean you can magically also create additional space for it, so it just kind of ends up piling around and gets really overwhelming,” Gilmer said.
Nicole Busch says it is a slippery slope. She helps people re-organize their life and home to find more confidence and happiness.
“We are a society of more and more and more and so what I try to tell my clients is think of how much you bring into your home and how little goes out. And so eventually you run out of space,” Busch said.
Busch says bring all of the toys to one central location and start simple.
“You’re going to tackle what’s in here. What can I get rid of? What’s broken? Start with one thing. What is broken? Anything that is broken, get it out. Anything that’s not age-appropriate, get it out.”
From there ask yourself three questions.
“Do I need it? Does it bring me joy? Do I use it?” Busch said.
Busch also suggests scheduling a time to tackle the toys and maybe even set a timer for yourself. She likes to put a half an hour aside and set the timer for ten minutes three times.
“I have ten minutes to work as fast as I can and let me tell you, you’re not emotional. You’re not attached to something in ten minutes. Because you’re like ‘I want to make the most of my time, so how fast can I go?’”
If not ready to part with some beloved belongings, Busch suggests storing some toys and then each week or month cycle new ones out for the kids to use for play.
“Everyone just thinks I’ll purge and that’s easy. If it was easy everyone would do it,” Busch said.
Gilmer said she’s started to trim down the toys while her children are at school.
“Most of the time they never ask for it again and that’s how I know I made the right decision,” she said.
If you do want to get the kids involved with sifting through the stuff, Busch says it’s a good time to talk about the importance of giving and explain that by donating or selling items you are passing them onto someone else to use.