Reformed Mess Maker?

Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 8:32PM
Mary Prather in organization

Wow - when I did my last blog entry I was at the end of my organizational rope with my lovely nine year old daughter! I am happy to report that today went very well, and Miss B and I actually compromised as we were cleaning out her room. I feel so much better tonight, and I KNOW she does as well. Take a look at our finished product:

I love her bookcase - grandma and grandpa got that for her when she turned three, and she still loves it!

Hopefully a basket on her nightstand will keep the clutter organized - she keeps her current book, booklight, journal, and shuffle in it. Her aunt and uncle sent her a beautiful journal and matching pen for her birthday - she was journaling this afternoon and listening to music.

The American Girls still have a place all over the room, too! (Looks like our dog feels at home as well.)

For your information (and to justify my clean sweep), here are some interesting things that were discovered while cleaning her room:

1. iPod Shuffle (my husband gave this to Miss B after she won an Accelerated Reader book award in the second grade)
2. iPod Nano (we had been searching for this for MONTHS. It was my old Nano and I had loaded it with all of her favorite music)
3. Two sets of headphones - dad had been looking for a pair for the past two weeks.
   
4. Three boxes of stuff she didn't need - we took it all to Good Will
5. One large box of great princess/girly things which Anna is giving to a sweet little five year old friend of my son's
6. $9.27 in change (crazy!! It was found in a basket in her closet)

So, as you can see, cleaning out the room was beneficial in so many ways. Now, how do we keep it organized? Well, the biggest problem is that when I tell her to put something away it really needs to get PUT AWAY IN THE RIGHT PLACE. If it doesn't , it will go in "The Mom Box" and she will need to pay me $1.00 to get it out if she really wants it. (Hey, if you're thinking that price is too steep, don't forget the $9.27 found earlier!) If not, it wasn't too valuable to her in the first place. (I got this idea from my friend Rebecca -- thank you!)

I felt really good about the clean room tonight when a neighborhood friend of Anna's stopped by... Anna immediately pulled her into her room and they got out everything to play school with the American Girl dolls - she knew where everything was and they could play, and then pick it up when they were done. Anna wasn't hunting for what she wanted to show her friend, and I know she was proud to have her in her newly organized space. She looks happy here.

We even did some schoolwork today, too - read alouds for both children, a nature walk, and a little bit of science. The kids and daddy are sacked out in the family room watching "Tooth Fairy"; tired after a day of mom making them clean very hard. AND, I can sleep a little easier tonight, knowing another section of my house is organized. Type A mothers, unite!
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Article originally appeared on Homegrown Learners (http://homegrownlearners.squarespace.com/).