Organizing and Purging

Yesterday was a major clean up day upstairs.  It was time to tackle the kiddo's rooms.  I wish I could say that they put things in the their place and value the ease of being able to find what they are looking for, but we are definitely not there or anywhere in the neighborhood.

Tools required: trash bags, label maker, patience.  I love my label maker. I would label everything in our house if I thought I could get away with it!

Xavier and Jacob's room was the easiest.  I started by organizing and labeling their storage bins.  A huge benefit of Jacob being able to read now is being able to label things and seeing the spark of understanding when he puts the right toys in the right bins.  Xavier was steadily working on picking up his Star Wars Lego pieces that were spread from one corner of the room to the next.  He worked so hard when he heard that the vacuum is going to eat the Lego's if they don't get picked up, and I am not willing to cut open the bag to fish them out!  The next project was the desk.  I will admit it wasn't too bad once there was a place for all the little pieces and parts in the storage bins.  The one place that is still left to organize is the closet... another day... when I regain my strength.

Paige's room... what a different story!  Paige is my pack rat.  I'm not sure where she got this from because I am the very opposite of a pack rat.  If there isn't a place for it, it goes into a give away box or the recycle bins.  We filled up 2 trash bags with papers, workbooks, and little grab bag toys.  Yes, some of it could have been recycled, but at some point my sanity level comes above how many trash bags we fill up.  Then, I completely rearranging her entire room.   I thought this would be a good time to give her more work space for projects, homework, and reading since she is going to a new school this year.  Our school district has broken up the schools.  K-4 is elementary, 5-6 is intermediate, 7-8 is middle, and 9-12 is high school.   We went through her stuffed animals, saved 5, and bagged up the rest.  We went through her entire wardrobe and filled up an entire box of clothes that are too small.  Paige was amazingly willing to help with the whole process.  I was happy we did not have to wade through a melt down as we filled the bags and boxes of her once prized possessions.

It is hard to imagine having to do this whole process over again, but it will happen all over again in about 6 months.  I am NOT counting the days!