As a mother to three children I fight the ‘clutter war’ on a daily basis. Don’t worry we all have that ‘ONE’ cupboard in our house where we cram everything labeled ‘I’ll look at that later!’ in. The more stuff we have the less time we have because there’s more things to clean, more stuff to put away or look for if it gets lost. But children come with clutter, on a daily basis if I do not root through the pile deposited at my front door after school, in a week we’d probably loose our front door and be stuck in our clutter-filled house for life.

From swimming bags, to class science projects, to ‘Nanga’s’ dooddles, the pile gets higher and higher. I wouldn’t call myself an overly neat person, I live with kids I expect mess, but I am fanatic about keeping things in the right place and not loosing precious time looking for things. This I hate. Not to worry Mums, the clutter war can be won, reel in the kids, reel in the unsuspecting husband, if we all work together as a team, your house can be left squeaky and shiny and a marvel of organized perfection.

Clutter – free Strategies

Over the years I’ve learnt that telling kids to clean their rooms just does not work. You have to break it down for them and explain each task. Put the books on the shelf, the blocks in the box etc..will speedily achieve more of what you are looking for. My daughters’ have crammed everything possible into their rooms, and each object is important or so they say. Not to worry help them organize their closet space, use the back of cupboard doors to store shoes, hang up hooks for storing belts, necklaces etc.

Invest in some heavy duty boxes to store away all the hundreds and thousands of their precious little trinkets. Also get a small stool so that they are able to climb and can put clothes and things away themselves.

A house with kids is filled with artwork. Instead of throwing them away you could turn the artwork into features around the house. Decorate a wall with some of the best looking ones. Instead of buying artwork for the nursery I have used some exceptional handiwork that my oldest has done as decorations. Also gift away the excess pictures to grandparents and aunts and uncles who can’t say NO. My mother’s kitchen is filled with my children’s works of arts which she displays proudly.

Purge toys regularly. Have a good root around in the toy box and get rid of toys that your kids are finished with. Obviously keep the ones with sentimental value, but anything they are tired of or have out grown give away. The same applies for clothes as well, give the old ones to charity.

Filter out the photos and works of art. You don’t have to keep every photo you take or every crafty object your child makes. Even though your two year insists that the doodle she has drawn means a lot to her, throw it away later, for the same doodle drawing will make an appearance tomorrow.

Instead of hoarding books, give some away once done. Once your younger ones have out grown their ‘ABC’ books these can always be traded in at any second hand book shop.

These are just some says of keeping the clutter at bay, I could go on but I am limited on time and space, do not let your sentimentality get the better of you and hoard everything you have a memory of. Throw the old stuff away and go out and get some new memories. Happy De-cluttering!

By Mayuri Jayasinghe