This post may contain affiliate links. Click here to learn more.

One of my favorite (and most frequent) recommendations when organizing children’s areas is to create a memory box for each child. Most parents already have something similar in place. They’ve stashed mementos, drawings, and treasures in tote bags and extra large plastic tubs to keep them safe.

While this is a great start, it becomes burdensome as the children grow older. More items need to be stored so more totes are purchased. The amount of storage space required grows like a never ending vine.

Worse, when the kids are ready to move out of the house, you’re both stuck with a disorganized, tangled mess of childhood papers, projects, and random stuff that your children now consider junk.

What in the world?! The intention was great, but it lacked one thing: forethought. Let me explain.

When city planners gather to discuss where the new road should go, they consider many things: frequency of use, amount of cars that will travel on it, potential problems, and ease of maintenance. They think decades ahead so that their work will not be in vain.

Your memory boxes deserve the same attention.

I suggest using a large letter file box. This size box is big enough to hold a childhood full of memories, but small enough to carry, stack, and store. As you shop, you’ll also want to choose a container that is relatively safe from the elements. Although plastic gives off a funky scent after so many years, it is bug and water proof. Finally, your box needs to be easy to open. While I love a good cedar chest with a beautiful brass lock, I’ve found that the keys go missing, the chest gets piled high with other things, and they’re difficult to re-home as children grow. Instead, opt for a solution that is portable and easy to use.
​

Just like lanes on a highway, creating divisions within your memory box will give you the direction you (and your child) need to organize their belongings as time goes on. Hanging file folders are a favorite of mine because they take up little space and can hold papers and trinkets. They also allow for maximum accessibility to each division. When I create memory boxes, I use the following divisions for hanging files:

• Newborn
• Toddler
• Preschool
• Kindergarten
• 1st Grade
• 2nd Grade
• 3rd Grade
• 4th Grade
• 5th Grade
• 6th Grade
• 7th Grade
• 8th Grade
• 9th Grade
• 10th Grade
• 11th Grade
• 12th Grade
• College

I prefer to divide by grades because most children organize their memories around the school calendar. They remember going to Niagara Falls after 4th grade or winning that soccer championship in 10th grade. The school calendar typically has more firm start/stop points than a child’s own birthday. However, if your child prefers to organize by given age, that’s fine too. I’ve also seen families set up boxes by category rather than grade level (i.e., school papers, sports, crafts, etc.). The only downside to organizing by categories is that it will be difficult to keep organized as the years go by and you’ll have a greater tendency to stop organizing and start piling the keepsakes.
​

This is where the rubber meets the road; where you realize whether the system you created for your toddler actually works when he’s a teenager. If you use a file box with the hanging file divisions I shared above, I promise you, the system WILL work. The trick here is to sort and file the keepsakes along the way. You may notice that a file will get particularly hefty…and may begin to crowd out others. If this happens, pull the file out and review it with your child. Are the pieces they’ve chosen to keep really their treasures from that year? Give your kids the gift of wisdom by teaching them to compare and evaluate. Children who learn to determine the value of their own belongings are better prepared to make wise investment choices as adults. Learning to live within the boundaries, within their means, will enable them to comparison shop for clothes, food, colleges, cars, and homes.

Never underestimate the power of a box.

Kids are messy, aren’t they?! Like, shockingly messy. Old candy wrappers, empty gift bags, random rock collections are found tucked away in the most interesting places. And then there’s the toys. Even if you try to keep them to a minimum (and rotate them throughout the year) the action figures, craft supplies, and Legos eventually drive you a bit bonkers. It’s okay to cry out in frustration --- you’re among friends. This idea of a clean, organized bedroom lasting more than half an hour really is the seemingly unattainable parent goal of the year.

But today is different. Starting today, that goal of yours is within reach. Why? Simple. We’re going to teach your kids how to keep their rooms clean. Kids (and a large number of adults) struggle to keep their areas clutter-free due to numerous reasons. The most common reason, however, is lack of instruction. Those who struggle to keep a tidy bedroom, home, or office simply need to be taught. These quick lessons will empower your kids for decades to come; they will equip your kids to become successful adults! And who doesn’t want that!?

