All In A Day-Clutter

As I said in my previous post, having an orderly home with clear categories lays the foundation for our children to categorize the learning that they are doing. Because of this we are very careful to only have a certain few categories of toys. It is also very important to us that the children put those toys where they belong when they are done playing with them.

The other major sources of clutter in our home are books and papers. We do have plenty of bookshelves which are categorized by type and the fiction books are in alphabetical order, but when it comes to my personal books and papers my clutter fighting seems to go down the drain. I have a big basket of homeschool catalogs and magazines which frustrates me everytime I look at it, and the bill paying desk is currently buried under papers that I have yet to sort and file. I typically spend some time on the weekend getting all the clothes and books put away, those clothes and books that I have hurriedly stacked on my dresser in between grading grammar assignments and helping a math student and never seem to get back to during the week.
Our five clutter successes are as follows-
1. Rarely shopping which means I have less stuff to sort.
2. Checking rooms daily to keep them from becoming unmanageable.
3. Keeping our main living area clean with clear surfaces, at least one room nearly always looks good.
4. Using my Dymo label maker to label clear bins for art supplies, shelves for puzzles and games and the linen closet for proper placement of sheets and towels.

5. Having small, well sorted bins for a few categories of toys. (Playmobile, Lego, Tinker Toy, Wooden Trains, Loving Family, Calico Critters and Dress Up) I guess I have about as many categories as I have children!

I have a long way to go, we moved to a house with more closets and I have tended to shove things in temporarily until I could sort them, which slowly but surely is adding up to a big time commitment. Right now however, I would rather play with my little ones, read aloud and spend time discussing issues. Orderliness is important, but like everything, is best when in balance with the rest of the many aspects of our lives.

Check out the other All in a Day Bloggers...

Carrie @  <http://www.ourfullhouse.com/> Our Full House

Christi @  <http://antsonafarm.blogspot.com/> Where the Creek Meets the Lake

Elizabeth @  <http://yes-theyre-all-ours.blogspot.com/> Yes They're All Ours

Kathy @  <http://www.kathymomofmany.blogspot.com/> Kathy Mom of Many

Kristy @  <http://www.homemakerscottage.org/> Homemaker's Cottage

Lori @  <http://1happybusymama.blogspot.com/> Happy Busy Mama

Monica @  <http://www.naturalmamax4.blogspot.com/> Natural Mama