OK! I need help getting Organized!! Any ideas? The Children are Taking Over!!!!

Okay, with two small children (16 months & almost 4), and no time to myself, my house is drowning in clutter and toys! As soon as I pick something up, there it goes...all in the floor again. My children seem to take delight in my franic mess! PLEASE... I need HELP!!!!! Does anyone else have this problem or is it just me?

I'm always tripping over toys, and to top things off, my toddler has developed a new passion of taking her clothes out of her dresser (as well as the ones she's wearing), grabbing shoes, and what everelse she can put her little hands on and giving them a "new home!" The "new home" you may ask is her diaper changer. So now I find myself sifting through dirty diapers to retrieve shoes, toys, clothes, etc...

Just wondering what you guys do to help keep your sanity. I really need a Professional Organzier, I think. But I don't think I can afford one.

So I welcome any home storage and organizing tips you might have. Anything from controlling clutter, to organizing the countless pieces of mail that comes in. I've tried assigning it to piles, and as always...I hear little footsteps, and before I can get out NOOOOOOOO! You guessed it, It's all over the floor again. I give up!

Please excuse my ramblings.... I just had to get this off my chest!

It sure would be nice to have a central place for all us "disorganizees" to go for help!

 

Mine won territorial rights long ago. No help here.

 

I had the same problem with the clothes with my oldest. She would take ALL of her clothes out of her dresser and try them all on, and then they'd go missing.

I took her dresser out of her room and put it in mine.

If that's not an option, put it in her closet and put locks on the closet door.

 

Note - I don't have kids but .... I'm a good problem solver! :cheers:

1. Put their clothes up higher so they can't reach them (build/buy an organizer for the wall for their clothes/shoes)
3. Put a LOCK on the diper pail so they can't get in it
3. The 4 year old is COMPLETELY capable of picking up the toys - bribe her with something she likes, if not - whop her. :mrgreen:
4. As far as the mail - get an inbox/ourbox for your desk. Tell your DH if you have one that he is responsible for watching the kids for at least one hour every night so you can get the bills taken care of or at least soak in the tub and have some YOU time.

See problems solved. Any more? :lol:

 

Harley... you way over analyzed this. Keep it simple! :mrgreen:

 

Awesome, anyone want me to watch their kids? :lol: They can get me a beer from the fridge. :cheers:

 

I LOVE IT!!! Do you think it will hold 2? :lol:

 

Mine are trained. Even taught them not to run fast then open. Wait a sec or two then thump the top of the can first.

 

When me kiddos were that little I put child locks( just like the ones you use on the kitched drawers) on their dresser drawers to keep them from opening them all the time. And Im a BIN lover! A bin, plastic or canvas, for everything. I keep a small canvas bin at the each end of the stairs and throw that stuff in it that needs to go up or down, as I see it. That way I can take it all on my next trip, instead of all day long. Put some big bins in the family room for toys and encourage the kids ( or make the kids) put something in them BEFORE they get something else out. If that fails and youre tripping on toys, start collecting them, putting them away somewhere, and make the kids "earn" them back by putting toys away.
As for mail and paperwork...ugh...handle everything as it comes in. Someone once told me to touch any piece of paper only one. If its a bill...pay it and file it( in a locking file cabinet)..if its junk, toss it. Sometimes Im a little OCD about this stuff and it stresses my family out, but living in the chaos stresses ME out so they just have to deal!

 

Works for me!


Locks and gates are your friend!

 

Oh honey...NO!!!!! YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!! Just wanted to let you know!!

I too have stuff EVERYWHERE!!! One of the things I like, you can get them at Target or Home Depot is a shelf thingy with cubicles in them and then get the fabric drawers that fit in them. I still got all the junk but at least you can't see the gazillion match box cars or diego figurines or dinosaurs etc....at least it kinda looks like neat disorganization!!!

I've been trying to do this too with some luck, not all the time but sometimes. Open the mail as soon as you come in the door and right by the garbage can!!! Immediately throw out the junk mail!!!! Then at least you only have 1/2 a pile left.

Lastly, take a look at www.flylady.com

Good luck and definately know you aren't the only one!!!! BTW, my kids are 2 and 3.

 

It's nice to know that I'm not the only one out there. With children 2 and 3, how do you handle and store hand me downs? I've got those air bags that I've tried to use and store them under the beds, but know the kids pull them out and open them. So....I've got clothes scattered all over now. Every night, I try my best to resize them and put them back in the bags.

Clothes are a big problem for me. I've got hand-me downs for my oldest to grow in to, hand-me downs for my youngest as well as those that are too small for my youngest. (and I want to keep some of them for senitmental reasons).

Thanks

 

I keep them on the shelf of the locked closet in diaper boxes with the appropriate season/size marked on them. The airtight bags would save you more space - again label and put up high.

 

I also used to keep clothes in a labeled (by size) bin in the garage and go through them once a season to get out anything that would now fit. When the littlest one outgrows stuff, it IMMIDIATELY went into a garbage bag in the trunk of the car to drop off at goodwill next time I was near there.
And for paper, sign up for e-bills and e- statements, and e-everything you can. It greatly reduces the amount of paper coming in the house. And my junk mail goes in the trash dumpster on the way to the door,,,I dont even bring it in.

 

Yours are still pretty young, but its never too early to start I have four kids from 8 yrs to 20 yrs....I love nothing more than rubbermaid containers! Each holds a category...legos...barbies...dolls n clothes...matchbox cars...etc. Then I give them each ONE empty rubbermaid with their name on it for any "stuff" that they want to keep. Once its full thats it...we periodically go through it to empty trash n stuff out and give them more room. I started this pretty young, so even when they trash the room, they are good about putting everything back in its designated container.

When they are little you can take a picture of the designated item and tape it to the outside of the box so they know exactly what goes where.

As far as the mail...I use a file size rubbermaid and keep it in a convenient place so things can get filed weekly/monthly. At the end of the year, I review the files and store everything that doesnt need to be kept accessible. Any mail or paperwork that needs to be worked on signed, mailed, etc. I keep in a specific drawer in the desk...everything else..trash trash trash...

 

:iagree: or the shredder!

 

What if we put the kid in the closet and lock the door?

I'm just ramping myself up to withstand an afternoon with the ENT with both of the snot-noses' craziness in unison. So if y'all see a lady driving a truck with 2 kids zip-tied to the roof. Say a little prayer for me.:jester:

 

That's a great idea for weeding through the unused toys! I might have to try that. I've got a ton of rubbermaid containers in the garage!

 

Oh, that's not a closet - it's just an extra small bedroom. <wink>

 

Christianna, The clothes my kids grow out of get put in a big tupperware bin and taken out to the storage shed. At some point I just have to go through them and throw them out, give them away and pick a couple to keep for sentimental reasons like you.