In particular, my boys bedroom is truly a disaster zone. The majority of their toys are stored there because we just don't have that much space in our house. We have very little closet space (no closets at all downstairs). And, the three oldest boys share one room. Does that sound like a recipe for chaos? It is.
I took pictures this morning of my boys bedroom. I am embarrassed to share them here. But, for the sake of being honest and real, I will. Plus, I am calling on you organized moms out there and requesting any suggestions you may have for how to tackle this.
Note the unfinished closet in the boys room. This is a project I would love to have completed, but in order for my husband to finish out this closet, he has to finish the upstairs heating ventilation system...a rather large task.
May I make a disclaimer? There are a few things that I know I am inconsistent on. 1. I should have them clean up one item before getting out another. 2. I probably should get rid of 3/4 of the toys they have. Really. They don't even play with most of it. 3. I feel somewhat responsible for the book disaster area. I love books and we really do read their books over & over. It's hard for me to let go of any of their books.
Next stop on the tour is the baby's room. They big boys toys spill over into this room as well, but it's not as bad as the other room. Still....
This next picture is of the closet in the baby's room. As I mentioned we have very limited closet space. The house had no closets at all when my husband bought the house and added the few that we have. You will see my attempt at organizing their toys. I have bins for each of their small toy items - legos, lincoln logs, k'nex, Mr. Potato head, instruments, tinker toys, etc. etc. Also, note that the clothes hanging in this closet are mostly mine. My husband's clothes hang in our bedroom's tiny closet.
The next pictures are of the boys room after it's been cleaned by the 5 yr. old & 2 yr. old today. My husband comes home at lunch and lit a fire under them to get this task done. You'll notice the floor is now cleared, but it's still extremely cluttered.
Oh, and how in the world do I teach a 6 year old & 5 year old to make their bunk beds? Even I have a hard time making the bed on the top bunk.
So, there you have it. My first dilemna of the day. Like I said, any words of wisdom would be welcome!
Next I have a dilemna for my crafty friends out there. I saw this hanging tissue paper pom pom idea floating around. I was going to put a picture on here of the finished products I'd been seeing, but for some reason I'm not able to get my downloaded pics to post here. Instead you can go to this link to see what I'm aiming for. Instead my pom poms look like this....
I'm just not sure how to get it to look the way they do on the tutorial. I'm not particularly crafty, but this looked like an easy one to do with short, simple steps. Has anyone else tried these? Any tips?
Have a great Tuesday everyone!
Your pom pom looks like all the other ones! Now where in the world are you going to hang it??
ReplyDeleteCan't really offer any suggestions on the kids bedrooms. God gave me one son who is OCD like me when it comes to keeping things tidy! I had him picking up his toys and putting them in baskets before he could walk. I actually think your boys did a good job cleaning up their own room! I think if Brady's room was really messy, I would just close the door so I wouldn't have to look at it each time I passed by! Give yourself a break! The kids bedroom is such a minor detail in the grand scheme of all the other more important things you do daily as your boy's Mom!
My son was the really messy one, and his room would get so bad it was overwhelming to him. So I would pick a time that worked for both of us and we would tackle it together. I didn't do it FOR him, rather we worked on it together. He wasn't permitted to stop and play; we had to get the job done. It made for special one-on-one time for us, and he got a really clean room! BTW, he is 29 now, and keeps a very clean and orderly home. <3
ReplyDelete#1--go to my blog, look up My Dear Trash on the sidebar, email Kelly, and she'll tell you how to make the pompoms. She made some for a baby shower, and they were beautiful.
ReplyDelete#2--I can't really craft, but I can organize. As yucky as it sounds, find a place where everything goes (use old boxes from Costco, empty baby wipes, etc., if you don't want to buy tubs), and then (this is the kicker that I hate) help them pick it up and put it where it goes. Every time for about a week. Then just supervise for a week, then check in on them occasionally for a week, then just see what happens. It should improve their abilities. I discovered that my kids did much better when the expectations were really clear.
And there is always the closed door option. I employ that regularly.
Karen,
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting My Dear Trash- You're really close to having the tissue ball right. From the picture I think you're just short a few sheets of tissue and some more fluffing. Here's how I made mine:
Take 10 sheets of tissue paper - lay on a flat surface. I used 20" x 30" sheets. Starting at the short end, make a fold at least 1.5 inches wide. Simply fold accordion-style - flip tissue stack over and make another fold. Continue folding until you get to the end of the tissue. Make sure to press firmly creasing with each fold.
Step 2
Wrap a pipe cleaner (or florist wire) tightly around the center of your folded tissue.
Step 3
Make two cuts at the very end of the stack to make a point or round it - depending on the look you want. Repeat on the other end.
Step 4
Gently pull each piece of tissue toward the center of the flower, separate each tissue sheet from the others one at time. Fluff and fiddle with until the desired shape is found. These flowers are approximately 18" in diameter.
Good Luck- Let me know how it goes.