Twice a year I get the itch to declutter my kids’ rooms. Toys, clothes, books…EVERYTHING! Now, before anyone gets mad, I do give them some say in the items leaving.
That is, except for clothes. Obviously if something doesn’t fit, it has to go. We hand items down to family members and donate to our local clothes closet. Kids grow fast, so we don’t have to throw clothes away often. Same for shoes. (Unless you’re my oldest, who is tough on her footwear.)
Toys: My kids have birthdays in June, July, and September. This is the first thing we purge before their birthdays roll around. Anything with broken or missing pieces goes. Any toy or book that is in good shape, but no longer age-appropriate is donated. Daily go-to items get to stay a little longer.
Books are donated to our school and placed in the “little library” boxes for others to enjoy. (As a writer, we treat books with the utmost respect.) Not to say they don’t have some highlighting, underlining, or dog eared pages…but they are well loved and in good shape.
Now, on to the kids. My oldest is ten with Asperger’s and ADHD. This means we spend an entire weekend cleaning her room out quarterly. Bags of trash get tossed. Ruined toys and clothes “disappear”. A lot of hers is done when she’s not home. But her favorites stay put and her comfort items never leave.
My second just loves everything. We haven’t done a big purge with her yet, but it will happen in the next few days. I look for tears and ruin-dayers to be heavy.
Lastly is our baby boy. He’s the easiest. We just clean out his clothes and toys as he outgrows them.
I won’t talk about my office…it’s always a work in progress. 😉
What about you? Any tips for a Spring Purge?
Nicole W. Barnes Virtual Assistant 
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