Now that your child knows where everything is supposed to go, they’re physically able to put all the items away. But your child won’t do this out of the goodness of his heart and maintain it over time until it becomes a sweet habit. Nope. Your child will continue to be a kid. A creative member of the family. And creatives make messes. You don’t want to squash their creative spirit, but you do want to establish some healthy guidelines. Enter the Ten Minute Tidy. (Side note, this name isn’t original with me --- I’m sure it’s been used hundreds of times in different settings. I thought about calling it the Clean Sweep….but I know that was the name of a show. The point is, you can call this step WHATEVER you want. The name isn’t important. The action is.)

• Pick a time each day to perform your 10 (or 20) minute tidy. Morning, afternoon, evening, it’s up to you. I prefer before bed so that our family can start the next day with a clean slate.
• Set a timer. Working under a deadline helps to increase productivity.
• Have your kids perform these 3 tasks:
  • Pick up all dirty laundry.
  • Put away clean clothing.
  • Put away all toys/crafts.
• Download this sticker chart for your younger kiddos.

Daily tidying will go a long way to helping your children create cleaner, more organized spaces beyond their bedrooms. Limit the tidy time to basic tasks until they’re crushing those tasks within minutes. I like to begin with the 3 basic tasks listed above because they are the most common items I find as I organize children’s bedrooms. This should clear up 95% of the room. Additional tasks to add might include: throwing away trash, finding items to donate, vacuuming/dusting, making beds, taking laundry to the washer, running their own laundry, and picking out outfits for the next day. But again, don’t rush things. Habits take a long time to form, and you don’t want to overwhelm your child by requiring too much too soon. (Yes, I know, it shouldn’t be a hardship to tell them to clean up their trash, but these are kids we’re talking about. Just trust me on this. Low expectations are great in the beginning.)
​
Give us a call if you need help with any of these steps. We’d love to hear about your progress too. Comment below to share your story. ​

School is in full swing for almost everyone in America. There are lunches to pack, bookbags to stuff, and supplies to keep track of.

If you’ve got younger kids at home, you’re also battling the daily onslaught of coloring pages and crafts that have made their way through your front door.

The teachers are genius. The KNOW all the papers cannot be saved --- there just isn’t enough room in the cubbies. So they pass the hard conversation onto the parents: How do you tell your kids that your house simply isn’t big enough to contain every doodle, craft, or writing activity completed each day? And that some of these papers will meet their demise at the weekly trash collection?

You tell them the truth.

Children are very resilient. They learn quickly and bounce back from disappointment when surrounded by a supportive family. Did you catch the word supportive? In order for your kids to be okay with limiting the “prized” possessions, you’ll need to equip them with two life skills:

1. Learning To Determine Value
2. Learning To Establish Boundaries

Lessons about value center on comparison. Which do you like more? Which did you put the most effort into creating? Which is your favorite of the day/week? Questions like these help our kids to select the best and most loved items.

Although it would be great if our schedules allowed us to go through the folder and evaluate each piece every day, that probably isn’t realistic. In the mean time, have a drop location for all the papers that come home in the folder for the week. At the end of the week, possibly on Sunday night, go through the papers and have your child pick out their top 5.

Only 5?! Only 5 per week?! You read that correctly. This is where teaching your children to establish healthy boundaries comes into play. They cannot and should not learn to keep everything. There is no reason to hold onto everything. At the same time, they should learn that there is space to keep those items that are dear to their little hearts. Remember that refusing to let a child to keep anything can lead them to develop hoarding tendencies, so you must find a healthy boundary. I like the number 5. Most likely your kid(s) will learn to choose less than that each week.

At school, it’s likely that your child’s teacher is collecting artifacts (favorites or best samples of work) for the year to demonstrate your child’s progress. You can do the exact same thing at home and even encourage your child that you’re simply following the teacher’s lead.

