Organization

I've been accused of keeping a neat and organized home. I generally try to respond graciously to such comments, but inside I am thinking of all the places in the house that constantly scream "disorganization" at me. Over the years, I have developed a few habits that help keep our home streamlined. Friends have asked how we manage it. Recently a precious friend asked for suggestions and photos. So although I am not impressed by our level of neatness, I will gladly share, in hopes that we may help another. I must warn you that this could possibly the most boring blog entry you've ever read, unless you just happen to be interested in how other families keep up with their stuff. :)

Because I do think the cleanliness and neatness of our home is one way the God can be glorified in this family, I make it a priority. Not a room in our house would be neat or clean if I did not expect/demand it everyday. Learning how to involve/inspire the children, not get angry, and not lose my joy when I can't keep it up, are my struggles. Sometimes people think that well-behaved children are just born that way and that well kept houses belong to people who don't make messes. Both are false.

Here are some ideas that work for us- 8 children, 2 adults, three bedrooms:

-pyramid bunk beds: double on bottom, twin on top
-each child has two/three dresser drawers for clothing
-each child owns enough clothes for one week only, per season (warm/cold)
-limited amts. of stuff are allowed on top of the dressers
-each older girl has one box of personal stuff under the bed
-younger girls share underbed boxes with themes such as baby dolls/clothes/dress-up
-out of season clothes for upcoming year are in underbed boxes
-closet floors are for shoes, hangers for clothes, shelves for hand me downs or out of season clothing/linens
-baby clothes fit nicely in the plastic rolling stacked drawers, so we have one in our bedroom and one in the girls' room
-each child has his/her own color and monogrammed towel in the bathroom (no confusion about who it belongs to)
-handtowels are changed atleast everyday
-bath rugs are hung up, never walked on with dirty feet or shoes
-under the bathroom sink is for clean linens and organized hair and personal stuff
-everyday the floor is wiped up for hair and lint and the trash dumped out, also the surfaces are atleast wiped off, or disinfected
-all books are returned to the main bookshelf in the living room several times a day
-we give away everything that is not truly being used
-messes that cause stress are re-evaluated regularly: thrown away, relocated, or boxed in a special child-friendly bin

-hand-me-downs and other donations become part of the clothing organization or are given away immediately

We generally do keep the rule: a place for everything and everything in it's place.

A friend of mine takes pictures of things that her children would like to collect/keep, rather than keeping the items themselves. She is the same one who owns no dressers but keeps all clothing in underbed boxes.

Teri Maxwell wrote in her book, "Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit" that we should do something constructive with those "joy stealers" in our homes. She was speaking about those things that tempt us to yell at our children. If its the toys strewn all over the floor that stress us, then we need to do something about that. Get bins, label them, insist that the toys stay in the bins unless being played with. Toys that don't really go with anything have to be tossed out.

I finally decided that I was fussing at our boys too much about their messy room. After many warnings, I went in with two big underbed boxes. I told them that Legos go in one, Lincoln Logs go in the other. Everything else they had was to be thrown away. They begged to keep the animals, indians, soldiers, police and a few matchbox cars. So I found a smaller box to fit inside of one of the larger bins, and said, "If you can keep your toys organized in these three boxes then you can keep them. Otherwise, I'm giving them away." You can't imagine how nice it has been for as many as five children to play together in the boys' room with only those three categories of toys. They build cities, forts, boats, and you-name-it. The best part is that the little girls have a doll house in the den with people and furniture. Those little pieces have their own drawer in the den. But the girls bring the people and furniture to the boys' room and play for hours combining everything. The boys have never missed their pile of junk that kept them in so much trouble. And the children are learning how to get along and share.

I did the same with the little girls (that includes our 2,4,and 6 yr olds). They had a kitchen set, dishes, food, dress up clothes and a doll house as mentioned above upstairs. Everyone would come up to the room over the garage and trash the entire room. In fact the boys would bring indians, soldiers, weapons, animals, Lincoln logs, etc. and it would take hours to clean everything up!

I brought the doll house and kitchen stuff down to the den. That way I can keep an eye on what's happening before it gets out of control. I bought a set of stackable drawers for the food, dishes and doll house accessories. Amazing! No more huge messes. And no more late night, Mommy fits from going upstairs to check email at the end of a long day and finding total mayhem in the supposedly cleaned up room!!!

This is where Noah's bed and clothes are kept in our room. His outgrown or next size of clothes are kept in boxes under our bed.

We keep baby or children's clothes for the upcoming season under our bed. This way I know what we need to sew, buy or ask Grandma Butler to look for, in advance.
We really love these towels. (We used a Lands' End giftcard to buy them) They really help to keep the bathroom tidy. I'm usually the one who hangs them up with the names showing nicely. But the children do a good job of keeping them hung up.
These are the dressers that are in the girls' room. They do get cluttered each day mostly with hair elastics, brushes, ribbons and books. But it doesn't stay that way for long b/c I require it to be cleared before breakfast and bed.

This is the girls' closet. For now only Kendal and Kelsey hang their dresses and skirts in here. (The three little girls' church clothes are in the master closet with mine) All the girls keep their shoes neat in the closet floor. It's Anna's job to straighten the shoes. At six, she's a wonderful organizer. Atleast twice a day the shoes have to be brought from the front hall or back door to each person's closet, since we don't allow shoes on in the house. They are taken off at the door.
This is one of the bunks in the girls' room (this one is Mary and Anna's). If they had a bedskirt, the underbed boxes wouldn't ever be seen. So that's on our list of things to do.
These shells were from our first family vacation in Nagshead. A shadow box seemed to be the only practical way, or reason to, save shells. Recently a local gem store was closing and selling these "gem trees" for less than two dollars apiece. It was a luxury we could afford! And Kendal took this photo so we encouraged her photography skills by enlarging it and letting her frame it and hang it over her dresser.
This is one of the dressers in the boys room. They have one on each side of this window. Bob collects WWII tanks, soldiers and jeeps and displays some here. They also keep a few books. But all their trinkets have to fit in the three tiny drawers in this dresser, or out they go.
These are Isaac and Daniel's toy boxes. The only other things that are supposed to be under their bed are two buckets of magnetic letters and a bedrail. This requires daily maintenance too.
This is just the start of a huge fort or some other creation that will ultimately fill the room and have to be put away before dinner. The children don't like this rule, but it makes late night trips in and out of their room much safer for all.
I look forward to the day when they will all keep their own stuff organized without my "encouragement". But that is probably the same season when I will have a quiet house and spend my days hoping to have some grandchildren!