Keeping your kids room in order is the battle of millions of parents, and it never stops. Interestingly, when your kids are small, you convince yourself that things will get easier when they grow up. But when they finally grow up and become teenagers, you realize this problem did not solve, it just got bigger! And for this reason, we are always trying to come up with new ways to deal with our kid’s mess and conquer it. We have given it some thought and made a guide for storing your children’s belongings, check it out.
Don’t do their job, teach them
According to most of the parents, this is a harder task than just cleaning and organizing their things for them. But it is much more useful for both you and your kids. Not many children are born with natural organizing skill, you are the one who should help them develop it. That skill will be valuable and useful throughout their whole life. Also, it will probably affect other aspects of their lives, like their carrier and independence. Hence, by teaching them that, you will set a ground for many other good habits.
Psychology hacks
As you have maybe noticed already, children are not big fans of orders. Also, when you tell them they have to do something, they usually don’t want to. Words ‘you have to’ are just not something they like to hear, because they remind them of all the things they don’t like doing but they have to, like eating broccoli or going to bed. Hence, organizing and storing your children’s belongings will be much easier with a different approach. If you don’t present this task as an obligation, they could even enjoy it. And how to do that, you wonder? Well, that is where your creativity comes into the scene.
Kids just love imitating us, so, you can start with your example. Tell your kids you are going to clean your room because you want it to look nice and they will follow. Try to convince them that a clean and organized room is actually something they wish for. And what do your kids like doing the most? It’s playing, right? Well, make a game out of it. Make it a competition between your kids or you and your kids, and offer some award for the winner. Of course, you will all get an award, but it could be a great motivation.
Start sorting things out
The key for organizing and storing your children’s belongings is sorting them out first. The best way to teach them to sort their things out is to get several bins or baskets in different colors and explain to them what are they for. For example, one could be for stuffed animals, other for board games and other toys and one for crayons and markers. Start this task along with them, so they can see how it should be done. After some time, this will become a habit and you will no longer need to supervise them. Just like you love how your apartment looks bigger when it’s clean and organizes, your kids will enjoy all that extra space for playing.
Moving with children
Whether you are moving a lot of very rarely, your kids need to get used to that idea. In fact, children that are moving a lot often develop organizational skills faster. In case you are living a Nomadic lifestyle, beside reliable Nomad movers, you will need your kids to cooperate too. And the best way to help them is the conversation. Talk about moving and how easier it is when your things are organized.
Storing your children’s belongings
When you are moving, especially long distance, you will probably want to leave some belongings behind. Or even if you are not moving, renting storage is a great way to declutter your home and enjoy all that extra space. And that is the moment when you realize your kids have more stuff than you. And there are so many of them they don’t use frequently or at all. But how to convince them to let go? Some people pack these secretly and hope their kids won’t notice. Or you can do the opposite, include them in the storing process. Find a good and cheap storage Manhattan, and bring your little ones to check it out with you. Explain that you are just putting these things away for a while, that they are safe there and that you will come back for them at some point. Once they see you are storing your belongings, they will agree to the same.
What proper packing includes?
The best tip for using storage container pods is to pack your things properly first. And in order to do so, you need to purchase some packing supplies first. Here is a list os some essential materials you should get:
- Moving boxes- you can use either cardboard ones that you can find for free in NYC very easily or plastic ones. Plastic ones are more permanent, but depending on what you are storing you can make a combination too.
- Packing paper-for protecting fragile items
- Bubble wrap- for things that are easily breakable
- Duck tape- for sealing the boxes
Packing toys for storage
Most importantly, if you are using cardboard boxes, make sure they are clean and dry before you start loading them. When you are packing stuffed animals, a good idea is to protect them with packing paper, for extra protection. Same goes for board games, you should wrap up each game separately and then place it in a box with other games. Also, make sure you put heavier items on the bottom and the lighter ones on top.
Although it looks like a challenge, storing your children’s belongings is not that hard, especially if you have little helpers. Like every beginning, this one will be hard too. But once you explain to them how to help you, storing your children’s belongings will be a piece of cake. Good luck!