To contain the artifacts, purchase a clear box that holds letter size file folders and assign a grade level to each folder. (Check out which products I use for this clutter clearing activity here!) Children understand size much earlier than we give them credit. When we let them know, in a supportive and loving way, that we want to collect their best works within a folder, they quickly see that the folder is only so big. For larger projects that would not fit within the folder, take a picture of the artifact. Don’t forget to PRINT the picture and allow your child to place this image within his/her folder for the year.

If you’re collecting 5 pieces each week, your folder will quickly fill up. In this case, also go through the folder with your child as frequently as necessary. Compare items from earlier in the year to items they’ve just brought home.
It’s important during this process that YOU follow THEIR lead. If your kid loves a piece that you think is crap, let them keep the crap.

These life lessons aren’t about you.

Feel free to rescue the cast-offs for your own saving (and store them in that file folder after the year is through so that you can ask your child about keeping them at a later time). The point is to show your child that you trust their decisions and you support them in determining value and establishing boundaries in their own kid-realm.
​
Empower your kids with confidence as you tactfully teach them to live successfully.

​A client recently asked me, “What’s the right amount of _______? When is enough enough?”

The question spurred a trail of thoughts a mile long. Every person is going to have a different answer for every area of life. The avid cyclist will have more accessories that I can count, while the once-a-year cyclist may just have the bike. The answer to the question lies in your love, need for, and use of all the things available within a given category. No matter the level of enthusiasm, there is wisdom in establishing healthy limits.

Here are your top 3 guidelines to help you discover when your enough is enough:

Each item in your home is used at least once a year.

This may sound like a tall order, but it’s easy to achieve if you give yourself the time to tackle each category and make decisions. Clothing is the best category to begin with and laundry is your easiest way to measure frequency of use. Runners who run 7 days a week and only do laundry once will require 7 outfits. Employees who work in an office (with no uniform) or teachers will most likely do laundry at least once a week, but may require 10 outfits so that they don’t feel like they’re repeating themselves every week. Instead, 10 outfits allow for a potential repeat only once every two weeks. Some folks like to have even MORE variety in their wardrobes. (I highly caution more than 3 weeks’ worth of outfits.) The Pareto Principle attests that we’re only using 20% of our stuff 80% of the time, so to help you identify what you’re actually wearing (all the time AND at least once a year), try this little experiment.

• Pick a date.
• The day before this date, make sure ALL of your clothing is laundered and/or dry cleaned.
• On your set date, turn everything backwards: hangers in closets, folded shirts facing the opposite direction, underwear on the other side of the drawer (use a divider like an empty shoebox if necessary).
• For the next 12 months (or less if you can finish the experiment before that), whenever you use an item of clothing, store it forwards (or the way it used to be before your start date).
• At the end of 12 months (or less), whatever you see you aren’t using needs to be edited. These items may be donated, tossed, or recycled. You might even sell them on Facebook, Craigslist, or Ebay. BUT THEY CAN’T STAY in your drawers or closets.
• This practice also works with other categories in your home. Simply turn the item (hammer, towel, serving platters, etc.) toward a different direction or angle to easily identify which things you have and haven’t used. There are a few tools that sometimes do not pass the twelve-month test, but may pass a two-year test. The point is to pare down your belongings to get to the point where you have enough. There are always exceptions, but exceptions are only exceptions by definition if they are RARE

Dust is at a minimum.

When you are actively using everything in your home, those items will be touched, moved, or laundered on a regular basis. Have you ever seen a pair of shoes tucked in the back of your closet covered in dust? You know why they’re dusty and your other shoes aren’t? I bet it’s NOT because you only dusted the other pairs. Who dusts shoes?! No, that one pair is dusty because they haven’t been moved in months. But what about snow boots? Well of course, those will probably get dusty --- that’s an expected casualty of the seasons. Don’t play hardball --- you know exactly which shoes I’m talking about --- the ones that you know won’t pass the “worn in a year” test. The point is, when the things in our home have a purpose, less dust will settle. You’ll still need to vacuum, mop, and dust, but your work will be cut in half because ….. (wait for it…..)

