Clutterbugs: How Does Clutter Affect Your Children?
When we tend to think about our clutter issues, we mostly think in terms of how it affects us or our spouse. We don't often think about how it might be affecting our children. However, their home environment definitely has a clear affect on our children that can follow them throughout their lives.
It's interesting. My mother was a pretty big clutterbug but it affected my sister and I completely differently. I am definitely my mother's daughter and I have struggled enormously with these issues for my whole adult life. My older sister, however, went into a completely different mode. Her house is always spotless 24 X 7 every day of the year. On the other hand, my husband was raised by a perfectionist mother. He isn't any better off because she never had the patience to allow him to do anything for himself.
How do you think a houseful of clutter could affect your children? In order to evaluate that, you might want to think about what it would have been to grow up in a completely opposite household. If a child grows up in a house that is kept clean and clutter free, has regular chores, can always depend on having an organized home where friends can come and play, how is that going to be different from the same child who grows up in the middle of clutter and constant chaos?
The clutter can also affect your child's mood and behavior. I notice my son is much calmer and cooperative when he is on restriction. All of a sudden, he doesn't have the distraction of TV, video games, and Facebook, and while he isn't too happy to be on restriction, after a while, he seems perfectly happy to read books, play with Legos or puzzles, and just generally chill out.
I removed all the toys from his room years ago. All the toys and games strewn all over everywhere was just overwhelming with him, and sending him in there with orders to "clean up that pigpen" would just push him into a meltdown. Now that he just has clothes and books in there, it's a much calmer situation for him.
The other thing you have to consider is how you are preparing your children for their adult lives? A child who doesn't have any regular chores is likely to be an adult who isn't able to do the day-to-day tasks to maintain their home in a liveable condition. A child who is allowed to keep an excess of toys and clothes is likely to be a packrat or even a hoarder in their adult life because they don't see a problem with that behavior.
So, maybe if you are struggling with the whole clutter issue, knowing that you could be impacting your children might give you some extra motivation to get this issue under control. Why not try making some simple changes over the next couple of weeks and notice how your child reacts? Here are some ideas:
- Remove about 50% of the toy clutter. If you don't want to give it away, at least box it up and put it in the basement or garage where they can't see it.
- Simplify wardrobe choices by removing any out of season or too-small clothes. Consider laying out clothes for a week at a time.
- Set up a homework station for school-aged kids to keep books and schoolwork orderly and organized for a stress-free morning.
- If your kitchen table is a clutter magnet, work on keeping it clean so you can have dinner at the table as a family.
- Work on getting together a chore routine that works for once. I've been using MyJobChart.com for the last couple of months.
By TwitterButtons.com
It's interesting. My mother was a pretty big clutterbug but it affected my sister and I completely differently. I am definitely my mother's daughter and I have struggled enormously with these issues for my whole adult life. My older sister, however, went into a completely different mode. Her house is always spotless 24 X 7 every day of the year. On the other hand, my husband was raised by a perfectionist mother. He isn't any better off because she never had the patience to allow him to do anything for himself.
How do you think a houseful of clutter could affect your children? In order to evaluate that, you might want to think about what it would have been to grow up in a completely opposite household. If a child grows up in a house that is kept clean and clutter free, has regular chores, can always depend on having an organized home where friends can come and play, how is that going to be different from the same child who grows up in the middle of clutter and constant chaos?
The clutter can also affect your child's mood and behavior. I notice my son is much calmer and cooperative when he is on restriction. All of a sudden, he doesn't have the distraction of TV, video games, and Facebook, and while he isn't too happy to be on restriction, after a while, he seems perfectly happy to read books, play with Legos or puzzles, and just generally chill out.
I removed all the toys from his room years ago. All the toys and games strewn all over everywhere was just overwhelming with him, and sending him in there with orders to "clean up that pigpen" would just push him into a meltdown. Now that he just has clothes and books in there, it's a much calmer situation for him.
The other thing you have to consider is how you are preparing your children for their adult lives? A child who doesn't have any regular chores is likely to be an adult who isn't able to do the day-to-day tasks to maintain their home in a liveable condition. A child who is allowed to keep an excess of toys and clothes is likely to be a packrat or even a hoarder in their adult life because they don't see a problem with that behavior.
So, maybe if you are struggling with the whole clutter issue, knowing that you could be impacting your children might give you some extra motivation to get this issue under control. Why not try making some simple changes over the next couple of weeks and notice how your child reacts? Here are some ideas:
- Remove about 50% of the toy clutter. If you don't want to give it away, at least box it up and put it in the basement or garage where they can't see it.
- Simplify wardrobe choices by removing any out of season or too-small clothes. Consider laying out clothes for a week at a time.
- Set up a homework station for school-aged kids to keep books and schoolwork orderly and organized for a stress-free morning.
- If your kitchen table is a clutter magnet, work on keeping it clean so you can have dinner at the table as a family.
- Work on getting together a chore routine that works for once. I've been using MyJobChart.com for the last couple of months.
By TwitterButtons.com 
1 comments:
I think I was middle of the road when it came to clutter when I was a raising the kids . now, at age 63 I am much neater and more organized . 1 of my grown sons is very neat and the other not so much . they are just very different but thank goodness they are compatible. I think if it gets to the point of chaos it really affects everybody. I do remember making sure the sink was clean. at night after dinner just as a visual lesson I wanted them to have. I'm actually okay with a few, just a few, dishes in the sink. haha .
Post a Comment