Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Why Parents Shouldn't Clean Their Childs Room


I was thinking just the other day,
How nice it would be if I could say...
My house is clean all in and out ,
Even the kids took their garbage out!

So with all the knowledge I possess,
From having 3 college degrees I must profess,
I stepped gingerly into the room usually clean,
And what I found under the bed made my knees buckle
And my body lean.

Two years of not moving that bed,
Could have kept a small army fed.
If you don't believe me, the pictures say it all,
Look at all the dust and dirt piled up against the wall.

The garbage bag is more than half full,
From just around the back side of the bed did I pull,
Old candy wrappers, straws, a bottle of glue,
What was in the cup at one time was now a fuzzy blue.

All the spare socks that I couldn't find?
They weren't ate by the sock eating washer...
They were left behind,
Under the nightstand for the sock eating monster.

Oh moms and dads please hear my plea,
Before you take on your kids room, listen to me.
Do it whilst they are at school or away,
Make sure you have nothing else on your plate that day.
When they come home surprised they will be,
But trust me if they will look around and see
The bag from their room of what you call trash,
They will dig back out and say its part of their favorite stash...
Of strings, broken toys and unidentifiable gunk!
Toss it away or back it goes under the bed again to be junk!
There is some merriement to this tale of woe,
Because now I won't fall when into this room I go.
He even said thanks to me last night,
For finding his favorite video.
We live in a very small home it is true,
Finding places to put things can cause me to stew...
But we are lucky for the built-ins with shelves so we can store,
Much more in his room and then close the door!
ORGANIZATION HELPS FOR TODAY:
  1. I have said this before, when you live in a small home or a large home, you must have a place for everything and everything needs to be in its place. (I understand with kids it is hard, but start teaching them when they are young & it kind of helps).
  2. Use small square cloth covered storage cubes for DVD's, Pictures, CD's and other small items.
  3. While Sterilite doesn't endorse my blog or give me free products for recommending them or to give to my blog readers, I stand by this company for their great and reasonably priced storage bins, drawers and baskets. I love their new ones that stack nice and neatly on top of each other. They are great for crayons, play money, socks, fabrics, you are only limited by your imagination.
  4. Utilize canvas or plastic over the door shoe holders for hats, mittens, small parts (i.e. Barbie toys, cars, etc.)
  5. Label shelves and bins so everyone can look quickly to find what they need.
  6. Place childrens things down low so they can reach them.
  7. Make a 6 month box (if you find something it goes in the box, if no one asks about it for 6 months, it goes to charity.)
  8. If something comes into the house, something must go out and that means old shoes, clothing, crayons, coloring books, magazines, etc.. The problem isn't generally our cleanliness it is our clutter.
  9. If it has a door, close it!
  10. Make it smell good. Glades new candles and reed diffusers are awesome, I also have an oil burner I use. Open the windows, air the place out, nothing says clean better than fresh air!









When you are finished, sit down, pat yourself on the back and reward yourself with a glass of your favorite tea or juice, eat a popsicle, color a page, take a nap. After all, your worked hard and you deserve a break!









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