Your closets, drawers, cabinets, and other storage areas are at least 25% empty.

The emptiness not only creates ease of accessibility, but it also allows the air to flow properly through your house. Proper air flow equals less dust. If your storage areas are always jammed full, then you’ve simply got to ask yourself if all the items within them passed the first test. If they did and you’re still overflowing, then you might be one of the VERY few people in the world who NEED more space. Just a warning, parenting during the infant stage will create a very FULL home. There are a TON of things you need for such a small person, that the hoard is almost laughable. But take heart --- you won’t need all these things for more than each little person’s first year of life. You might feel the need to store and reuse for the next child (thus “breaking” the Twelve Month Use Rule), and that’s normal. Choose an area that is out of the way and not easily accessible like an attic, basement, or someone else’s extra storage space during the “waiting for baby” period.

Ready to find out if you have enough already? I bet you are and I bet you do. When you follow these three guidelines, the items that are more than enough can be released to make way for space, freedom, and even newer/more useful things. Some clients realize at the end of their edits that there are items missing; items not previously owned but needed. Clothing staples and capsule wardrobes provide great examples of how to purchase more after eliminating the excess. 

Share your experience below!!!

How does ADD/ADHD affect organization? Well, if you’re a parent, sibling, co-worker, employee, spouse, child, or teacher of someone with ADD, ADHD, or tendencies towards those, you already know the answer.

Children and adults with ADD, ADHD, or tendencies towards those diagnoses can struggle to:

• Begin a task.
• Attend to the task long enough to make headway.
• Complete the task.
• Maintain the result once the task is finished.

​At home, this is the bedroom that is NEVER picked up no matter how many times you insist on it. The child works for hours, but little progress is made. At work, this is the cubicle that you purposely avoid. Because you’ve nicknamed it the “black hole”, you often make copies of your paperwork before submitting it to the owner of the cubicle out of fear your documents may never come back.

However, there is organizational hope!

Clients with ADD, ADHD, or tendencies towards those require special, individualized methods for every step of the way. These methods take into consideration the impulsivity, distractibility, hyper-focus, and perfectionism that often derail attempts to get (and stay) organized.

Here are 5 tips to help you, or someone you know, get started:

1. Manage Your Time Better with a Calendar. Task analyze each project on a calendar by working backwards. Start with the due date and then identify the key pieces that must be completed for that project. Space those out into mini-deadlines working back all the way to TODAY. It may seem tedious, but breaking your project, even if it’s rather small, into smaller parts will make the job easier to complete over time. No more frustration over imperfect results because, this time, you’ve allowed time for revisions.
2. Have One Place to Record Random Ideas. Select a notebook or notepad to jot down random thoughts and to-do’s. Although some might find multiple notebooks or notepads more helpful, the ADD/ADHD client is better off trying to keep track of just ONE pad that’s always kept in the same location. Using this method will help you keep track of your notes because less is more in the ADD/ADHD world. To organize your notes within your notebook, select no more than 4 classifications and use corresponding highlighters. For example, to-do’s are pink and fun facts are green, gift ideas are blue and favorite restaurants are yellow. Finally, keep this ONE notepad in ONE location.
3. Store Items at Their Point Of Use. It may not be glamorous, but your bathroom’s storage might need to transition to sparsely decorated open shelving. It’s easy to get distracted when opening up the cabinet under the sink. Instead of fetching the toilet paper, you’re thinking about the dangerously low supply of cotton balls and wondering how that hairspray got all the way back there. Avoid that scenario entirely by keeping your supplies where they are easily seen. It won’t look like Pottery Barn, but it will help you find what you need when you need it without the distractions and time loss.
4. Do Smaller Jobs More Often. Retailers have sold us the lie that if we have more clothes, we’ll have to do less laundry. This is a brazen twist of truth, but our minds seem to go with it because it sounds nice to have to do less work. In reality, more clothing means more laundry that you’ll do less frequently. Closing the loop and completing tasks is already hard enough. When you have LARGE loads of laundry, you’re even more likely to abandon the job. The result? Your closet spills out over the floor, laundry permeates the hallways, and you feel as if you have nothing to wear despite the abundance. Do yourself a favor and purge the excess clothing. Keep 7-15 of your favorite tops, and launder them as necessary. You only need one pair of painting clothes, and those pants you never hemmed need to go. You’ll do laundry more frequently, but it will be MUCH easier to get it loaded, laundered, folded, and put away!
5. Use A Spyglass to Help You Focus. Now, I’m not talking about a real spyglass from Captain Hook’s ship, but rolling a piece of paper or using your hands will do just as well. When you’re overwhelmed by the variety of tasks at hand, help yourself identify a small area to work in by “spying” around the room. Whatever you spy, work there and only there. This is incredibly helpful when tackling piles or collections of items.

