November is one of two times per year that is perfect to clean out toys; the other is during the month before your child/grandchild’s birthday. That is the tip I shared with the MOMS Club of Dublin S at their October meeting. Little did I realize my daughter in VA would recruit me to help her pare down toys while I was there this month.
I do admire moms who work outside the home. I think that is the hardest job in the world. There are not enough hours in the day to do everything, so the working mom has to choose who/what to neglect. Usually the choice is: herself. My daughter, Sarah, is no exception.
That is why I am always glad to be there to help either by playing with my two pre-school grandchildren or doing some of the chores while she was busy with kids. This time Sarah and I had fun together doing some de-cluttering and organizing of toys. These are the steps we took:
1. First we took all toys out of the family room, off the toy shelves, and dumped them in the middle of the staging area – in this case the formal living room.
2. We gathered trash bags and containers for sorting. Sarah was ahead of the game here because she already had designated containers for: cars/trucks, baby doll stuff, toy kitchen/food, dress ups, musical instruments, books, soft toys, little things (that 1 yr old Ethan can’t have.) In addition there were the categories TOSS (trash), GIVE (consignment), STORE (just in case of baby #3).
3. Then between the two of us we touched each item and sorted it into one of the categories. If I didn’t know what Sarah wanted to do with a particular toy, I would ask her. She is a decisive person, so this part only took about an hour.
4. Meanwhile we had dusted and cleaned the toy shelves. So after sorting we put the containers back in their home. After the two trash bags went out, and we carried two boxes into the basement, all Sarah had left to do was take things to the consignment store that week. DONE!
Now there is space for new toys, books, and games from Grandma and Grandpa. What fun!
If you didn’t have time to do this in November, take time during this first week of December. Your toys may be DVD’s, CD’s or video games. Use the same steps with different categories. It works!
What Hoarder TV’s Dorothy Breininger Has to Say
Monday, November 16th, 2009Dorothy’s compassion for the individuals she helps shines through in this interview with Inside Pulse TV’s reporter “tvgeorge.” If you have watched the series, Dorothy is one of the professional organizers who works with the hoarder, the family, and helpers and actually gets the job done.
I respect Dorothy even more after reading her interview responses. These are three of Dorothy’s character qualities that I want to emulate as a professional organizer:
1. Diligence – She does her homework. Dorothy takes the time to learn what judicial, social, and law enforcement resources are also available to help.
2. Respect – A hoarder is a person who is entitled to respect. When she first contacts the client, Dorothy makes the statement, “I promise not to throw anything away.” The response from the client is one of shock. Dorothy is right; that is a decision only the owner can make.
3. Persistence – Dorothy spends the extra time – sometimes 1 month – behind the scenes to make sure the hoarder has success outside of the two hours of filming.
Read the entire interview here.
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Tags: get organized, hoarding, organizing, Resources, stuff