She Buildeth Her House

Decluttering

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A Decluttering Question That Will Simplify Your Life!

I dropped and broke a mug yesterday.

My first thought was one of relief. “At least I don’t have to declutter that when I finally go through that cabinet.”

Which made me start thinking…”What else out of there would make me strangely relieved if it accidentally broke?”

So … my new question when decluttering items I can’t decide about is this: “If it suddenly got destroyed would I be relieved or seek to replace it?”

Ask yourself the same question.

You’re welcome. 🙂

Now … go spend 10 minutes and simplify that area that’s been bugging you (but maybe don’t shatter your unwanted items like I did. A week later we are still getting glass in our feet 😂) and let me know if this question helped!

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How I Tamed the Toy Chaos

I have two sweet kids, ages 1 and 5. They LOVE toys.

I love my kids.

I love to PLAY with my kids.

I do NOT love tripping over and stepping on their toys.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash


Also, for those of you who don’t know, my husband is totally blind, and so if I were to ask him, I would bet he doesn’t love tripping over them either.

So for my sanity (and his physical safety!) I decided I had to tackle our toy problem.

After researching and wondering how on earth I was ever going to make any progress, I had just had enough one day, and decided to just do it!

I didn’t have a really sophisticated system, so if you’re looking for that sort of thing…you may just want to head off to another blog!! But if your’e looking for simple solutions…here’s what I did:

  1. Get a babysitter/mother’s helper or put on a movie to distract the kids!
  2. Gather big black trash bags and grocery bags. (If you have other containers to use that are prettier, feel free to use them, but I just used what I had on hand and it worked just fine!! )
  3. Put each toy set with multiple parts (i.e. little people, puzzles, legos, building blocks, etc. ) in a bag and tie it so they don’t get lost.
  4. Put those bags and any big toys in big black trash bags.
  5. GET RID of anything broken or they absolutely don’t play with at all anymore.
  6. CHOOSE ONLY ONE TOY WITH MULTIPLE PARTS ACCESSIBLE TO THE KIDS AT A TIME! (Don’t feel guilty! Just try it and you can always go back to how things were!) I didn’t include books, games, or craft supplies in this rule personally, but do what works for you!
  7. Neatly put that toy set, along with any other single part toys you wish for them to access, in the space you have available. (A stuffed animal, a dress up hat, a doll, a big truck, etc.)
  8. Put anything that won’t COMFORTABLY fit in the space you have available for toys OUT OF SIGHT. Maybe in an outbuilding, attic, bottom of your closet, wherever you have room. (Make sure kids can’t get to them without your help or you’ll have a big mess on your hands!)
  9. Every week or two, rotate out a couple of the toys, and your kids will act like it’s Christmas!! (Trust me, I didn’t think that this would be true for my kiddos either, but it was! Just try it!!)
  10. Enjoy the extra time with your kids, as well as the extra time to yourself because they’ll play a lot better if they aren’t overwhelmed…or at least mine have been!!

Note: It’s not mean. It’s not punishment. It’s just a way to help your family be able to more easily take care of the space God has given you as a family to live in, and therefore spend time on more things that truly matter!! And the bonus is that your kids will learn to be more creative with what they have, and more grateful!

And if you are all about teaching your kid to be self-sufficient, as I am, this will help them to be able to more easily clean up their own stuff!

JUST TRY IT!! It likely won’t take as long as you think. Your feet will thank you. AND you will thank yourself when you see how much less picking up you have to do, and how much more time you have to play with your kids instead of just helping them clean up their toys!

Let me know how it goes!!

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A Kid and Mommy Approved Clean Up Game

Photo by Kristin Brown on Unsplash

Do you ever feel like your house SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUSTS when you have your back turned? (Oh wait…is that just me???)

I have a one year old and a five year old, and try as I may, when we are home, especially if there’s been lots of fun going on, it gets a liiiiiiittle CRAZY sometimes.

One day, as I could feel the overwhelmed feeling creeping up in my chest, the Lord put a game in my mind for us to try. It’s super easy because I’m into super easy around here! (The only stipulation is your kid has to be old enough to count for it to work well.) Here’s what you do.



1. Choose a prize/incentive. In our house, the winner gets to choose a 10-15 min activity to do with the family either immediately after the game or at bedtime. Immediately after is best in my opinion because then you don’t forget! You could suggest reading a story aloud to them, do play doh together, blow bubbles outside, play hide n seek, get out a board game, water paint. You know your kids, so use whatever motivates them! And really, the key here is do something TOGETHER whenever possible. (Kids crave one-on-one quality time with you, whether you realize it or not.)

2. Set the timer for 5-10 minutes (I have used longer times if needed but I’ve found shorter times work best so we stay on task!)


3. Everyone (including you!) start cleaning, and for every item you pick up, or quick task you do, you earn one point. Be sure to emphasize the importance of putting things IN THEIR HOME, not shoving them under the bed 🙂

One piece of trash into the trash can=1 point
Wiping the table off=1 point
Putting three pieces of dirty laundry into the hamper=3 points
Putting 10 legos into the bin=10 points

You get the idea.


4. Count out loud to build the suspense, keep everyone honest, and to get more done quicker! (If you’re like us and forget which number you’re on, just pick one close to where you think you are and go with it. Remember the point is to pick up, not really being ridiculously exact on the numbers.)

5. Declare a winner and celebrate!! Who doesn’t love being encouraged!? And remember, if mommy wins, she can choose 15 minutes of quiet time!!! (Ok, if you want to be the fun mom I wouldn’t suggest this, but I have considered it!!!)



This activity serves so many purposes. Like…

>a relatively clean house

>everyone cleans together so mommy doesn’t feel like a martyr and kids learn responsibility and teamwork

>counting practice

> quality time with your kids

>opportunity to teach kids how to lose graciously

BONUS TIPS:
*Sometimes if there’s something with lots of pieces, it may seem kind of unfair because one person gets like 50 points at once, but really….who cares if you don’t have to pick them up!?

*If you don’t get it all done, celebrate what you did get done! And keep your word to play with them afterwards.

*This game helps ME because sometimes I see so many items that its overwhelming of where to start, and I get distracted very easily, but honestly, sometimes 5-10 minutes of super-speed cleaning andeverything is mostly back in order!!

*This works MUCH better if you do it a few times a day instead of waiting til bedtime when everyone is tired and grouchy to try to do the whole house. We aim for before meals and/or before we leave for an outing.

*Don’t keep extending the time. No one likes to clean when there’s not an end in sight! (Right??!!) Be fair and if you tell them 10 minutes, do 10 minutes and then go play with your kids!!

Try it and let me know if it works for you!!