I love partnering with parents and children as they learn to use these organizational skills in their own homes. The kids feel empowered to make changes and the parents are grateful for the changes. It's amazing how much better a teen will listen to an outside source versus their own flesh and blood, but that's real life. I've found the same to be true with spouses, siblings, and coworkers. Sometimes it's the words of an expert that make all the difference.

Can you believe December is here? Already? Wasn’t it just October?! Although I typically try to have all of my shopping completed before Thanksgiving, this year was a complete flop. As I brainstorm ideas for each loved one on my Christmas list, I’m struck with one thought: What if the gift I give brings temporary joy but then turns into clutter before summer?

Gifts are messages from the giver to the receiver. We attempt to communicate feelings such as love, care, concern, and the desire to elicit joy through our gift-giving. We never want someone to feel overwhelmed or guilty when they receive a gift from our hands. And yet, as a receiver, I have felt quite the opposite of the giver’s intentions….even when I KNOW the giver had GREAT intentions.

In our consumer-driving society, accumulation is happiness. It makes us feel good to give stuff! And it makes us feel extra good to get stuff. It’s not enough to have one, we must have two. And it’s not enough to get only the things we need, we also desire to get our wants. However, this stuff can come back to haunt us in space wasting, energy sapping, and time consuming ways.

​So how can we best communicate our love for others and elicit those joyous giggles without adding to our already packed homes? Think experiences, not items. The time spent together, sharing and building memories, is worth more than any toy or gadget. You’ll be investing in the “gift” that you’ll be able to treasure for a lifetime. Additionally, research has shown that giving the gift of time together reduces stress and strengthens relationships.
Whether you’re shopping for a short activity or one that lasts all year long, check out these experiences right here in Greenville, SC! 
​

Several of the museums listed below are conveniently located at Heritage Green.

• Bob Jones Museum & Gallery*
• Greenville Museum of Art (free)
• Miniature World of Trains
• Museum & Library of Confederate History (free)
• Roper Mountain Science Center*
• Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum & Baseball Library (free)
• The Children’s Museum of the Upstate*
• Upcountry History Museum*

​

Know someone who has an insatiable thirst for knowledge?

• At The Chef’s Table
• Downtown Driving Tour
• Greenville BBQ Trail (click on the “Tours” tab on the top right for more information)
• Historic Neighborhoods & Architecture (click on the “Tours” tab on the top right for more information)
• Horseback Waterfall Tours
• West End Walking Tour

​

If music, art, and acting thrill your soul, then you’ll love what Greenville has to offer!

• Color Clay Cafe* (pottery painting)
• Glazing Pot (pottery painting)
• Greenville Little Theater
• Greenville Symphony Orchestra (at The Peace Center)
• Greer Cultural Arts (performing arts)
• South Carolina Children’s Theater
• The Peace Center* (performing arts)

​

Encounter animals large and small!

• Greenville Zoo*
• Hollywild*

​

Have an athlete in the family or someone who loves to be on the move? These events and activities are jam packed with hoots and hollers!

