Tough Choices in Teaching Clutter Clearing Process to Children

Today I worked with a busy mother of five children. Not having any children myself, I am still amazed at the quantity of stuff that moms deal with in order to sustain a semblance of order in their homes! One of my client’s daughters had cleaned out her room and then presented her mother with bags of items she didn’t want that could be donated to a charity. It was the mother’s habit to go through the bags and retrieve items that she deemed important in one way or another.

As I watched my client, I reflected on memories of other mothers who had had similar deposits of stuff dumped into their hallways, family rooms and bedrooms after a clearing. I found myself wondering, wouldn’t it be a good idea if the child was instructed to tend to her castoffs until they were completely out of the house? After all, mom won’t be there to finish the clearing process when she grows up and needs to do the whole job herself. And, you only benefit from clutter clearing when unwanted items are completely gone from the space.

But, that would mean the mother would either have to let go of her need for one final look at the items or insist that the child wait while she looks through the bags. Then the child could deposit them in the car to be taken to a charity.

It’s a tough choice! Let go and risk parting with something valuable that might still be useful to another family member or review the choices she made and deprive her of the important lesson of closure. Sometimes I’m glad I’m not a mom!