“Do your children have trouble keeping their rooms clean? Although kids are great at coming up with excuses for not keeping their rooms clean, one excuse is perfectly valid — they don’t have a system that works for them. “
As a sentimental mom, I like to keep certain things. I have a box of shirts I want to make into a quilt one day. I save silly cards my kids give me, and I treasure those sweet little favorite items they have outgrown. My kids are aware of my sentimental side, and they appeal to it when they want to hold on to things a bit longer. When I ask them to deep clean their rooms, they always make three piles — the trash pile, the donate pile, and the “put it in the memory box, please” pile. I realized this was becoming a problem when my daughter brought me that last pile and it included one cowgirl boot, a music box that no longer worked (or even opened), and a book that only had two pages in it — not because it was well-loved, but because the dog had chewed on it. I didn’t even recall reading her the book. Visions of my child appearing on a future episode of “Hoarders” flashed through my mind. So how do we help our kids get rid of their beloved items without causing a meltdown? And how do we know when they cross the line from collecting to hoarding?…
Read more: https://themotherlist.com/5-ways-to-teach-your-child-to-manage-clutter/