Kids and Clutter: Pink Bunnies
Copyright 2002 Deborah Taylor-HoughUsed with permission. All rights reserved.Adapted from "A Simple Choice: A practical guide for saving your time, money and sanity" (Champion Press, 2000)
While talking with one of my daughters, we discussed the need for decluttering her bedroom. Over the years, she'd collected quite an array of toys, books, decorative objects, and miscellaneous odds and ends. Because she tends to bond emotionally with anything that enters her room, convincing her to willingly clear out the excess "stuff" had always been quite an ordeal.
I've learned over the years, the more clutter and excess stuff I carry with me, the more disorganized and scattered my life feels. As my daughter and I looked around her room I asked, "When you look at the piles of papers and toys in your room, do you feel overwhelmed by it all -- not even sure where to start when you need to clean your room?"
She agreed that was just how she felt. Many of the items I saw in her room were things she never used or played with anymore. But I could also see she had special items that really held meaning to her and she used regularly.
I suddenly had an idea. I picked up her two all-time favorite toys (the ones that were "real" in the Velveteen Rabbit sense of the word), held them up to her, and asked, "Big Bird and Fluffy are your special toys, right? They're your comforting friends, your buddies you sleep with each night. They've seen you through surgeries and scary times. You'll probably want to keep them forever, won't you?"
She smiled and nodded as she realized I knew how much her favorite stuffed animals meant to her. Then I grabbed two pink bunnies from under her bed that she never played with anymore. They were nothing special to her, just a couple of plain old pink bunnies.
"Now, look carefully at these pink bunnies," I said. "Do you want to lug them around with you for the rest of your life? They're nice bunnies. They're even cute bunnies. But are they 'special' bunnies?"
She laughed at the idea of hauling those pink bunnies around with her forever, and agreed they weren't anything she played with or even thought much about.
As we looked around, she realized her room was full of other "Pink Bunnies" -- those items that just took up space, cluttering her closet, dresser and floor. I suggested she make two piles of things in her room. The "Pink Bunny" pile and the "Big Bird and Fluffy" pile. If something wasn't a favorite item and used regularly, it belonged in the "Pink Bunny" pile. Items that brought joy, had particular meaning, and were used frequently would go into the "Big Bird and Fluffy" pile.
Suddenly it became easy to sort her toys, and even also lots of fun! I'd hold up a toy and ask, "What's this one?"She'd laugh and shout, "It's a 'Pink Bunny'!" And then happily toss it into the pile of toys destined for the yard sale box in the garage. As we sorted, we discovered the Pink Bunnies outnumbered the special toys by about three to one.
After we finished going through her toys, my daughter had a nice manageable pile of only her very favorite toys. Not only did it reduce the clutter in her room, but it also brought her a great sense of accomplishment. She finally was able to sort through everything and let go of the things she didn't use anymore.
When I decided to try the same general idea with my son several months later, the whole "Pink Bunnies" scenario didn't apply. No abandoned stuffed animals hiding under his bed. He mainly had an overabundance of fast-food kid meal toys, small cars, and building block sets.
So, what could I use for the Pink Bunny pile in his life? I knew there had to be a similar idea that could inspire him to start happily tossing out the unused clutter. I thought about it for a couple of hours ... and then had a brainstorm! For my son, the two decluttering piles became "Dirt" and "Diamonds." He really enjoyed sorting his toys into those categories, and before I knew it, we were down to just his favorite cars, toys, games, and building blocks. "Dirt" worked like a dream!
So, on a more personal note, how many Pink Bunnies do you have in your house and life? Whether it's in a child's room, or one of your own closests, maybe it's time to sort through any accumulated clutter and find out.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
--Deborah Taylor-Hough (free-lance writer and mother of three) is the author of
Frozen Assets: How to cook for a day and eat for a month
, and A Simple Choice: A practical guide for saving your time, money, and sanity. She also edits the Bright-Kids email newsletter. To subscribe, email:
join-bright-kids@ds.xc.org
Visit Debi online at:
http://hometown.aol.com/dsimple/
Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com