• Bon Secours Wellness Arena* (variety of events including Swamp Rabbits)
• Gravitopia  (trampoline)
• Greenville Drive* (baseball)
• Greenville Rec Pavilion Bounce House*
• Greenville Rec Waterparks  
• Golden Lanes & Golden Skates (bowling & roller skating)
• Ice On Main (ice skating)
• Mountain Goat Indoor Rock Climbing
• Palmetto State Armory (firing range)
• Roller Sports (roller skating)
• Skateland (roller skating)
• Sky Zone* (trampoline)
• Sky Diving Greenville
• Swamp Rabbits (hockey)

​

Everyone deserves a little pampering. These are great gifts for busy moms who need a little break!

• Greenville Fitness & Rehab* (massage)
• Renew Salon*
• Spa Venus*

​

If you’re looking for an extended experience, consider giving the gift of tuition!

• Airborne Athletics* (gymnastics for kids)
• Bermuda Triangle Scuba
• Bricks 4 Kidz (lego construction for kids)
• Cakes By U (cake decorating for kids & adults)
• Charleston Cooks (cooking)
• Creating Artists for Tomorrow
• Fred Astaire Dance Studio
• Greenville Aviation*
• Greenville Hurricanes (sports, including archery)
• Kroc Center (sports)
• Lifesavers of America (CPR)
• NoteAbility* (music)
• Plate 108 (cooking for kids & adults)
• Sew Creative* (sewing)
• Sylvan (robotics & coding for kids)
• Whispering Pines (horseback riding)
• Woodcraft (woodworking)
• YMCA (sports)

​

These gifts can become experiences when you shop together for a need or local ministry. Even young children can experience the joy of giving!

• Miracle Hill Ministries*
• Piedmont Women’s Center*
• Soteria Community Development Corp*

​

If you’re not ready to completely transition from gifts to experiences, consider limiting your purchases to one item from each category.

• Something to Read
• Something they Need
• Something to Wear
• Something they Want

 
There are hundreds of other activities that you can do as a family, such as hiking or serving at a soup kitchen, that were not mentioned in this list. 

 I know you sat up a little straighter when you read the title of this post. That's right, I'm going to give you the holy grail of organizing! I know you've seen a thousand ideas on Pinterest, but there's one idea that you haven't seen. I'm fairly confident that it lacks a million pins simply because it's not well known. No longer will you have to roam in organization darkness....or step on those Legos. 

Most toy storage solutions share one problem: inflexibility. 

A plastic box looks great and stacks like a champ, but have you ever tried to get all the cars back in the box? Fail.
A cloth bin with an open top that easily slides onto a shelf sounds marvelous, but do you really need that much space for crayons? Fail. 

I needed something that:

1. Could adjust to the size of the item I wanted to store.
2. Could easily be opened, closed, and PUT AWAY by a three year old.
3. Was cost effective because I've got too many different toys and I like them separated. Don't hate me. It's an organizer thing.

As I perused the aisles of our fabulous Walmart, I saw the most beautiful storage solution in all the world! Cue angelic beings and sweet trumpet sounds.

That's right, it's a lingerie bag.  

​A 15x18" thick mesh bag with a chunky plastic zipper for less than $2 ($1.17 here in Greenville). You're welcome.

The mesh won't rip. The zipper is sturdy enough for hundreds of washings (read tuggings). The size holds a bowling set or an 88-piece set of plastic food for your child's organizational pleasure. They even had this handy hook on the end IF you wanted to hang them instead of toss them into a cabinet. 

We've got just under twenty of these mesh bags. It makes cleanup a breeze and enables the kids to be part of the process. As for the brand, Mainstays is the best brand that I've found durable enough for kids. I purchased some from the Dollar Tree and those were quite a disappointment.

What toy storage solutions do you love? Would you give this new idea a shot? Leave a comment below and tell me more about your organizing journey! 

*No compensation was received for the endorsement of this product.*