The best organization tips for parents come from hard lessons learned. These are 5 of the worst organization mistakes and how to avoid them!
Hi friends,
Have you ever spent an entire weekend organizing your kids room only for it to be a complete disaster again a week later? If so, you’re not alone!
Ask any mom, organization often requires a lot of trial and error. Sometimes it takes a couple tries to perfect the right system that works for you, your child or your family. This is completely normal!
What does help though, is knowing right from the get-go what absolutely doesn’t work! The best organization tips for parents start from knowing what to avoid!
This post is all about the worst organization mistakes and tips for parents on how to avoid them!
Organization Tips for Parents | Top 5 Mistakes To Avoid
1. Overcomplicating Things
This is probably the number one, most common mistake when first try to organize our kids things. Zero shame, I’m 100% guilty of it too!
I know, I know! Those color sorted legos are so aesthetically pleasing! I totally get it, but let’s be honest! When little Timmy is in a hurry to pick up his room so he can have iPad time, do you really think he’s going to want to sort out all his legos by color? NO.
The most important part of organizing a space for kids is that it’s something the child can maintain themself. If it’s too complicated, its probably not sustainable!
My biggest organization tip: When it comes to things like kids toys, it does need to be organized. Keeping toys organized will help prevent “the dump” to find one specific item. I personally recommend organizing in 4 sections, absolute max!
What does this look like? Here’s an example:
When sorting through barbies toys you have a ton of different components. You have the dolls, the shoes, the clothes, the fashion accessories, the house accessories, the food, the furniture, the large accessories (dr. office, camping tent, etc.)
Organizing it down to 4 sections might look like this:
- Dolls
- Shoes, clothes, fashion accessories
- Small accessories
- Large accessories
Now, going into more detailed organizing isn’t always a bad idea! As a child gets older, they may actually even prefer it! It really comes down to the age of the child and their personality. As a basic start for younger children though, a key organization tip for parents is to keep things simple!
2. Things Are Out of Reach
This mistake definitely goes both ways! When organizing, deciding what to keep within reach and what to keep out of reach is super important.
If you scroll Pinterest, you’ll see many great, space saving options for organizing toys. But, not all of these are ideal if you’re trying to create a space that can easily stay organized.
Sometimes it’s hard, especially when your little one has a ton of toys and you feel like you’re running out of space. The top shelves of closets and other vertical storage ideas should be used wisely though!
Putting things like game boards up high is a great idea! Typically they contain many small pieces and they’ll normally be used with family/adults anyway. But, storing things like barbie dolls in a back-of-the-door shoe organizer might be one to reconsider. Little ones will grow frustrated trying to reach these items.
For one, they might resort to trying to climb furniture to grab them. They will also have no way to put them away on their own resulting in a mess being left for you to pick up. In my experience, if a kid will need assistance cleaning something help, there’s a good chance they just won’t do it.
My biggest organization tip: Purchase multi-functional furniture, or be crafty with the furniture you already have! We love using space under the bed for toys. We also keep a small basket of baby/toddler toys neatly tucked away in our tv stand!
Storage bins like this are a great option for keeping things organized with under the bed storage! Buy larger ones and place them side by or since they have lids, you can purchase smaller ones for tiny toy pieces and stack them!
3. Not labeling
This one seems obvious to some and silly to others. Either way, its an important organization tip for parents to remember!
If your child is fairly young, this may seem unnecessary but hear me out. Every time I talk about this I bring up the same story..
My daughter was only 2 years old when she figured out which basket section was for darks and which was for lights. I always assumed she was just matching it up but she was able to remember even when the basket was empty. One day I asked her how she remembered what clothes went where and she simply pointed to the label. Even though she couldn’t read, she still had put two and two together!
If you think about it, it makes total sense! Most toddlers can recognize certain traffic sign by the time they’re around 18 months, way before they even know what reading is. This proves to me that labeling is always a great idea even at the youngest of ages!
Labeling also helps others in the home know what goes where. If you have a larger family or caretakers in the home, this is extremely helpful! Without labels, it’s easy for little ones or others to forget exactly what goes where.. Especially if it’s a new organizing system.
There are plenty of types of labels you can create for things. A toddler would very easily catch on to a simple silhouette label of the shape of the toy or item! Something like this could be a good place to start!
{Related Post: 17 Extremely Important Organization Tips For Toddlers To Save Your Sanity! | Organization 101}
4. Forgetting to declutter on a regular basis
This is a hard one, I won’t lie! I definitely still have troubles with this one sometimes too!
Decluttering is so important! Especially with little ones and most definitely if you have multiple little ones. Things add up so much faster than you probably ever expected!
Establishing a system or a routine when it comes to decluttering will help you stay on top of it.
Our top priorities when it comes to declutter are two things: Clothes & Toys!
When it comes to clothes I have two different systems. We love hand-me-downs over here! My boys are 18 months apart and still pretty young so they’re out growing clothes like pretty quickly. I have several long, thinner storage containers all labeled by age. NB, 0-3, 3-6, 6-9, 12, 18, 2T. When my oldest would go up a size, we store all of his clothes in a new bin.
This made things super easy when my youngest son was born. Every three months we’d simply switch over his entire wardrobe.
With my oldest daughter, we have no reason to keep her clothes. She’s also older and goes through growth spurts more at random these days. For her, we simply have a basket that she can toss items of clothing into when they no longer fit. When the basket fills up, I go through it. I throw away what’s damaged & wash what can be donated!
When it comes to toys, I struggle a bit more. If you have multiple kids, you probably feel me on this one! I find myself struggling with “well, he’s out grown this toy but his younger brother might really like it in a few months!”
My biggest tip that’s helped me is to do a clean out every 6 months. Religiously. Throw away toys that have missing pieces, broken pieces, are worn, etc. Try to focus on keeping well-kept timeless toys. Things like toy kitchen items, puzzles, building blocks, barbies, trucks. These items kinda grow with your child. For instance, all 3 of my kids from 15 months to 6 years can sit and play with magnatiles! Focus on keeping well maintained parts of these types of toys rather than “age-specific” toys.
5. Not Being Consistent
The last biggest mistake when it comes to organizing is not being consistent! This is the most important organization tip for parents, ever!
I know it happens, we get the cleaning bug and want to organize everything in our home. All stays well for a few months and then life happens. Slowly, things start to lose their place.
Organizing and staying organized in a growing family isn’t a one and done type of deal. Not by a long shot!
So, if you feel like you’re constantly organizing and reorganizing, welcome to the club! Things that made sense a year ago, or heck, even a few months ago, might not make sense anymore. You’re not alone!
Seasons change, kids get older, taller, smarter and we adjust accordingly. Remember, things won’t always be like this! You’ll blink and your messy toddlers and kindergarteners will suddenly be teenagers. You won’t be worried about decluttering and organizing baby toys & play food anymore..
Setting a good example and teaching your kids the importance of a keeping a well-maintained, organized space will be worth it in the long run! Even if it feels never ending (because it is), you totally got this!
